Down an Unfamiliar Road

INSTEAD OF A CASUALTY, A CELEBRITY

With all the debate about abortion in the news and it being a hot topic in politics, especially in confirmation hearings on new Supreme Court nominees, I thought I’d share a story we read in a book by one of the most well-known college and pro quarterbacks in recent years.

More than 30 years ago, a woman named Pam and her husband Bob were serving as missionaries to the Philippines and praying for a fifth child. Pam contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in contaminated food or drink. She went into a coma and was treated with strong antibiotics before they discovered she was also pregnant.

Doctors urged her to abort the baby for her own safety and told her that the medicines had caused irreversible damage to her baby. She refused the abortion and cited her Christian faith as the reason for her hope that her son would be born without the devastating disabilities physicians predicted. Pam said the doctors thought of what was inside her womb as a mass of fetal tissue, but for her and her husband, it was a human life.

While pregnant, Pam nearly lost their baby four times but refused to consider abortion. She recalled making a pledge to God with her husband: “If you will give us a son, we’ll name him Timothy and we’ll make him a preacher.”

Pam ultimately spent the last two months of her pregnancy in bed and eventually gave birth to a healthy baby boy August 14, 1987. Pam’s youngest son is indeed a preacher. He preaches in prisons, makes hospital visits, and serves with his father’s ministry in the Philippines. He also plays football. Pam’s son is Tim Tebow.

The University of Florida’s star quarterback became the first sophomore in history to win college football’s highest award, the Heisman Trophy. He went on to play quarterback for the Denver Broncos and New York Jets. Recently he played major league baseball with the New York Mets. And now he has plans to return to football. Through it all, God has provided him with an incredible platform for Christian witness. This is just another case where faith in God can do miracles that no one else thinks is possible.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXV)

So it became the anthem of the early disciples as they encouraged the followers of Christ to seek His blessings through obedience instead of trying to avoid His discipline because of unbelief. Luke tells us: “Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. When he went to Antioch and saw how God had blessed the believers there, he was very happy. He encouraged them all, saying, ‘Always be faithful to the Lord. Serve Him with all your heart.‘”¹ Later, as Barnabas traveled with the Apostle Paul, they continued this encouragement: “In those cities they helped the followers grow stronger in their faith and encouraged them to continue trusting God.”² It certainly could be that their message of staying true and honest with the Lord was as much based upon God’s goodness as it was on what happened to Ananias and Sapphira for lying to God and the Holy Spirit.³

Later, Paul went to Corinth to establish a church there and then heard later what was going on among some of their members, he wrote them: “Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I told you. You received that Good News message, and you continue to base your life on it. That Good News, the message you heard from me, is God’s way to save you. But you must continue believing it. If you don’t, you believed for no reason.”⁴ The Greek adverb eikē (“vain” in KJV) that Paul uses here means to learn something without a purpose so as to encourage failure. Just like it would be futile for a person to read and study a map without any intent on using it as a guide to get them to their destination.

That’s why Paul encouraged the Galatians to never give up doing what God had given them to do. He told them: “He who is taught God’s Word should share the good things he has with his teacher. Do not be fooled. You cannot fool God. A man will get back whatever he plants! If a man does things to please his sinful old self, his soul will be lost. If a man does things to please the Holy Spirit, he will have life that lasts forever.”⁵ And when Paul heard about some problems that had developed among the Thessalonians, he wrote them: “I sent Timothy to find out about your faith. I was afraid the devil had tempted you. Then our work with you would be wasted… It is life to us to know that your faith in the Lord remains strong.”⁶

Now, these admonitions to remain faithful and steadfast would have no meaning if there were no consequences for disobedience. That’s why God warned Ezekiel about his mission after He called him to be a watchman over the people of Israel and promised to give Him the message He wanted them to hear. He told him: “If I say to the sinful man, ‘You will die for sure,’ and you do not tell him of the danger, and try to turn him from his sinful way so that he may live, that sinful man will die in his sin. But you will be guilty for his blood.”⁷ Of course, God goes on to say that the opposite is true: “If you tell a sinful man of the danger he is in, and he does not turn from his sins or from his sinful way, then he will die in his sin. But you will have saved yourself.”⁸

Later on, another appeal would be made to the people of Israel not to fool themselves by thinking there was another way to please God in faithfulness. We read: “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ But it is their way that is not right. When the right and good man turns from his good way and sins, he will die for it. But when the sinful man turns from his sin and does what is right and good, he will live because of it.”⁹ All of this was told the Jews, not to condemn them without a purpose, but to shock them into the realization that it was either God’s way or no way, and they had to choose which one they would follow and accept the consequences.

Ambrosiaster continues his explanation of the balance between reception and rejection by God of those Jews who believed and those who did not. He sees Paul’s testimony that God is being good to the Gentiles, even though they worshiped idols and deserved to die, as evidence that He waited for them with great patience in spite of their not seeking after Him, He called them and forgave their sins out of His own good will. But God is stern with the Jews for their own good, but it blinded them with resentment so they rejected the gift of His Son.¹⁰ There are those who disagree with Ambrosiaster on the subject of God blinding the unbelieving Jews so they could not see the truth. Most scholars accept the fact that God sent the Way, the Truth, and the Light to them, but because they did not accept what they saw and heard, they were blinded by their unbelief.

Bishop Theodore believes we need to look at this more closely. He thinks that Paul is trying to tell us that we ought to learn from both the Jews and Gentiles how great God’s love for us is in that we have been counted worthy through faith. We ought to become ever more eager to live a godly life bearing in mind how God rejected the Jews because of their unbelief and do everything in our power not to fall into the same trap.¹¹ In other words, those who did believe and did accept the Light, should not let pride blind them and mislead them into thinking that they are invulnerable to failing and falling.

Martin Luther minces no words on how he feels about those who think they are too good to fail. He says that we can learn from these Scriptures that when we see the fall of the Jews, heretics, and others, we should not concentrate on the fact that they fell from grace, but instead, what God does in response to them, so that we may learn from their example so that we will reverence God and not boast arrogantly in any way.¹² But Luther goes on to say that in spite of such lessons, many continue to exalt themselves in an “amazingly stupid manner,” and call the Jews either dogs or accursed, or they insult them with other abusive words, though they themselves do not know what kind of people they are and what is their standing in God’s sight. They want to convert the Jews by force or insult. May God resist them.

What is amazing to me is that the Church that grew out of Luther’s reformation would one day side with a dictator named Adolf Hitler and persecute the Jews as though they were the scourge of the earth and treat them with biased contempt, blaming them for all the social, financial, and political woes that plagued Germany in the early 20th century. The final insult came when Jews were herded on railway boxcars into concentration camps where they were gassed, hung, shot, and used for scientific experiments to further the cause of the Aryan Race ideology. Apparently, the fact that no one learned a lesson from Paul’s admonition in Luther’s day, was repeated some 380 years later in the same country.

John Calvin, who wrote during the same period of the Reformation as Luther, gives us his view from a French perspective. His full commentary on this verse is too voluminous to record here, but there are some things that are worth noting. By Paul laying his case before the Gentile’s eyes he more clearly and fully confirms the fact that the Gentiles had no reason to be proud of themselves. They saw in the Jews an example of God’s sternness, which ought to have terrified them; while in themselves they had evidence of His grace and goodness, by which they ought to have been motivated to thankfulness. It should have resulted in exalting the Lord and giving Him all the glory.

