Romans 9:1-5
…3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
With it being Labor Day weekend, the last big getaway weekend for a while, it’s hard to not notice how many people are traveling. People travel for all kinds of reasons. Some people travel in order to immerse themselves in a totally different culture. Some go on vacation simply to just relax. However, according to an article dated to October of 2011 on Forbes Magazine’s web site, more and more people are embarking on journeys to revisit memories, to retrace footsteps, to find their roots. The trend in travel is so popular that it’s even gotten its own name: it’s called “heritage travel.” There’s just something powerful about going to back and seeing where you came from. Often this kind of travel—heritage travel—can be bittersweet. For those of you that have traveled back to your childhood home town, you know what I mean. On one hand, you are reminded of things that fill you with joy; but on the other hand, you’re also reminded of the reasons why you don’t still live there now.
Today, with Paul as our guide, we are going back and rediscovering our roots—our spiritual roots. It’s a journey that takes us back to the Israelites, the Jews, and the relationship that the gracious Lord had with His chosen people. It’s a bittersweet journey, especially as we think about Judaism as it has continued on to the present day. However, rest assured, the sweet far outweighs the bitterness, in terms of the grace of God at work.
- The roots found in ancient Israel.
People ask about Israel all the time. That’s partly because Israel’s in the news all the time, what with the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. But it’s also partly because we see such close ties between ourselves as Christians and the Jewish people. We look back in history and we see a people blessed tremendously by God. The apostle Paul sums up those blessings in verse four of Romans 9 when he says that the Jews are the Israelites—the descendants of Israel, “to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God and the promises.”
These blessings were blessings that no other people had. Out of all the nations on earth, it was the people of Israel were adopted by the LORD as His children. It was the people of Israel who saw the glory of the LORD as no one else did, as the Red Sea parted and the entire top of Mt. Sinai appeared to be on fire. Out of all the nations on earth, it was the Israelites with whom God made His covenants, where God told Israel, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” And it was Israel—out of all the other nations—who received the laws of God, written down for them. It was with the children of Israel that the “service of God” was established in the tabernacle and later the temple, where God Himself taught the Israelites how to worship Him. And only Israel had received the promises of God about a Messiah, promises handed down by God through the “fathers,” the patriarchs—Adam and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob: promises of an anointed Savior-King who would come to restore all that humanity’s sin had ruined.
These blessings still have an impact on our lives today. Though they began with Israel, we see how they continue with us. Certain aspects of our worship—our liturgy—go back to the days of the temple and, later, the synagogue. The written law of God is also ours too in the pages of Scripture. Even the patriarchs—we ourselves look to them as examples of trust in God.
And yet it’s in these blessings themselves, and the fact that God gave them to the Israelites, that we are reminded of the grace of God at work. The children of Israel weren’t perfect. They were a stiff-necked, stubborn people that refused to believe in God’s promises. God Himself says so, from the book of Exodus onward, beginning with the incident when the people worship the golden calf. Some people ask, “Why was Israel so special?” And the answer is they weren’t—they were no more special than any of us. What’s special is the grace of God—the grace of God that chooses to reveal His love and mercy to this stiff-necked, stubborn people.
And it all goes back to those promises, doesn’t it? And the promises are ours too—promises made to people who didn’t deserve them; promises of a Savior and what would that Savior would accomplish: “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him; and by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53).
And that takes us from God’s grace itself, to His gracious purpose in choosing Israel. When we look at Paul’s brothers according to the flesh—the Jews—we see not only the Israelites, of whom were the patriarchs, but also out of whom came the fulfillment of God’s promises. As we find our spiritual roots of God’s grace in ancient Israel, we also find:
- The roots of the true Israel.
When we look at the Israelites, the Jews, we see that from them, “according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen” (5b). Christ Jesus’ human ancestry is traced through the Israelites. The Christ is a true human being, a Jew! And yet at the same time He is “over all, the eternally blessed God.” David’s Son is also David’s Lord. Jesus is the Christ, true God and true man, crucified for our sins and risen from the dead—this is what all those Old Testament blessings pointed at! This is the root of the true Israel, the spiritual Israel, the Israel known as the church of all believers in Christ that is going to last forever.
Yet this is what makes our journey a little bittersweet: because not all Israel is the true Israel. Think about the Jews—about everything they had going for themselves in terms of their spiritual blessings. They knew the grace and the glory of the LORD; they had received His law as well as His promises. They should have known what to look for. Yet when the Messiah finally arrived, they rejected Him. They rejected that salvation was by God’s grace and not by works. So they crucified the Lord of glory and the persecuted all those who taught in Jesus’ name.
What about modern Jews who still reject Jesus as the Messiah? The bittersweet reality is that God’s “not guilty” verdict on account of the blood of Christ is a “not guilty” verdict they don’t want to hear. Many Jews are going to hell. It’s an inconvenient truth in our time, especially since our country and the nation of Israel are political allies. So we don’t deal with it. Evangelical Christians basically say you don’t need to preach the gospel to Jews because God will save them under the old Mosaic covenant—never mind that that covenant’s been broken a hundred times over. All so that you can avoid the uncomfortable situation of actually talking to a Jew about Jesus.
We speak the truth—and yet we don’t hate the Jews, either. Paul had every reason to hate the Jews. As a former Pharisee turned follower of Christ, Paul faced the worst persecution of all at the hands of the Jews, his own countrymen. Yet Paul doesn’t hate them; he is sorry for them and has continual grief in his heart for them (v. 2). He mourns because he so deeply desires that they would be saved (Ro 10:1), even being willing to trade his own salvation if it would mean the salvation of his fellow Jews (v. 3).
Can we honestly say that we feel the same way about those who threaten us on account of our faith? Do we mourn for those who are currently cutting the heads off of our fellow Christians in Iraq? Does it trouble us in our hearts to think about how our enemies in this world are really not hurting us, but simply rejecting the blessings of God in Christ? Would we really be almost willing to trade our own salvation if it meant the salvation of those who hate us? How about that bittersweet truth: as we journey to discover our spiritual roots, we’re reminded that we’re still sinners too.
Yet there’s more sweet than bitter here. Remember how Jesus mourned over Jerusalem on Palm Sunday? Do you remember Jesus’ words as they were nailing Him to the cross? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He never failed to tell the truth—just as He never failed to love His enemies. But Jesus did that not for Himself; He did that for you. He paid with His own blood for our own lack of sympathy and love for those who are rejecting Him.
And Jesus didn’t stay dead; He rose to life again and ascended to heaven. He lives and reigns over all things for the benefit of the true Israel—His body, the church. And while not all Israel is the true Israel, the Lord has preserved a remnant just as He did in the days of the prophet Elijah. And there’s not only a remnant from the Jews, but from every people, tribe, language, and culture. There’s a remnant of former Muslims; a remnant of former Buddhists; a remnant of former atheists and agnostics. People who trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This is the true Israel, brought about not by force of laws and guns, but by the gentle whisper of the Gospel.
Paul understood this. Now you understand it too. Having journeyed to find your spiritual roots, you can appreciate all the blessings that God has given you through His people Israel—and you especially appreciate the greatest blessing of all, that He has made you part of the true Israel through His Son Jesus Christ. While the nation of Israel might be politically important, the true Israel is the only Israel that matters. The Israel that grows through the faithful preaching and teaching of God’s Word. This is the Isarel that we belong to, work for, and find our roots in: the Israel that by God’s grace will last forever, with the Son of David—Jesus Christ—reigning on its throne. Amen.