THE MYSTERY OF INGRATITUDE St Paul the Apostle addresses the issue of being ‘God’s chosen people’ which the Jews abused. Instead of feeling the sublime love of God for them and feeling committed to their responsibility of preaching among the Gentiles, their hearts were hardened with ingratitude. They stumbled in the Lord Jesus Christ, ‘the cornerstone’, who became for them ‘a stumbling stone and a rock of offence’ (9: 32,33). Whereas believers accepted Him as the elect and precious cornerstone (Ps 118:22; 1 Peter 2: 6, 7). In Chapter 10, St Paul writes to us about the issue of the ingratitude of the Jews so that we also might avoid falling into that in any manner. 1- Zeal of the Jews Tainted by Lack of Knowledge 1-5 a- Their Ignorance of God’s Righteousness b- Their Ignorance of the Objective of the Law 2- Their Rejection of the Simplicity of Faithv 6-11 3- Their Rejection of God’s Comprehensive Love 12-13 4- Their Rejection of the Commitment to Preach 14-15 5- The Testimony of the Prophets Concerning their Ingratitude19-21 1- The Zeal of the Jews for God Accompanied with Ignorance: The Apostle addresses a most delicate issue, which could result in an accusation that he has betrayed his own people. He proclaims every now and then how much he loves his brothers according to the flesh; and his acknowledgement of the privileges they had been granted out of all other nations in the times of the fathers and of the prophets. Besides, he admits their religious zeal although this was not accompanied with true spiritual comprehension. He says: “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (1, 2). St John Chrysostom comments on this apostolic saying and explains that as the Apostle gets ready to reproach them severely, he wishes to tell them: Do not consider the words or the accusations as though they came from a hostile person for your ‘salvation’ is the object of my desire and my prayer to God. What a great evangelical spirit driven by love! The continuous resistance of the Jews did not hurt his loving feelings since nothing could make him more happy than the salvation of others and even those who resisted him…he carries them in his heart and yearns for their salvation while he does not cease to pray for them. This tender fatherly attitude can only be found in God’s true servants. They cry within their depths with Samuel the prophet and say: “…as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way” (1Samuel 12: 23). The sign of love is evident in lucidity and clarity. He testifies concerning their zeal for God. However, it is not accompanied with knowledge. St Paul had committed that error before, when his zeal breathed out “threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” (acts 9: 1). St Augustine says: [They believed they were offering a service to God by killing His servants! What a dreadful mistake! When you wish to 260 please God by beating His loved ones and bringing them down, by destroying the living temple of God and bringing it down so that you might not abandon the temple made of stone! What cursed blindness! This is what happened to Israel, and it served to call the Gentiles. We believe this has partly happened though not for all; for not all the branches have been cut off – only some of them- so that the branches of the wild olive tree could be grafted, (Romans 11: 17,25)1]. The pitfall into which the Jews fell could also be a danger to some Christians if they have “a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge”. For instance, a person could adopt some fanatic thought without comprehending the upright spiritual faith or without an open loving heart towards others. In other cases, a person could strive on the path of virtue, yet without leaning on God’s chest, but depending on his own human power, personal potentials and temporal knowledge. The reason for the ingratitude of the Jews is due to their ignorance concerning two issues: First: Ignorance of God’s righteousness; Second: Ignorance of the purpose of the Law. First, their ignorance of God’s righteousness arises from their ignorance concerning God’s work in the life of a believer. Therefore they seek their own righteousness rather than seeking God’s righteousness; and consequently this becomes a barrier to their salvation. Second, their ignorance of the purpose and wisdom of the Law: this leads them to hold on to the deadly literal application that lacks the life giving Spirit. First: Ignorance of God’s righteousness “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (3). St Paul tries to give them an excuse: “being ignorant of God's righteousness”. However, he turns that excuse into an accusation against them as it arises out of their pride and self conceit- “their own righteousness”. Their ignorance is not due to urgent external circumstances, but due to inner corruption which settles in the soul. When the ‘ego’ is enlarged, it occupies the heart and cannot accept having any one else within. Even if that ego becomes religious, it works within its own enclosed limits. Therefore it seeks to establish its own righteousness, rather than opening up to love in order to receive the grace of God. Righteousness through faith is granted only through the love and grace of God. Isaiah the prophet speaks about self righteousness and says: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness’s are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away”, (Isa 64: 6). St Paul the Apostle states that the Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness (1Cor 1: 30).Consequently, anyone who hungers for this righteousness actually hungers for the righteousness descending from heaven, and which God grants. This is not the righteousness that man makes for himself. If man did not manufacture righteousness for himself, the Apostle himself would not have told the Jews these words: “…they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” 1 In Ioan. tr. 93: 4 261 (3)…God’s righteousness does not refer to the fact that God is righteous, but it refers to the righteousness which God grants to man and which makes him righteous through God. Once more, in what sense are these Jews righteous? It