Paul’s words were meant to convey the fact that if a believer exults over another believer’s calamity, think first what you used to be, and how God’s reaction should have merited you no favors. Then consider what you are now. For God’s offer of salvation will not continue to be valid unless you humbly recognize the mercy of God. If you were to forget what you deserve and arrogantly celebrate the ruin that has come into other people’s lives, remember, the same thing can happened to you. It is indeed not enough for you to have once embraced the favor of God, unless you follow His call through the entire course of your life. Those indeed who have been enlightened by the mercy of the Lord ought always to think of persisting in perseverance through faithfulness. No one will continue to enjoy the goodness of God, who having for a time responded to His call but later begin to grow tired of being part of the kingdom of heaven, and because of their ingratitude justly deserve to be blinded again.¹³

John Taylor sees Paul using two extremes to teach a lesson. He compares the Goodness of God to the believing Gentiles with the Grimness of God toward the unbelieving Jews. It is very obvious that this was God’s reaction to the Gentiles’ acceptance in the face of the Jews’ rejection. So for the Gentiles, it can be seen when they received the Gospel message of salvation that came to them;¹⁴ when they were enriched by being made beneficiaries to the promises of Abraham;¹⁵ when they were grafted from the wild olive tree into the True Olive Tree;¹⁶ when they became the objects of God’s Mercy;¹⁷ and when they were listed among the Called and Chosen.¹⁸ Taylor goes on to mention their being justified freely by the Grace of God by faith and their inclusion in the Kingdom of God, making the case for faithfulness even greater.¹⁹

Puritan Jonathan Edwards preached that when a believer turns their back on their faith by not following Christ’s voice and refusing to follow Him, they will be plucked out of Christ’s hand. When this happens they will face eternal life apart from God. That’s because possession of eternal life is a gift and faithfully holding on to that gift is what keeps it in effect.²⁰ Furthermore, believers must persevere in their faith by abiding in Him as necessary to maintain a continuing union with Christ. This results in His abiding in them to assure their salvation.²¹ Because if that union is not maintained as a grafted branch in the True Vine, then no life can flow between the vine and the branch so that fruit can be produced. Once that connection is broken, then the branch can no longer survive and it will fall off on its own.²²

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXIV)

Hodge also adds another thought to be considered by the Gentiles. They had even more reason to fear than the Jews. It was in itself far more probable that God would spare a people so long connected with Him in the most peculiar manner than to spare those who had no such claims on His faithfulness. The idea Paul intended to express by this verse probably is this: that the Jews, from their relationship with God, were more likely to be exempt from punishment than the Gentiles. After all, God is accustomed to being patient with the recipients of His mercy before He will reject them. In the same way that a parent will put up with a son’s contrariness longer than someone else’s son before they send them away.¹

Karl Barth has a very eyeopening exegesis of what Paul is saying here about why the Jews were broken off because of unbelief and why the Gentiles were implanted by faith. For him, it establishes the criterion of election: a standard which should at least put people on their guard. For a person to try and assess their own position in the Kingdom of God is a risky effort. To look at their place in the long history of God’s plan of salvation and then consider themselves equal with others who were called first is exceedingly dangerous. It can be hazardous to their spiritual health if they insist on being treated the same as others in the Kingdom of God. It is not how long one is part of God’s plan but how committed and faithful they are. It is better to leave it all up to God to determine that. For it lies within His competence to decide whether any person is what He was looking for or if they have ceased being of any use to Him as a vessel of the Gospel message and the growth of the Church.²

Barth continues by establishing that the ground of election is belief, and the ground of rejection is unbelief. But who is a believer, and who is an unbeliever? Belief and unbelief are only measured by God’s measuring stick of faith. For to us, such measurements are unobservable, incomprehensible, and uncertain. Only the root is effective. And in regard to the root, what preeminence have the wild branches over the natural branches which have been cut off? So don’t be guilty of being high-minded. Instead, become known for your reverence. Faith in God’s righteousness, unlike self-righteousness, is not a thing which can be vaunted and paraded before God and our fellowman or played one against the other. Faith is not a visible ladder, up which we can climb. Faith is born in reference and awe from the knowledge that God is God. Anything else is not faith.³

Then Barth says that the term, “Assurance of salvation” – is a phrase of doubtful legitimacy. Salvation is not a possession which can be claimed either against or on behalf of the Church. Only complete misunderstanding of what the Reformers taught could lead to such an opinion. The decision is God’s. His approval or disapproval are – because they are His – new every morning. Election stands by grace: we must never forget this. An “assurance of salvation” would require “assurance of damnation.”⁴ In Barth’s mind, such false belief is worse than heathenism.⁵

Verse 22: So you can see that while God is kind, He can also be very strict. On the one hand He was strict with those that were broken off, but, on the other hand, He will be kind to you, provided, that you continue trusting in His kindness. If you don’t, you will be cut off too.

Here is something that many people adhere to, but not all denominations fully endorse: “Once saved, always saved.” It is a doctrine that God’s Word could be interpreted as teaching, but with qualifiers. With respect to something that came as a gift; something we neither deserve nor merit; a blessing which is bestowed upon us through the unselfish act of another, we need to be careful that we do not take unjustified liberties in declaring that we are heirs to the kingdom regardless of how inattentive we are to the stipulations in God’s Will and disobedient to the specific factors placed there by the Giver. True, once one is born-again they cannot be unborn. True, once the blood of Jesus washes away the sins of the past and a person is declared innocent by God’s grace, that act will not be voided nor reversed. But that’s not where it ends – salvation, it is only the beginning – redemption.

But the Scriptures accentuate over and over again that whatever claims or status one may have in the kingdom of heaven, they will one day be judged on their faithfulness and obedience. It will be sad to see so many judged and condemned because they did not acknowledge or accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, but it will be even more chilling and disheartening to see those who did accept that invitation and did receive the free gift of salvation which gave them entrance into eternal life, barred from going in because they turned around and threw away the gifts they were given while being disobedient to God’s commands; to the teachings of the Master and the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit. But then again, ask Moses why he did not make it into the Promised Land.

So Paul is trying his best to let the Gentiles know that what happened to the disobedient Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai could be repeated in keeping disobedient Christians from the Promised Land of heaven. God is too often preached as a loving, caring, forgiving God who not only loves us but is in love with us. As such, He becomes a figure of unlimited grace and, therefore, not to be feared because of His disgust for sin and disciplining of those who deserve it. However, He does it all to try and save, not to destroy.

When Moses saw the disobedience of the children of Israel he prayed to God: “So now, please, let your power, ADONAI, be as great as when you said, ‘Adonai is slow to anger, rich in grace, forgiving offences and crimes; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offences to be experienced by their children and even by the third and fourth generations.’ Please! Forgive the offence of this people according to the greatness of your grace, just as you have borne with this people from Egypt until now.”⁶

Rabbi Saba makes note that in Numbers 14:20 God backed up His words that He had forgiven the people of their obstinance in asking for another leader to take them back to Egypt with the vow: as truly as I am alive, the whole earth will be filled with My glory and no one will doubt My powers. This implied that because He is eternal and has unlimited time at His disposal, He can wait for the right time to carry out any of His plans.⁷ And later on God reiterated this when He told the children of Israel: “See now that I, yes, I, am He; and there is no god beside Me. I put to death, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; no one saves anyone from My hand!”⁸

According to Jewish theology, in Deuteronomy 32:37 God began asking the children of Israel questions about heathen gods in order to prove through their answers that there was no other God like Him: Could any of these idols prove to be as reliable as He? To be as appreciative as He for their sacrifices? To be as protective as He in keeping them safe? This is what made their God different from any other deities. But the final test was what other god could both give life and take life? Which one could bring sickness and healing? In other words, there was, is, and never will be another God like Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.⁹

