Book of Romans: A Bible study series in 17 parts
Lesson Sixteen: Gentiles for Jesus (Romans 15.8ff)
[To watch this on YouTube as it was given live on Zoom, click https://youtu.be/QiwLPEAUL4Q [The whole biblical text and the bibliography Bob used are at the end of this blog]
Introduction
It may surprise some of you that in the First Century, during the time of the writing of the Newer Testament, that having Gentiles in the church was a new thing. Jewish people wrote about a messiah to come. God had worked with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Moses and David and the 39 books of the Older Testament were all about Jewish people and Israel and then around 0 BC, Yeshua was born and lived and preached. He was executed by the Romans and buried. Then he broke out of the tomb and lived and preached for 6 more weeks. One day he farewelled his students and arose in front of them, telling them to wait for the Promise of the Father in Jerusalem. They did wait, and 7 days later came Shavuot, and the Ruach Hakodesh fell on the 120 gathered in that Upper Room. They experienced the joy and presence of the Lord by His Spirit in a brand-new way and went downstairs and began to preach about what they knew. That day about 3,000 Jewish people gave their lives to the Lord. What a start-up!
Listen to these words from the Apostle Peter, there on Shavuot, “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2.39)
I know today something about this promise. I also have been given that promise and entered like those 3,000 into the promise of Eternity with Yeshua. When Peter spoke that word in Acts 2, I wonder if he knew what he was saying. The phrase, “all who are far off” is a reference to Gentiles, you know, non-Jews. (Zech. 6.15). The Apostle Paul would later write about this in Ephesians chapter 2 “But now in Messiah Yeshua you (Gentiles) who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah.” (2.13)
The question today is… those Gentiles in Rome, who already have an assignment from Paul (chapter 11) to make Jewish people jealous, what else do we know they have to fulfil? What is required of the Gentiles for Jesus movement? Especially as it relates to the Jewish people. And one other question I have about Paul… how did he decide about his travels in his famous missionary journeys? Those questions await us as we dig into the 15th chapter of Romans today.
If you haven’t read the chapter yet, please pause your playback here on YouTube, read the chapter—it will only take about 3 minutes—and then hit play again as we unpack what Paul is teaching us today, 2,000 years later, thanks.
Welcome back. Let’s learn together chapter 15 with this outline today:
1. Gentiles are to be included (8-14)
2. Gentiles are Paul’s priestly offering (15-16)
3. Rome to be a new base of operations (17-33)
4. Gentiles owe support the Jerusalem saints (26-27)
Let’s turn in our Bibles to Romans 15, beginning at verse 8 for this lesson, titled “Gentiles for Jesus”
First then, Gentiles are to be included (8-14)
It’s as if Paul finds a concordance, or we might use Google in today’s terms, to search for biblical references to Gentiles in the Older Testament. He doesn’t need to do so, as he has been a student of the Scriptures his whole life, and certainly while under the tutelage of Gamaliel. Paul quotes four times from Tanakh as if one or two was insufficient that Gentiles were ever in the plan and purpose of God. He makes it clear that the nations were always to be included in God’s economy. Note, he doesn’t say they are Israel, but rather that the promises of God to Abraham always saw the nations as in view. First in verse 9, he quotes Psalm 18.49. “I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD, and I will sing praises to Your name.”
Paul is not saying we would have a praise service by Jews while Gentiles looked on from afar. He is saying the Gentiles will be among us and we among them in this praise to the Lord.
Paul then (verse 10) calls on Moses to testify about Gentiles. He cites Deuteronomy 32, the great Song of Moses, the swan song of the primary deliverer of the Jewish people. “Rejoice, O nations, with His people” (32.43)
Even though we had escaped Egypt and watched their great military be swallowed in the Red Sea, and though we had crossed the wilderness of Arabia, through the enemy nations of Edom and Bashan and Amori, yet Moses knew that the nations would be rejoicing with the people of Israel in due course. That prophetic announcement is likely unheard by the Jewish nation as we overlooked the Promised Land that first time.