is a righteousness which they have gained and assumed by their power; and therefore came to claim themselves as upholders who have fulfilled the Law through their personal virtues. St Augustine1 God alone is righteous and He is the One who justifies and grants righteousness to man. They seek to institute their self righteousness in the sense that they believe that goodness arises from their own selves and is not a gift from God. In this manner, they ‘have not submitted to the righteousness of God’. This is due to their arrogance and their belief that they could please God by their own efforts and not through any God given assets. St Augustine2 St Paul addresses these words to the Jews who, due to their self conceit, have despised the grace of God and do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says that they seek to establish their righteousness and claim that it comes from the Law. This does not mean that they obeyed the Law, but that they established their righteousness in the Law since they proclaimed it was within their power to carry it out. At the same time, they ignore God’s righteousness- not the righteousness due to God- but the righteousness that God grants to man. St Augustine3 Second: Ignorance of the purpose of the law: The ‘ego’ had hindered them from recognizing God and His work within them. As a result their proclaimed self righteousness became an obstacle which prevented them from enjoying God’s righteousness. Their tenacity in observing the literal and formal dictates of the Law made them miss the pleasure embedded in the true purpose of the Law and that is the ultimate meeting with the Savior. The Apostle states: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. For Moses described the righteousness which is of the law. That the man which doeth those things shall live by them” (4, 5). The Apostle borrows from Moses these words: “You shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them” (Lev 18: 5). St John Chrysostom4 also comments that a person can neither live nor be justified if he does not fulfill all the rituals and dictates of the Law, and this is an impossible task. Therefore if the Jews wish to be justified through that same Law, the Apostle concludes that every human being would be totally unable to achieve righteousness and life.By these words, the Apostle urges us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who is the only One who has not broken the Law and is indeed capable of justifying those who believe in 1 Ibid 26:1 2 City of God 17:4 3 Grace & Freewill 24 4 In Rom. hom 17 262 Him. St Paul does not leave the Jews any chance to make excuses; for the Law itself proclaims the Lord Jesus Christ as the Only One where righteousness is seated and Who enjoys the righteousness indicated in the Law. Any person who rejects Him is actually rejecting righteousness; even if he is strongly convinced that he would be justified by the Law. The Lord Jesus Christ is the purpose of the Law for justification. Through the Law, He has been declared to all who believe. St Clement of Alexandria1 2- Their Rejection of Simple Faith: Some might wonder: If the Jews have failed in achieving righteousness through the Law and in obeying its commandments, then how will we perform in the light of the evangelical commandments which are harder than those of the Law? This is why the Apostle promptly clarifies the new assets that we have come to possess through the Lord Jesus Christ and which could be summed up in two essential points: 1-Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is simple and easily within our reach (6-8). 2- The Almighty Father has raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead in order to grant us the active power of the resurrection within us (9-11). 1-Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ is simple and easily within our reach (6-8). In this manner, St Paul not only destroys the excuses of the Jews, but he also opens the door of faith before us. He indicates we can live by faith which is easy to have through the risen life provided for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. “But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven? (That is, to bring Christ down from above) or, who will descend into the abyss? (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach” (6-8). The Apostle has borrowed these words from Moses after giving them an evangelical basis. The following words occur in the Book of Deuteronomy: ‘For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou should say, who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea that thou should say, who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou may do it (Deut 30: 11-14). Moses was speaking to his people about the Law or the divine commandments or divine Word. He indicates how it has become in their hands and not out of their reach. It is a Law that is neither in the heights of heaven- and therefore difficult to reach or hard to get acquainted with- nor is it in the depths where no one can descend to bring out. Indeed, the Word has come to be with them, reproaching and urging them to return to God. This can be said about the Word of God that is proclaimed through transcribed letters and which has been delivered into the hands of the prophet Moses-who would put them in the 1 Strom 2:9 263 tabernacle in the midst of the people. How much more applicable are these words to the incarnated Word of God, who became man and dwelled among us and as one of us….He is no longer a stranger and He does not live far away from us…but He is close by…He lives within us and fills our depths with His Spirit. Therefore we are enabled to live through Him in our words and deeds, and with all our feelings and sentiments. In the old times, the Jews boasted that they were God’s people who had received the divine Law delivered by the angels to Moses (Heb 2: 2). Now, the Word Himself has come incarnated, granting us Himself and making us become the children of God in Him and by the Holy Spirit in the waters of baptism. St Augustine says: [He sent the Law through a servant, but He came Himself to grant grace1]. The righteousness ordained by the Law is difficult if not impossible. Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ has come to give easy commandments. He has not come to be lenient with His believers, but He has offered Himself to come and live in them. Indeed, He came to live within them. His intention is to make them more righteous than the Scribes and the Pharisees rather than to make them fulfill the Law. These are His words: “…except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5: 20). St Augustine recounts how he met God, and says that he foolishly sought God in nature and in the writings of philosophers. He went outside himself in his search whereas God was deep within his inner depths and elevated above all heights…therefore let us seek Him within us and find that he reigns in the heart, and let us celebrate His marriage there! 2- The Almighty Father has raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead in order to grant us the active power of the resurrection within us (9-11). Enjoying the risen Lord within us “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (9-11). Even though faith is not a difficult concept, yet St John Chrysostom2 states that it requires a soul that is alert and accepts the Lord Jesus Christ who is risen from the dead. In an earlier discourse, St Paul says about Abraham ‘who against hope believed in hope’ (Rom 4:18). Similarly, a Christian accepts a life established in the Lord Jesus Christ and which contradicts natural hope…this is the seat of our faith! Note the following in the above apostolic words: a. The mouth and the heart join together in faith: “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (9). The heart here refers to the inner man, while the mouth refers to the outer and apparent life. In essence, our faith is the meeting of the inner soul with her Groom, without excluding the body with all its members! In other words, our faith affects and touches our inner depths and our external deeds. Without the heart, our external testimony would be nothing but chatter, fanaticism, and formalities. At the same 1 In Ioan. tr 3:2 2 In Rom. hom 17 264 time, without a demonstrated life and testimony we cannot enjoy the reward: “whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt 10: 32). This confession arises from the roots of the heart. Sometimes we hear someone confessing his belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we are unable to discern whether he is a believer or an unbeliever. We should not ask anyone to confess the Lord Jesus Christ if he is not a believer with his whole heart; for anyone who confesses in this way is giving words that do not match with what is in his heart. St Augustine1 May we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts so that He reigns there as our God and delivers our depths from all darkness. Then we will respond to our Savior by leading a consecrated life in Him, and ultimately confess Him with our lips. St Ambrose2 considers that confession with the mouth represents one of the kisses which a believer presents to his/her Groom the Lord Jesus Christ while wooing Him and saying: ‘Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine’ (Sg of Sol 1: 2). Since the Groom does not stop kissing us with the sacrificial and practical kisses of love; then it is appropriate to reciprocate these kisses with kisses, and love with love, so that we live in Him as the beloved and sanctified. St Ambrose also considers that confession with the mouth coupled with faith in the heart are similar to the two silver trumpets (numbers 10: 2): [With these trumpets, a person will arrive to the holy land-that is the grace of the resurrection. Let them call you so that you may hear the voice of God. Then the words of the prophets and the angels will motivate you constantly and will promote you quickly to the heights3]. b. Confessing the Lord Jesus Christ with the mouth does not mean mere lip service. Rather, it means emphasizing a holy life for the glory of God and not for the glory of the confessor. The Lord says: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven’, (Matt 5: 16).St Augustine says: [Those who desire to reveal their good deeds to people in order to glorify the One from whom they received these deeds and which have been revealed through them; then people will follow their example and adopt their faith. Truly, their light shines before men, for the rays of love shine out from them…note the Apostle when he also says: ‘Even as I please all men in all things’, (1Cor 10: 33). However he does not stop at this point, otherwise it would appear that pleasing people is his final goal and his words would be misleading. Therefore he says: ‘… or if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ’ (Gal 1: 10). He also promptly goes on to explain why he pleases people and says: ‘…not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved’, (1Cor 10: 33). Therefore he does not seek to please people for his own benefit, otherwise he would not be a servant of Christ. Indeed, he pleases people in order to save them and in order for him to become a faithful apostle of the Lord4]. 1 In Ioan tr 26:1 2 Ep. 41: 15 3 On Belief in Resurr 2:112 4 Ser. On N.T. 4:4 265 c. ‘For the Scripture says: Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame’ (11)…The Apostle Paul borrows these words from Isaiah (28: 16-Septuagint Translation) as he wishes to underline two ideas. The first idea is that a person could be put to shame due to the Law since he is unable to be justified by it, whereas he would not be put to shame through his living faith. The second ides is that he has not specified any group as he says: ‘Whoever believes on Him…’.This confirms the comprehensive nature of salvation where there is no distinction between a Jew and a Gentile. 