So it is not surprising that after they entered the Promised Land, Joshua had to remind them: “Every good promise that the Lord your God made to us has come true. But in the same way, the Lord will make His other promises come true: If you do wrong, bad things will happen to you. You will be forced to leave this good land that the Lord your God has given to you. This will happen if you refuse to keep your agreement with the Lord your God. You will lose this land if you go and serve other gods. You must not worship those other gods. If you do, the Lord will become very upset with you. Then you will quickly be forced to leave this good land that He gave you.”¹⁰

That’s why Joshua was forced to give the Israelites this ultimatum: “If it seems bad to you to serve Adonai, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori (Amorites), in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve Adonai!”¹¹ And that’s why the same offer was used in Isaiah’s day: “‘Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.’”¹²

Now, all of the mercy, grace, tenderloving care, kindness, patience and forgiveness that we find in God, can only be seen in its greatness, effectiveness, blessedness, and something to be truly appreciated when it is compared to His severe discipline and punishment. That’s why Jesus told the Jews who believed in Him as the Messiah: “If you continue to accept and obey my teaching, you are really my followers. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”¹³ Our Lord reiterated this same principle to His disciples: “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit. But separated from me you won’t be able to do anything. If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be like a branch that has been thrown away and has dried up. All the dead branches like that are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. Stay joined together with me, and follow my teachings. If you do this, you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you.”¹⁴

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXIII)

So what do early church scholars think about the danger of some of the grafted Gentile branches falling off? Bishop Basil says that if that happens, God’s judgment will be in accordance with His grace, and the Judge will examine how they used the gifts bestowed on them.¹ And to this we add Pelagius’ thought that if God did not spare those who sprang from the holy root because of their unbelief, how much less will He spare those He grafted that keep on sinning!² While it is well accepted that Salvation is an integral part of God’s grace, not too many see that Judgment is also an intrinsic part of God’s grace. God will not punish out of anger, but out of sorrow and pity for those who recklessly and foolishly gambled away their opportunity for everlasting life and joy with Him.

John Calvin says there are two conditions we need to take into consideration and that two resulting feelings that will be produced. To begin with, he would have us always keep in mind the miserable condition of our nature; and how this can produce nothing but apprehension that develops into weariness, and anxiety that leads to despair. So it is extremely important that we be willing to fall down at Jesus’ feet and confess our brokenness, that we may call out to Him for forgiveness. But the apprehension we have comes from what we know about ourselves. But this need not keep us from leaning on His goodness so that it may calm our troubled soul. Our weariness should not hinder us from enjoying full comfort in His arms. Our anxiety must not prevent us from experiencing in Him real joy and hope. Our despair can drive us toward the arms of God instead of away from them. The next thing to consider is the fear, of which Paul speaks, that is set up as an antidote for any proud contempt. For everyone who claims for themselves more than what is given to them and becomes so secure that they despise others who have not reached their level, need to realize that our heart must not swell with pride and congratulate itself. The outcome can be spiritually fatal.³

Puritan Jonathan Edwards feels that the real message by Paul to the Gentiles was that their faith in Christ as Savior was not tied to what God did with the Jews before their time came nor will it be affected by what happens to the Jews in the future. He notes that our perseverance in keeping the faith is not only just because we were born-again but that it is an absolute necessity as part of for our salvation. The reason for such an influence and dependence is written in many Scriptures,⁴ That’s why here in verse 20 Paul tells the Gentiles that even the Jews, as branches, were broken off the tree because of unbelief, they were grafted to the tree by faith. So there is no reason to insist on being made invincible by some guarantee, but it is alright to feel secure by faith.⁵

Adam Clarke follows the same line of reasoning. He asks us to consider why is it that the Jews were pushed aside. Was it not because of their unbelief? So those Gentiles who stand by faith, those who were made partakers of God’s blessings by faith should not become high-minded. Instead, they should feel humbled and not exalt themselves according to their own estimation. Since the blessings of salvation and sanctification were received by faith and not by works there is then nothing to brag about on how much a person has done. It is all dependent upon the grace and mercy of God. The Jews once stood by faith in the Law, but that quickly gave rise to unbelief, and they fell. The Gentiles now stand by faith in Christ, but it is equally possible for them to be unfaithful once they stop believing. When this happens they will fall under Divine displeasure. So don’t be high-minded, but have reverence and respect for the One that saved you.⁶

Robert Haldane continues his emphasis on Paul’s admonition that Gentiles should be grateful for the role that Jews played in their receiving the Gospel. However, the Gentile believers might reply that the Jewish branches were broken off the True Olive Tree to make room for Gentile branches from wild olive trees to be grafted in. In a certain sense, this is admitted by the Apostle Paul. But unbelief was the cause of the fall of the Jews, while it is only by faith that the Gentiles remain grafted. So it wasn’t on account of their superior morals that they were grafted into the True Olive Tree since faith is the gift of God, bestowed on whom He will. This then leaves no room for boasting or self-appreciation.

Among the Gentiles who profess the faith, there will soon be a great falling away, and “the man of sin,”⁷ though he boasts of being exclusively the True Olive Tree — the only True Church — is broken off altogether, and doomed to inevitable destruction. It behooves all Christians to be humble, and to be careful that they too do not backslide in the same kind of predicament that the Jews found themselves in.

Also, Haldane feels that it should be a rare thing when one Christian perceives errors being made by other Christians, to glorify their own holiness while condemning the others. This is highly unbecoming. If a Christian understands any part of the will of God of which their brothers and sisters may still be ignorant, it is God that has made the difference. Remember, “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”⁸ So if arrogance is permitted to take hold of anyone’s heart and mind, it is likely that God will bring them to their knees in repentance. To be this obnoxious and self-righteous is as bad, if not worse than the sin one is criticizing in another believer.⁹

Charles Hodge also remarks on this possible attitude of pride by the Gentiles. They must always keep in mind that they are not the root of the True Olive Tree, Christ is the root from which the tree came and into whom they were grafted in as branches. So there is no reason for Gentiles to pride themselves on the fact that the Jewish branches were broken off to make room for them. So this makes it clear that the Gentiles were not authorized to infer, from the fact that the Jews were rejected, that they were chosen. Nor should they believe they have grounds for being better than the Jewish branches still left on the tree.

So, the fact that some Jewish branches were broken off is admitted by Paul, but the inference drawn by the Gentiles of their superiority is denied by the Apostle. It was not for any personal considerations that the one was rejected and the other chosen. The Jews were spurned because they rejected the Messiah and the only right they were given to become part of a covenant relationship with God, which can only be retained by faith. The Gentiles will not be more secure just because they are Gentiles, any more than the Jews were safe because they were Jews. Therefore, instead of being high-minded, they should be humbled in reverence to the One who paid it all for their being part of the Chosen.¹⁰

Octavius Winslow comments on what Paul says in verse 20 about standing firmly in place by faith. For him, if there is any security for a believer, it’s because they stand firmly by faith. So why is it that some have been kept safe to the present moment? We have all seen tall cedar and oak trees blown over onto the ground; we’ve all witnessed many runners in a race that appeared to be “running,” but who, in the hour of temptation and weakness, gave up and dropped out of the race. We’ve also noted that when certain individuals were blessed with power and wealth in this world so as to become well-known and rise to a level of distinction and fame, made shipwreck of their so-called faith in God, and fell into various forms of lust and snares which ended up being their total ruin.

So why have you been kept safe up until now? Is it because your vessel weathered the storm, your feet are still planted firmly upon the rock? Because “you stand by faith.” – because the “faith of God’s elect” has kept you? And although you are deeply conscious of many who have departed from the faith because of weaknesses when they embraced this ungodly, ignorant world, would the same not bring upon you laughter and scorn. But you have never cut the anchor of your soul loose from Jesus the Rock. Instead, the Holy Spirit helped you see your sins, and under conviction, you confessed them and sought forgiveness through a fresh application of the atoning blood of Christ so you could continue to “walk and stand by faith.”