Paul goes back (verse 11) to the Psalms in the shortest psalm, with “Praise the LORD, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples!” (117.1)
Everyone in all the nations of the world, those known then, and dare I say, those known now, including Australia and Japan, including New Zealand and the USA… all nations should laud him, with high praises. The Psalmists never dismissed the nations; they foresaw the inclusion of the Gentiles with the Jewish people.
Finally (as finally as Paul ever is final), in verse 12, he calls his favourite prophet to the witness stand, Isaiah who tell us “Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious.” (11.10)
Paul returns in this final reference to the opening stanza of his letter to Rome, that Jesus is the hope of the nations. (1.2-5). Remember to the Jew in ancient Rome, hope was deliverance from Roman oppression and messianic hope revolved around one person, the messiah, who would make a clear distinction between Israel and the nation. But in Paul’s clear thinking and real messianic hope, all the nations (and even Israel) would acknowledge the messiah Yeshua, and would be brought into the olive tree together, Jew and Gentile, sharing in the same life source, the promises of God to Abraham, thus establishing real peace.
Paul makes clear in this opening section of today’s talk that Gentiles were not to be forgotten, that they were ever in view by God in being part of the people of God. Following our last chapter and the teaching about kosher foods and Sabbath days and other Jewish observances, Gentiles as Gentiles were always welcomed to be messianic people. And if true then, even more so today.
Next, (15-16)
The word in the Newer Testament for priest is used 150 times or so and always in the noun form. Chief priests, high priests, regular priests… but only one time as a verb. It’s right here in our text today. Verse 16 says, “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
We make the word ‘priest’ into a noun I suppose by translation “ministering as a priest” but the Greek is simply ‘priesting’ the Gospel of God. I love that. Look, some English purists don’t like words which are nouns being used as verbs, such as labelling or birthing or any hundreds of words which are so used, but such use actually clarifies their meaning simply. The gerund to describe this action is verbing.
My friends at Grammarly have a paragraph to describe a pretend business meeting with all the verbing that goes on in the modern world.
“We’re all set, but we need to table that topic for next time.” “You want me to calendar that meeting?” “Yes. Prioritize this topic and action the other two. We can fast-track this project for completion.” “But not without workshopping it. We’ve got to beef it up.” “There’s no way to task anyone with this without approval.”
With that excurses under our belt, let’s return to the verb/noun in verse 16. Paul says he wants to priest the Gospel among the Gentiles. He sees his ministry as powerful and daily as the priests in any temple worldwide, there in Rome or back in Jerusalem. It’s as if he’s saying, ‘when you think religion and purpose, and personal attention, here I will show you mine. It is you people. I live to priest to you all that God has shown me. It’s ceremonial. It’s conclusive. It’s powerful. It’s representative. It’s acceptable to the Almighty. Nothing I’m doing is for my own benefit; it’s all about God’s relationship with each of you. You are not left out. You are included. You are the joy of the Father’s pleasure.” That’s how I read verse 16. Maybe that helps some of you today.
Rome to be a new base of operations (17-33)
Paul moves from activity to location in the next section. He has made it clear that his ministry so far has met with both success among the nations (1.5) and some serious resistance back in Jerusalem. He longs to be with the Roman believers to impart some spiritual gifting and to have some fruit. (1.13) But I see another thing. Back in Antioch, where he and Peter had some dispute (See Galatians 1-2), the believers might have chosen sides. Jewish and Gentile Christians were no doubt confused when Paul stood up and confronted Peter in public about his two-faced activities. Antioch had been Paul’s sending centre and I imagine his home base. Now, if I read this section correctly, Paul is hoping to go on to Spain and preach where no one had gone before. If so, Antioch back in Syria would have been too far to be his centre, and thus he was looking for a new home base, like Rome. Thus, his letter has several purposes, including the clarification of the Gospel and the role of Law and Grace, the role of the Spirit in our lives, and so much more theological information we have covered the last four months. I believe the letter was also an invitation by Paul asking the leadership in Rome to consider him worthy of settling or at least setting up a new apostolate there.