3- Their Rejection of God’s Comprehensive Love : The Apostle has already revealed the mystery of the ingratitude of the Jews: their rejection of the simple accessible faith. He used a prophetic expression from the prophet Isaiah (28: 16) which proclaims that ‘whoever’ believes will not be put to shame…He also borrows from Joel the words: ‘whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered’ (Joel 2: 32) these are the words St Peter also borrowed in his sermon on the day of the Pentecost (Acts 2:21). In this manner, Paul the Apostle does not cease to affirm that the door of faith is open to all nations. St Peter accordingly proclaims in the house of Cornelius that God is the ‘Lord of all’ (Acts 10: 36). “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (12, 13). 4-Their Rejection of the Commitment to Preach theWord : St Paul presents them with a new indictment, and that is their disregard of the principal role which they should have played as God’s chosen people: to preach the Messiah of whom the Old Testament has witnessed with symbols and prophecies. In other words, it would have been more appropriate for them to preach the faith rather than to engage vainly in foolish arguments with the Gentiles. This is the implication of the Apostle’s words: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (14, 15). St John Chrysostom provides a sweet analysis to this apostolic passage and says1 that the Apostle disrobes them of every excuse. Having told them that they ‘have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge’, he uses questions as a way to clarify that they should have been the first believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Prophets had been sent as preachers to witness for Him among them through prophecies. However, they blocked their ears and rejected the faith. Salvation demands witnessing to His name as Joel the prophet states: ‘that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered’ (Rom 10:13;Joel 2:31). Witnessing to His name requires faith in Him, and faith requires hearing about Him, and hearing is only achieved through preachers, and preachers do not preach unless they are commissioned…God had actually commissioned preachers and 1 In Rom. hom 18 266 they had preached ages before His coming. Accordingly, Isaiah, proclaims the mission of preachers who proclaim peace (Isa 52: 7). In spite of that, the Jews refuse to have faith…and they have no excuse. It would have been appropriate for the Jews to surpass the nations and be the first to accept faith in the redeeming Messiah, and to play the role of the preachers. In this manner, they would have completed the mission of their prophets rather than resist the faith. That is how the Apostle reveals their dual indictment. In any case, this rejection of faith has been foretold by Isaiah, and the Apostle says: “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world” (16-18). Isaiah had foretold that not all would obey the Gospel, since many of the Jews would reject the mission to preach that which the prophet himself had proclaimed (Isa 53:1)…He has presented the news so that they would believe in the Gospel. However, they did not hear even though the nations living in the extreme ends of the world have heard and have believed. Indeed, these became witnesses against the Jews. The Apostle borrows a part of Psalm 19 in which the Psalmist sings: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world’…In this Psalm, the singer proclaims that witnessing for God is general and preaching about His deeds is presented to all mankind through nature herself (the heavens and the stars). Through the words of the preachers which reach the ends of the earth- and as though the singer envisions, with a prophetic spirit, the ministry of the apostles. It is a ministry that has widened its circle to embrace all the nations and Gentiles from the rising of the sun to its setting. 5- The Testimony of the Prophets Concerning the Ingratitude of the Jews : In this discourse, St Paul exposes the mystery concerning the ingratitude of the Jews towards the righteousness of God, their lack of understanding the purpose of the Law, their rejection of the simple and easily attainable faith, their limited hearts incapable of accepting God’s comprehensive love for all mankind, and their disregard of their mission as preachers proclaiming the Messiah and Savior of the world. The Apostle presents the witness of the two greatest prophets – Moses and Isaiah- which reveals the ingratitude of the Jews: ‘But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you, (Deut 32: 21). But Isaiah is very bold, and says, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me, (Isa 65: 1). But to Israel he says, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people, (Isa 65: 2)’; (Rom 10: 19-21). In these Apostolic words, which are borrowed from the sayings of the prophets Moses and Isaiah, we note the following points: 267 First: St Paul asks: ‘…did Israel not know?’ According to St John Chrysostom, the Apostle is wondering if Israel has heard but has not understood? If the Gentiles and the heathen have heard and have accepted the faith; how much more appropriate would it have been for the Jews to whom [God had given all the signs ages ago]. These signs were intended to lift the mist from their eyes1. Second: The Apostle borrows the expression Moses uses in (Deut 32: 21) ‘They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation’...and it is like God has accepted the heathen Gentiles as His people due to their faith in order to arouse the feelings of the Jews. Consequently, they would repent for their ingratitude and turn to God. In this manner, God has not closed the door in the face of anyone. Third: St John Chrysostom finds a reference to the whole Old Testament in the words: ‘All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people’. Throughout the years, God has stretched out His hands through the prophets who have constantly proclaimed Him; and through the revelation of His love to them in spite of their obstinacy and rejection. He is the tender Father who stretches out His hands towards His people as a father would towards his young child, even though the child rejects the loving embrace of his father. St Justin finds in these prophetic words (Isa 65: 2) a reference to the Cross upon which the Lord, at His death, stretched out His arms to embrace all mankind2. 1 Ibid 2 Dial. With trypho 97
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