So now! If faith had not kept you, where would you be? Where would the temptation of the flesh have driven you? What sad consequences would sin have involved you in? But O my, that brokenness, that contrition, that mourning, that going afresh to the open fountain, does prove that there was still in you something which would not let you go! The cedar and oak may have fallen, but it was replanted again, stronger than ever. That vessel may have been tossed in the tempest, and even may have been damaged by the rocks and the waves, yet it has found its safe harbor. The “faith of God’s elect” has kept you firm and committed. So don’t be proud of yourself. Don’t be high-minded, but remain in awe and reverence of what got you through. You know that your own vigilance, and power, and wisdom, would be poor safeguards except for the indwelling Holy Spirit holding up that faith can never die.¹¹

Calvin also tells us why any pride or self-confidence should be beaten down. This is especially true of the rejection of the Jews so the door for Gospel was opened to the Gentiles. It should never come across our minds without striking and shaking us with embarrassment. For what ruined them was that through resistless dependence on the dignity which they had obtained by self-righteousness, they despised what God had appointed by faith? They were not spared, though they were natural branches; what then shall be done to us, who are the grafted wild olive branches if we become arrogant beyond reason? But this thought, as it leads us to distrust our own strength, so it should tend to make us cleave more firmly and steadfastly to the goodness of God.¹²

Adam Clarke also has a warning about self-pride. If God in His infinite justice and holiness refused to tolerate sin in the people whom He foreknew, whom He had so long loved, cherished, miraculously preserved and blessed; be careful that He must not do the same to you. You can be certain that the same righteous principle in Him will cause Him to act towards you as He acted towards them if you sin in the same manner. So be careful that self-sufficiency and self-confidence do not lead you down the same path. Remember, therefore, the rock from which you were chiseled, and the quarry from which you were mined. Depend ceaselessly on God‘s free grace, that you may abide in His favor.¹³

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXII)

On the subject of firstfruit, lump, root, and branches Stern lets us see this from a Jewish perspective:

♦ The firstfruit is those of Israel established by faith through Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, etc. (re: verse 28). ♦ The lump/root are the same and represent the restored faithful remnant in Yeshua, and/or Yeshua Himself. ♦ The unbroken branches consist of those Israelites who received Yeshua and accepted Him as the Messiah and those Gentiles who were grafted into the faith via Yeshua. ♦ The broken branches consist of those Israelites who are rejected Yeshua and refused to accept Him as the Messiah.

Stern then continues with the “unbroken branches” that are set apart for the Lord, such as the Apostles, in their service to the Gentiles, vicariously suffering for the Gentiles, who are supported by the “root” (and not the other way around). This suffering may be compared to Psalm 44 which speaks of exiled Israel’s suffering, not as punishment, but as suffering for the sake of God’s name. The “root” is also a reference to the “Root of Jesse,” the ruler and hope of the Gentiles in the Congregation of Israel among whom they worship, as Paul brings this up later in this letter.¹ Paul calls the unsaved Gentiles a wild olive tree as:

♦ Wild olive trees were unproductive and bore no fruit (i.e., Ephesians 2:10-13). ♦ The wild olive tree was a symbol in the Greek/Roman culture of these Gentiles. ♦ Paul stands up for Israel (i.e. Romans 10:2), by showing the cultivated tree as the community rooted in Judaism.

Some Gentiles incorrectly believed Israel had rejected its restoration through Yeshua, and, therefore, has been rejected by God. Paul makes it clear, beginning in verse 18 and forward, that they are treading on sacred ground.²

I have found it to be true in my ministry, especially in chaplaincy work in hospitals and nursing homes, that I was able to establish a very cordial and respectful relationship with Rabbis when I treated them like friends instead of enemies. It gave me an opportunity to witness to them without their fearing that I was proselytizing or putting them down. As fellow chaplains, I accepted them as brothers in the family of Abraham. It was amazing how many times they were willing to listen instead of thinking of how they were going to counter what I said in defense.

Verses 19-21: You might say, “Branches broke off so that I could be grafted into their tree.” That may be true, but remember, those branches broke off because they stopped believing. As you continue to be part of the tree because you are a believer, don’t become arrogant. Rather, be advised of this: If God did not let the natural branches of that tree to remain, He will not let you remain if you stop believing.

This is a good wake-up call for many today who feel that since they are the newest branches on the tree planted in Antioch centuries ago, they have priority on all the nutrients and sunshine provided to this tree by the Holy Spirit. Just as church history shows that branches sprout and then are either cut off or die, so this will be their fate if they don’t recognize who the keeper of the orchard is. It is also a good lesson for some today who think that they are the Church instead of them being part of the Church. They feel that the body of Christ survives only by their presence, instead of their survival depending upon the church being present. It’s quite a simple equation; the Church existed before they came along and will do so long after they’re gone. Their input did not matter until they became part of the church, yet they still believe that if they ever leave, the sourceless flame of the Church will die. Jesus said that nothing, not even a direct assault by the forces of hell will keep His Church from surviving and continuing to sprout new branches which will go on to produce new fruit.

And this is the point that Paul brings to the surface now. The Jews, as branches, were broken off the sacred tree because they no longer sought their strength and fruit-bearing resource from the God who planted them in His orchard. As Paul told the Jews when he arrived in Antioch in the country of Pisidia, that he came to them first to preach the Good News. But, because they bushed him aside and would not believe, he told them he must then take this message of hope and salvation to those who were not Jews.³ So now that the non-Jews were firmly planted in the House of the Lord, Paul wanted them to know that what faith brought them, faith will use to sustain them. As Paul told the Corinthians: “We are not trying to dictate how you must live out your trust in the Messiah, for in your trust you are standing firm. Rather, we are working with you for your own happiness,”⁴ he is now telling the Romans.

He wanted them to accept the same formula he shared with the Colossians: “Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.”⁵ Paul did not want the Roman believers to become self-confident in their own abilities to be all God wanted them to be and do all that God wanted them to do. As David said in his Psalm: “For even if the Lord is honored, He thinks about those who have no pride.”⁶  In other words, as you are thinking about God as He receives all the praise, glory, and honor for those things He accomplished through you as a vessel of His service, He is thinking about you. So Solomon had this admonition for those who wanted some of the glory: “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who lives by wisdom will remain safe.”⁷ Even the prophet Habakkuk gave this proverb: “As for the proud one, his soul is not right in him. But the one who is right and good will live by his faith.”⁸ So Paul did not want the non-Jewish believers in Rome to go off on a tangent and act as though they were the favorite among God’s children.

Paul wanted to convince the Corinthians to adopt the same attitude. He told them: “We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ.”⁹ The reason Paul was so adamant about believers not assuming a position of superiority among their brethren and purporting that their wisdom and knowledge of God is greater than all others is that this is the spirit of the Antichrist. He tells the Thessalonians: “For the Day [of the Lord] will not come until after the Apostasy has come and the leader of those who separate themselves from the Word has been revealed. He is the man of sin. He works against and puts himself above every kind of god that is worshiped. He will take his seat in the house of God and say that he himself is God.”¹⁰ We have seen in our own generation how such people have become leaders of a cult that look up to them as being a god.

