Today we see Paul’s last really theological writing, before getting into more of the application portion of Romans. He is taking on the question, “Why then all of the suffering of Israel? Why the law; did God hate Israel, or want to punish her? Was he making a mockery of the Jews?”

Paul’s answer to that question was definitely a “No…not at all!” The Jews were part of the message…it was through their faithful attempts to live out the law that we get evidence that it isn’t possible to pull it off. The Jews were the most well-behaved, God-fearing, and God-supported people…and they still couldn’t pull it off. That isn’t an indictment on them…it is evidence that people aren’t able to do it…we aren’t capable of fully living like Jesus. Further, it was through their sacrifice and their toil that the rest of the world can now be saved; the Jewish people paved the way for the rest of us Gentiles.

God wasn’t hating on anyone…He was helping us to understand. Think about how you raise your kids…sometimes you know the best thing you can do is to let them figure something out on their own. If it isn’t something that is life-threatening, this is actually, usually, a decent strategy. We let them fumble around and eventually figure certain things out. In doing that, they not only learn how to do something, but they learn that they don’t know everything. It is in fumbling around that we gain appreciation for someone having the answer. That’s part of the reason that most people, as they get older, start to be more and more open to the wisdom of others…because we know we don’t have time to figure everything out! The Jews were fumbling around for 1500 years so the rest of us can just accept the fact that we aren’t going to be good enough to EARN God’s Grace…Jesus is really our best and ONLY shot at it!

We pick on the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Jews of the Old Testament a lot as we read the Bible and try to understand our faith…because we see a lot of examples of how NOT to do it. But, in reality, there are MANY stories of faithful Jews who were doing their best and who eventually turned to Jesus that we don’t know about. They were patiently waiting, and their Messiah came. Today I am reminded how fortunate I am to be on THIS side of Jesus’ life…that I don’t have to endure what many of those Jews had to endure. Today, I am hard on myself because I don’t live up to God’s standards, but at least I know deep down that God isn’t also doing the same thing…He isn’t judging me based on those standards. At least I know, as hard as I am on myself, that God sees me in a different light. I am so thankful for that, and for the years and years of sacrifice of the Jews that came before me.