As a result of such pride and arrogance, Paul tells young Timothy: “They will not love each other. No one can get along with them. They will tell lies about others. They will not be able to keep from doing things they know they should not do. They will be wild and want to beat and hurt those who are good. They will not stay true to their friends. They will act without thinking. They will think too much of themselves. They will love fun instead of loving God. They will do things to make it look as if they are Christians. But they will not receive the power that is for a Christian. Keep away from such people.”¹¹

Instead, says Paul, we should always have the deepest reverence and highest regard for our Lord God. Solomon said that he noticed that those who get away from the Word applaud what worldly people are doing while those who stick to the Word will speak against such people.¹² That echoes what God told Isaiah: “Says ADONAI: The kind of person on whom I look with favor is one with a poor and humble spirit, who trembles at my word.”¹³ Contained within this admonition to the non-Jewish Christians now part of the church was Paul’s inference that if God was willing to bypass the Jews because of their pride and unbelief, then the Gentiles should beware that the same thing does not happen to them. It was his way of saying the same thing that God told the children of Israel through Jeremiah: “For this is what Adonai says: ‘Those who do not deserve to drink from this cup will have to drink it anyway (in Paul’s mind this would be the Jews), so should you go unpunished? No, you will not go unpunished; you will certainly drink it (to Paul this would be the Gentile believers).”¹⁴

Early church scholar Ambrosiaster continues his view of why some branches of the original olive tree – Israel, were allowed to break off. He is not pleased when a believing Gentile says that they can rejoice that the Jews did not believe, saying that their condemnation made room for the Gentiles. But the Jews were not condemned by God in order to let the Gentiles in. They condemned themselves by rejecting God’s Son that He sent as a gift, and by doing that, God then gave the Gentiles an opportunity to be saved. Paul wants to stop this boasting, so that we might rejoice in our salvation rather than insult the weak. For the man who insults a sinner is easily deceived.¹⁵

Starting in the early church era, down through the middle ages, and into modern times there are still Christians who look smugly down on the Jews as though they and their ancestors play no positive role in the Church being what it is. In the early 1500’s some branches that had been grafted in fell off because of unbelief, and so branches from the wild tree of Protestantism led by Martin Luther were grafted in. Then again, some of those branches fell and branches from the wild tree of Revivalism led by John Wesley were grafted in. And when some of those branches fell off because of unbelief, the branches from the wild tree of Pentecostalism were grafted in. So the question for us today would be, if some of those branches fall off, what wild branches will God find to graft in? Many Bible scholars will tell you that when this happens then God will harvest all the fruit of those branches still remaining and then regraft the branches of Judaism back in.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XXI)

Haldane then points out that whenever Gentile Christians felt disposed to boast with respect to the Jews, let them remember not only that the Jews were the first people of God, and that the first Christians were also Jews. The Jews received no advantage from the Gentiles; but, on the contrary, the Gentiles have received much from the Jews, from whom the message of the Gospel went out. The initial preachers were Jews, even Jesus Christ Himself was Jewish by His mother’s heritage. The Gentile believers became the children of Abraham, and all the blessings they now enjoy are due to that relationship. That’s why the covenant includes all believers;¹ yet they keep believing it was only to belong to the houses of Israel and Judah.²

It is obvious that the Church during the Middle Ages forgot all about Paul’s admonition. Unfortunately, they attacked the Jews in every way possible, sowing the seeds of animosity that ended up being carried out in WWII concentration camps. Albert Barnes notes that the tendency of some people is to rejoice over someone who falls from grace and is humiliated. The danger of pride and boasting on account of privileges is not less in the church than elsewhere. Paul saw that some of the Gentiles might be in danger of exultation over the fallen Jews, and therefore cautions them against it. It is clear from this, that the Apostle regarded the Church as one; and that the Christian organization is only a continuance of what God started with Abraham. The tree,³ even with a part of its branches removed. and others grafted in still retains its identity as the one God planted, and should never be regarded as different or something new.⁴

Charles Hodge has a similar interpretation that the Gentiles joining to Jews as the people of God. It was not to confer good on them but to receive good from them. By this Paul wants to point out that the graft does not impart life and vigor to the tree, but the reverse. There is no necessity for departing from the common view. The Gentiles are saved by their introduction into that church of which the patriarchs were the root.⁵ Hodge goes on to say that the Gentiles should remember that they were brought into fellowship with the patriarchs, not the patriarchs with them. Therefore, salvation was through the Jews. The truth that the Jews were the channel of blessings to the Gentiles and not the opposite, was adopted to prevent all ungenerous and self-confident exultation of the latter over the former.⁶ But it must be remembered that the Gentiles were grafted into the stock of Abraham not through Moses and the Law, but through Christ Jesus and the Gospel.

French theologian Frédéric Godet points out that the Greek verb katakauchaomai Paul used to warn the Gentiles not to “boast” (KJV), should be understood more as telling them not to “despise” the Jewish branches, in the sense of resenting that they are still there. Thayer in his Greek Lexicon says this word defines the act of “glorying against, exulting over, boasting one’s self to the injury of a person or thing.” In fact, the KJV renders this word three different ways: “boast,⁷ rejoice against,⁸ and glory.”⁹ Godet says that it is not unusual for people to look with disdain on those whose place they have been called to fill. This is especially true when the vacancy was due to someone being fired in disgrace.

The fact that the Jews, as branches, were broken off the tree planted as part of God’s covenant with Abraham and replanted in the Promised Land, some Christians have ended up treating them with supreme contempt. In fact, this disdain was even seen among Gentile believers in the church in Rome. Godet thinks this is, perhaps, the reason why Paul simply uses the Greek noun klados “branches,” in verse 18 without adding the term “broken off,” that he employed in verse 17. It was every person who is identified as, a Jew, which Paul wished to put under the protection of this warning.¹⁰

Charles Ellicott warns that the admission of Gentiles to the privileges of the Jews is no ground for boasting on their part. It is merely an admission. The Gentile is, as it were, a branch grafted in temporarily as an experiment without any effort on their part. Nor is their position absolutely granted to them. It is held conditionally on their tenure of faith. They ought, therefore, to anxiously guard against any failure in faith. For the moment, God has turned towards Gentiles the gracious side of His providence, while towards the Jew He has turned a less benevolent side. But it has been promised by God that one day this will be reversed and the Jew received back into the favor of God which they once enjoyed.¹¹

John Stott shares that Paul’s warning to the believing Gentiles is clear. The olive tree has experienced both pruning and grafting. Some branches have been cut out of the cultivated tree. That is, some Jews have been rejected. And in their place a shoot from a wild olive tree has been grafted in. That is, some Gentiles have believed and been welcomed into God’s covenant people. Do not boast over those branches. This is the warning, which Paul corroborates with a number of arguments. First, he says, you must remember your dependence on the root, for branches have no life in themselves.¹²

It is interesting that Stott mentions Sir William Mitchell Ramsay (1859-1939), a Scottish born Englishman known primarily for his brilliant work in archaeology and outstanding New Testament scholar, who wrote an article on this subject of grafting that said:

As regards Palestine, but no other Mediterranean country, he [Professor Fischer] points out that the process which St. Paul had in view is still in use in exceptional circumstances at the present day. He mentions that it is customary to reinvigorate an Olive-tree which is ceasing to bear fruit, by grafting it with a shoot of the Wild-Olive, so that the sap of the tree ennobles this wild shoot and the tree now again begins to bear fruit. It is a well-established fact that, as a result of grafting, both the new shoot and the old stock are affected. The grafted shoot affects the stock below the graft, and in its turn is affected by the character of the stock from which it derives its nourishment. Hence, although the old stock had lost vigor and ceased to produce fruit, it might recover strength and productive power from the influence of the vigorous wild shoot which is grafted upon it, while the fruit that is grown on the new shoot will be more fleshy and richer in oil than the natural fruit of the Wild-Olive. Such is the inevitable process; and it is evident from the passage in Romans, even without any other authority, that the ancients had observed this fact and availed themselves of it for improving weak and unproductive trees. The words of Romans 11:17 show the whole process employed in such cases; the tree was pruned, and after the old branches had been cut away the graft was made. The cutting away of the old branches was required to admit air and light to the graft, as well as to prevent the vitality of the tree from being too widely diffused over a large number of branches.13

Douglas Moo also makes some interesting points. He points out that the context in which these verses fall reveals that the Gentiles were guilty of an arrogance toward Jews in general that extended to both the Israel of the First Covenant and to Jewish Christians of the Last Covenant as well. Paul shows why such arrogance is wrong. He makes two basic points. First, Gentile Christians only received the spiritual benefits they enjoyed because of the Jews. They were grafted into the olive tree of Israel, the people of God. But the roots of that tree consisted of the Jewish patriarchs. The Gentiles did not “replaced” the Jews in God’s plan, they were only added to it.

Secondly, Gentile Christians did not earn the right to be grafted into the olive tree. Their arrogance in having been chosen over the Jews not only took the form of bragging but also of boasting that this being added to the olive tree was due to their own accomplishment. Their attitude, so it seems, is that they somehow were so important and deserving that God removed Jews in order to include them, that’s why the rejection of Jews led to the salvation for Gentiles. But Paul insists that was not because of any merit in the Gentiles themselves that God did what He did. It was, rather, entirely a matter of God’s grace and mercy.¹⁴

Jewish scholar David Stern makes points similar to what we have already read as a message to the newly grafted Gentiles. He hears Paul telling the Gentiles: “However, if you do boast, for whatever reason — carelessness, thickheadedness, or actual malice — it ought to help if you stop and remember that you are not supporting the root, but the root is supporting you.” To make Paul’s point as clear as possible, Stern says that whether the root is Yeshua, Abraham, the Patriarchs, the Messianic Jews or all the Jews, it is a Jewish root, and no one should forget it! When examining the Jewish community in Rome it draws a portrait of Jews, who came to faith in Yeshua, as someone doubly unwelcomed. That’s because they were rejected both by other Jews and by the Gentile majority in the Church. It’s easy enough to understand why a Messianic Jew might be rejected by some in the Jewish community, but why did the image of their being rejected by the Church even arise? It came from Gentile Christians who forgot Paul’s warning and regarded the Jewish believer in their midst a natural branch of the olive tree into which they were grafted, but no longer wanted or needed.¹⁵

Successful businessman and Motivational Writer, Max De Pree, in one of his books makes this statement: “In the end it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”¹ How true that is, especially when we consider the fact the hardest thing for some people to do is change, especially their habits. From the way they comb their hair, brush their teeth, put on their shoes, cut their meat with a knife in their right hand while holding a fork in their left hand, they laying down the knife and shifting the fork to the right hand so they can put the meat in their mouths.

Benjamin Franklin once said that being uneducated is not as big a shame as being unwilling to learn. In other words, it’s hard to motivate the unmotivatable. William Shakespeare’s famous line, “To be or not to be,”² can be expressed this way, “To change or not to change,” that is the question. Psychologists tell us that as humans, we typically hate change. We would rather stay the same than dive into the unknown. There is a feeling of safety in what is familiar; we are more comfortable in environments and relationships that we are used to than in those that require us to shift. This is true, even if what is familiar to us may be unhealthy or unfulfilling.

They go on to say, that to avoid change we frequently lie to ourselves. We tend to blame other people for undesirable aspects of our lives or for our uneasy feelings. For example, we may blame our unhappiness on a laundry list of external factors and people – our spouse, boss, job, children, health, lack of money, weight, childhood upbringing, or education. Or, we may create reasons to justify why we cannot change – we don’t have time, energy, strength, desire, confidence, or willpower to do anything differently. We may even try to control our environment and other people to make ourselves feel safer. When that doesn’t work then are prone to act passive-aggressively in our relationships when we don’t get our way.

Around Easter time it is not uncommon to hear a sermon on the last seven sayings of Christ from the cross. But I doubt if you’ll ever hear one on the last seven words of a loser in crisis: “I’ve never done it that way before.” If there ever was a group who personified this attitude, it was the Jewish sect of the Pharisees that Jesus had to deal with. They were so embedded in Jewish culture, that when Jesus began His ministry they gave Him no thought other than to criticize. They held power and prestige among the people and were granted certain privileges by the Romans and didn’t want to lose it by changing.³ When John the Baptizer and Jesus began to challenge their position it became evident a conflict would take place. It was not the design of our Lord to target the Pharisees, Jesus came to “seek and save that which was lost.”⁴ The problem was, they refused to admit that they were lost.

Let’s admit it, we’ve missed many an opportunity because we were unwilling to give up something we had been accustomed to in order to accept something different. Since God is eternal, He lives neither in the past or future, but only in the present. And for us humans, while the past can’t be changed and the future is still to be formed, we do have to opportunities to change in the present. Our future is not always dependent on our past, but it is greatly influenced by our willingness to change now. Remember what De Pree said, “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” – Dr. Robert R Seyda

ANOTHER EXCITING MILESTONE IN MY LIFE

Today I complete my eightieth trip around the sun. I always knew that there was a chance I might become an octogenarian, but I had no guarantee where I would be or what I would be doing when I got there. I was convinced that growing old was mandatory, but growing up was my choice. So I set as my goal to grow up before I got too old. The greatest thing that ever happened to me was when I decided to follow Jesus and not the path others picked out for me. Was it easier? No! Was it worth it? Yes! But what makes it so exciting is that my journey down here on earth is only the beginning, and the place where I am headed has no end.
I choose not to focus just on my birthday itself but to celebrate what God has done in my life since my birthday. To thank Him for bringing me this far by faith. To also thank all those around me who have contributed to my reaching this occasion in good health and growing more content every day. At this age, when I read certain lines about the elderly that would have caused me to frown when I was younger, they now make me smile and laugh as I nod my head in agreement.
For instance, I read where someone said, “As you get older, your secrets are safe with your friends because they can’t remember them either!” And I also heard years ago the as you grow older, you want everyone to think that you are younger because of the way you look. But once you reach old age you want people to know just how old you are and have them tell you that you don’t look like that old at all. Also, when you’re young, the world looks so big, and you want to explore every inch of it, but as you advance in age, your world gets smaller and you are so glad that your exploration days are over.
But the most significant dimension in my life influences and affects my human nature is my spiritual nature. I am still not finished learning how to please and serve the One who saved me and brought me out of the darkness of ignorance about sin and Satan, and ushered me into the light of His Word as my Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Reading the Bible today is just as exciting as it was when I started years and years ago. I want to please my God by giving Him more and more of my time and energy. By loving and learning about Him more, has helped me to love and learn more about those closest to me. My wife, my children, my grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.
So now that I am 80 years old, is that enough? Oh No! I’m excited about the next year because God has great plans for me and my wife, the one I hold most dear and close to my heart. Do I know everything that will happen? Of course not! Am I afraid of what will happen? Not in the least. When you walk hand-in-hand with Jesus and the Holy Spirit every day, there is no spirit of fear, only confidence that all things will work together for good to those who love God, and those He has called for a purpose. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

THE WOMAN WHO MAKES ALL MY BIRTHDAYS SPECIAL
MY GIFT FROM THE LORD
MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XX)

Isaiah had a similar vision of this sanctified tree and its possible demise. He writes: “When its branches are dry, they are broken off. Women come and make a fire with them. They are not a people of understanding so their Maker will not have pity on them. The One Who made them will not show kindness to them.”¹ In other words, the tree that was meant to be fruitful and sustaining, its branches had become good for nothing but firewood. In fact, things became so bad that the whole tree was used for firewood.

Jeremiah lamented: “The Lord called you, ‘A green olive tree, beautiful and with good fruit.’ But like a clap like thunder, He set fire to it, and its branches were destroyed. The Lord of All, Who planted you, has said that bad will come to you because of the sin of the people of Israel and of the people of Judah.” As most people know, when a tree becomes infected with a fruit-killing disease, the best thing to do is either cut it down or burn it. This section is beginning to sound like the seven letters that Christ commissioned the Apostle John to write to the seven Churches.²

As we know, when Jesus went to enter Jerusalem and saw a fig tree that had leaves but no fruit, He condemned it and it began to wither. He used it as an illustration of Israel who had become a tree with leaves only to decorate themselves as a sign of their religion, but beneath the leaves were barren branches. So Jesus said: “I say to you, because of this, the holy nation of God will be taken from you. It will be given to a nation that will give fruit.”³ Later, Jesus would tell His disciples that He now is the true vine and they are the branches.⁴ And so Paul is telling the Roman Christians that this is exactly what happened and why God has now turned His attention to the Gentiles so they too can become part of the tree that He planted.

Paul explained it to the Ephesian Gentiles this way: “Do not forget that at one time you did not know God. The Jews, who had gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew by man’s hands, said you were people who do not know God. You were living without Christ then. The Jewish people who belonged to God had nothing to do with you. The promises He gave to them were not for you. You had nothing in this world to hope for. You were without God. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. At one time you were far away from God. Now you have been brought close to Him.”⁵

This idea of grafting branches from one tree to another was already part of Jewish lore. We find in the Mishnah where it says: “They grafted [male branches of] palm [onto female] trees all day [of the fourteenth which allowed them to grow dates].”⁶ But Paul takes it a step further by saying that God took branches from wild olive trees and grafted them into the sacred olive tree so that they may produce sweet fruit. O how far the Jews had come from being able to say with David: “I am like a leafy olive tree in the house of God; I put my trust in the grace of God forever and ever.”⁷ That’s why God had to send Paul out to find branches from wild olive trees so they could be grafted into the sacred tree in the house of the Lord. Unfortunately, many who sit in church pews today have become fruitless branches. They are like potted plants, wanting only to be fed and pampered but not required to bear any fruit.

With that in mind, now Paul addresses these grafted branches and tells them not to feel they are better than the other branches on the tree. After all, Solomon warned: “Pride goes before destruction, and arrogance before failure.”⁸ This is what almost caused James and John to be marginalized because along with their mother they asked Jesus that when He came into His kingdom to put one of them on one side of His throne and one on the other side, as if they were better than the other ten disciples.⁹ Little did they recall that everything they were and stood for was not because of them, but because of the One who called and chose them to be His disciples.

That’s why Paul tells them that the tree is held up by the roots and supplied with nutrition by the roots, it’s not the other way around. Paul hints at this when he tells the Galatians: “If you belong to Christ, then you have become the true children of Abraham. What God promised to him is now yours.”¹⁰ And he reminded the Ephesians: “From now on you are not strangers and people who are not citizens. You are citizens together with those who belong to God. You belong in God’s family. This family is built on the teachings of the missionaries and the early preachers. Jesus Christ Himself is the cornerstone, which is the most important part of the building.”¹¹ Too often, there are believers who think that it is because of what they made out of Christ and His teachings that should bring them special praise, but it is just the opposite. It is what Christ made out of them and the teachings He gave them that should always be the object of praise, honor, and glory.

Early church theologian Jerome writes about Paul’s illustration of the tree and branches. He reports that every time he sees a synagogue, the thought of the Apostle always comes to his mind. It reminds him that we, as grafted branches, should not boast or say anything against the olive tree whose original branches were broken off to make room for us Gentiles. For if the natural branches have been cut off, how much more should we who have been grafted from the wild olive tree fear lest we become like them.¹²

And Ambrosiaster makes the point that it displeases God if someone rejoices at the misfortune of others, as Solomon says.¹³ In any case, the Jews were not rejected for the sake of the Gentiles. Rather, it was because they were rejected that they gave an opportunity for the Gospel to be preached to the Gentiles. If you boast against those onto whose root you have been grafted, you insult the people who have accepted you so that you might be converted from bad to good. You have no future if you chop down the tree into which you were grafted with criticism and disdain.¹⁴

John Calvin points out that whatever glory the Gentiles received it was from their new ingrafting, not from their old stock. Calvin agrees that there was then no reason for the Gentiles to glory in their own dignity in comparison with the Jews. We may also add, that Paul wisely tones down the severity of the case, by not saying that the whole top of the tree was cut off, but only that some of the branches were broken, and also that God took some branches from here and there from among the Gentiles, whom He grafted into the holy and blessed trunk of the sacred olive tree.¹⁵ It isn’t that the Gentiles were grafted to take the spot left after a natural branch was cut off. That place remains as is until God causes that branch to return to its rightful place. As a result, instead of the new branches replicating what the tree originally looked like, it added to the tree many branches that otherwise would have never been there.

Calvin goes on to make the point that Gentiles could not contend with the Jews when it came to the excellence of their race without contending with Abraham himself. That would have been extremely unbecoming since he was like a root from which they sprouted and were nourished. As unreasonable as it would be for the branches to boast against the root, so unreasonable would it have been for the Gentiles to glory against the Jews, that is, with respect to their special standing as a chosen nation out of so many. Paul always wanted the Gentile to remember that it was from the Jews that the origin of their salvation began. And we know that after Christ pulled down the partition-wall,¹⁶ the whole world partook of the favor which God had previously conferred on the chosen people. It hence follows, that the calling of the Gentiles was like an ingrafting and that they could not have grown into being “the called” as God’s people if they had not been grafted into the stock of Abraham.¹⁷

Adam Clarke also sees the need for the grafted Gentiles not to become disdainful of their Jewish brethren in the Lord. If the present nation of the Jews, because of their unbelief, are still cut off from the blessings of God and the high honor and dignity of being His chosen people, then how can we Gentiles, being part of a grafted wild olive branch, and who had no knowledge of the true God that produced nothing but the fruit of unrighteousness, were, nevertheless, grafted in among them. Thus we became part of the original Abrahamic stock, having been made partakers of his faith and consequently of his blessings. This allowed us to enjoy, as the people did who sprang from Israel, the fatness of the olive tree – the promises made to the patriarchs, and the spiritual privileges of the Jewish people.

While we are ready to acknowledge that we are included in the covenant God made with Abraham, and are now partakers of the same blessings with him, we must not brag about it, much less insult the branches, Abraham’s present descendants whose places we now fill, according to the election of grace. Remember, we are not the root, nor does the root spring from us, but it’s the root that bears us. We have not been ordained to pour out blessings on the Jewish people. It is through those very people, the ones some Christians are tempted to despise, that all the blessing and excellencies which we now enjoy have been communicated to us.¹⁸

On the subject of the Gentiles thinking that they were better than the Jews Robert Haldane believes that based on what is said here by Paul, that even during his time the Gentile believers were beginning to exhibit an overbearing disposition towards the Jews, and a complacent feeling of self-preference. At all events, the sin against which they are thus warned well describes the spirit that has long prevailed among the Gentiles who profess Christianity. What howling ignorance, folly, and vanity, are often displayed even in God’s people! Nothing but the constant lessons of the Spirit of God will teach them that all spiritual differences among God’s people are allowed by His grace.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Lesson XIX)

Charles Hodge notes that the Greek word phyrama (“lump” – KJV) used here by the Apostle Paul, means any substance mixed with water and then kneaded to make a clump or “batch” of dough.¹ Paul used this same figure of speech in his letter to the Corinthians,² There is no reason not to believe that Paul was aware of what Jesus said about how the presence of yeast can change the complexity of the whole loaf.³ The end product can only be of the same essence as its source.⁴ When we see it this way, it is clear that no Jew could claim to be a spiritual descendant of Abraham unless they exhibited the same faith and obedience he did. This is also true of those who claim to be spiritual children of God. Their testimony is false unless they also display the same faith and obedience of God’s firstfruits, the Apostles.

Charles Ellicott sees a prophetic application to the firstfruits and loaf. For him, it serves as one of the strongest reasons for believing that this is pointing to the reconversion of the Jews. Their forefathers were the first recipients of the promise, and it was only natural that their hope was that their descendants would become heirs as well. When a piece of dough is taken from the lump to make a consecrated cake, the consecration of the part extends over the whole; the character which is inherent in the root of a tree shows itself also in the branches. So we may believe that the latter end of Israel will be like its beginning. The calling to God’s service that was imparted to their forefathers was expected to be carried on by their descendants. It is only that now there had been an interruption for a certain span of time.⁵

H. A. Ironside notes if by exiling the Jews for a season would bring about the reconciling of the rest of the world to Himself, then would not His bringing the Jews back to Himself be anything less than the same as raising the dead to life? That is, as they wandered among all the nations, a disappointed and weary people by order of the God of their fathers, the message of grace would going out to the Gentiles, with a small remnant of Jews also receiving and accepting the message of Christ. So what will it mean to the whole world if the entire nation of Israel were to turn back to Jesus and accept Him as the Messiah so that they could then return to being His holy people again and be used by Him as witnesses to all nations everywhere?⁶

F. F. Bruce gives his comments on the roots and branches. He notices that Paul has changed the figures of speech from firstfruits and loaf to tree and branches. Since a tree is of the same essence throughout,⁷ the holiness of the root sanctifies the branches. It is natural for Jewish believers to think of the patriarchs as constituting the root of the tree whose branches are the Israelites of the Christian era. This interpretation would be in line with Paul’s later reference to contemporary Israel as “beloved for the sake of their forefathers” in verse 28. Probably, in this transition of thought as Paul passes from the one figure to the other with the firstfruits and loaf recognizing Jews as looking back at their forefathers for their claim to holiness, while the roots and branches are representative of the Christians looking back to Christ as their claim to holiness.⁸

John Stott also shares what he sees here. The Apostle uses these two little metaphors to construct a proverb. One taken from the ceremonial life of Israel, and the other from the agricultural. Both are clearly intended in some way to justify Paul’s confidence in the spread of blessings which he has been describing. We must also recognize in verses 15 and 16 there are “if” clauses. If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy.⁹ Perhaps this should be interpreted as follows: When a representative piece is consecrated to God as a token, this indicates that the whole belongs to Him. So when the first converts believed, the conversion of the rest can be expected to follow. Next, if the root is holy, so are the branches, perhaps meaning that as the Jewish patriarchs belong to God by covenant, so do their descendants who are included in the covenant. It seems to be this root and branches concept now leads Paul to develop his allegory of the olive tree.¹⁰

Then Douglas Moo gives his interpretation by saying that we should take verse 16 as being transitional. It supports the hope Paul has expressed in verse 15 by arguing that the blessings Israel has already received will lead to even greater blessing in the future. Paul uses two metaphors to make his point, each of which uses the logic of “if the part, then the whole” to anchor Paul’s confidence about a great future for Israel. The first one is drawn from Numbers 15:17–21. The “whole batch” refers to Israel as a whole, but to what does “the part of the dough offered as firstfruits” refer? Since Paul uses the word “firstfruits” for the first converts in a region,¹¹ he may have in mind the remnant of Jewish Christians of his own day.¹² The salvation of the remnant shows that God still considers Israel “holy,” with all the hope that this idea of holiness implies.¹³

Then Moo goes on to treat the subject of the roots in Paul’s illustration. For him, the “root” almost certainly represents the patriarchs. Jewish authors referred to the patriarchs as the “root,”¹⁴ and Paul himself in this context bases Israel’s future hope on God’s promise on the patriarchs.¹⁵ This being the case, it is more likely that “firstfruits” also refers to the patriarchs. God’s promise to the patriarchs has not been revoked; their descendants remain “holy.” By this Paul does not mean that all their descendants will be saved. Rather, “holy,” as in the First Covenant and 1 Corinthians 7:14, means that the people continue to be “set apart” by God for special attention to be used in His service.¹⁶

Another Jewish theologian gives us his perspective. If the challah offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole loaf. Today, challah describes the special braided loaves of bread served in Jewish homes on the Sabbath and during festivals. In the Bible the word describes a small “cake” baked from dough set aside for God; this must be done first (hence the term ‘firstfruits’). Only afterwards may the loaf made from that dough be eaten, so that the loaf is then “holy” in the sense of being usable at all.¹⁷ In the Talmud tractate of Hallah (or Challah), consisting of four chapters, we find the details of the whole procedure.¹⁸

David Stern goes on to say that Paul now illustrates the same principle in reverse. If the branches are holy, then so must the root be holy. Since they are connected to the root, the same nutrients that flow from the root go up to the branches. But in Paul’s metaphor, who or what is the root, or, in the earlier metaphor, the firstfruits? There are three distinct possibilities: (1) The believing remnant of Israel that is truly Israel (Romans 9:6–7), that is, the Messianic Jews (Romans 11:1–5). (2) Abraham (Romans 4:12) or all the Patriarchs (Romans 11:28). And (3) Yeshua the Messiah (Romans 8:29),¹⁹ who alone makes Israel holy.²⁰

And finally, Stern speaks of the branches and loaf. Who are the branches growing from this root, the loaf made from the dough from which the firstfruits came? Four options are: (1) Every single Jew, past, present and future. (2) Every single Messianic Jew, past, present and future. (3) The Jewish people, as a nation, though not necessarily every Jew. (4) All believers, Jewish and Gentile, past, present and future.”²¹ Stern believes that later in verse 26 we will find out why it must be the third of these, the Jewish nation. But for now, Paul begins to explain in the next two verses what he is driving at with all this talk about roots and branches.

Verses 17-18: However, when some of the branches were broke off, and branches from wild olive trees were grafted into those trees, then these wild branches should not feel as though they are better than the branches that are still there. Nevertheless, if you do feel good about it, remember that you are not supporting the root, the root is supporting you.

It is clear that Paul now turns his attention to the Gentiles in the congregation in Rome. He has said a lot about how the Jews were passed over in their favor, but such favor should not be taken as flattery. So he continues with his metaphor of the sanctified tree – representing the Jews, and how some of the original branches fell off because they no longer received the life-giving nutrients that caused them to bud, blossom and bear fruit. So God, not being satisfied with such a barren tree, decided to break off those dead branches and graft in some new branches taken from wild trees – representing the Gentiles.

The Psalmist has an excellent story of how all this took place. He writes: “You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and You planted it. You cleared the land for it. And its roots went deep and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shadow. And the tall trees were covered with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea, and its new branches to the River. Why have You broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its fruit? The wild pig from among the trees eats it away. And whatever moves in the field eats from it.”²²

This, of course, recalls God bringing Israel out of Egypt and planting them in the Promised Land. But they did not remain true to Him and His Word. So instead of remaining pure, the Israelites began to take on the character and customs of the heathens around them. So the Psalmist prays: “O God of heaven’s armies, we beg You to return. Look down from heaven and see. Take care of this vine. Take care of the root Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You have raised up for Yourself.”²³ But there is little evidence that the Psalmist knew exactly how God was going to take care of keeping this vine vibrant, growing and producing, for His honor and glory.