His final words in chapter 15 sound like that to me. “That I may come to you in joy by the will of God and findrefreshing rest in your company.” (verse 32)
The final section today is actually back inside the 3rd section. Pardon my outline, but this made sense to me to separate. In the 4th section today we say, “Gentiles owe support to the Jerusalem saints” (26-27)
NT Wright says in his commentary here that he has translated the Newer Testament Greek into English without much difficulty, until he gets to this section and 1 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. What do these have in common? Money. Wright says, “There are some cultures in which it seems easier to do than in others, and there are some people who seem to have overcome their inhibitions and to be able to say what needs to be said. But I sense in Paul what I see in myself and in a great many others: a reluctance even to raise the topic at all, and then a sense of nervousness in what we say, lest at any point we should be misunderstood.” (page 126-127)
I guess I’m one who has overcome my inhibitions. Jesus taught about money more than love and without hindrance. He taught that either you love money or love God, you can’t love both. People who get trapped into a love affair with money and all it can buy will put God on the back burner if he’s on the stove at all. I regularly ask for money from people who believe in our cause. I think it’s normal. If you like a brand of coffee and are committed to its flavour and aroma and the pleasure of drinking it, then you ought to buy it, invest in it, share information about it with others. That’s the most natural thing to do.
If you believe in Jesus and the community of faith, and you have two shirts and you see a brother in need, you give him a shirt. What’s so hard about that? If you know there is a need to support the poor in Jerusalem or in Western Sydney, and to help relieve conditions of blight, and you have two shekels or two thousand dollars or two coats, why would you not pass on what you have to others?
Remember when Paul and Barnabas came back to Jerusalem after 14 years (Galatians 2.1ff) and had a sit down with the original three, Peter, James and John? Paul’s summary of that meeting was that the three “gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They only asked us to remember the poor — the very thing I also was eager to do.” (Gal. 2.9-10)
Paul is a righteous Jew and it’s Jewish to be generous. Now he’s telling the Roman believers that he has a collection in hand which was given to him by the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. He is on his way to Jerusalem to convey the offering. Remember in those days they had no EFTPOS, no telegraphic transfers, no paper money, no internet banking. He and his team had to carry all the funds and were in danger of shipwreck and of bandits, and he was also likely going to be accused of pilfering himself. That’s why he has made it clear so often that he didn’t take any funds himself from any of the offerings. He earned his own keep by tentmaking. By the way, he did not insist on that as the norm for church leadership as he said, “don’t muzzle the ox while he is threshing” (1 Cor 9.9 reflecting Deut. 25.4) and “the labourer is worthy of his wages.” (1 Tim. 5.18) He also taught Timothy that a leader who is involved in teaching is worthy of ‘double honour” (which is only a monetary term then. 1 Tim. 5.17)
But to make sure the Romans didn’t miss it, he clarifies the word for them.
“For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.” (.27)
Yes, I’m making sure you get this. I think Paul was clear as clear could be. If Gentiles have received benefits in being in the Body, then they are in debt to the Jewish believers. And the debt is in material things. Of course, I’d rather a Gentile tell Gentiles this. I’d rather it not appear a guilt trip. I wish NT Wright or Stuart Briscoe whose commentaries I read each week along with others like John Wesley would have said such. Even John Murray says, “Gentiles should minister to the Jews in material things.” But that’s about all he says in this regard in this verse. I will have to be more selective.
For instance, Leslie Flynn from New York wrote in his book, ‘What the Church owes the Jew’ “Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, used to start every New Year by writing a cheque to John Wilkinson, founder and director of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, one of the great Jewish missions of its time, headquartered in England. With the cheque would invariably be the note, “to the Jew first.” And within the next few days, Hudson Taylor would receive a cheque for the same amount from John Wilkinson with the note, ‘and also to the Gentiles.’”
Flynn went on to say, “For many years January was the biggest month for giving to Jewish missions, simply because people took to heart the statement, ‘to the Jew first.’” (page 140)
There are dozens of major leaders in the church today who voice support for Jewish missions and we in Jews for Jesus are privileged to be the recipients of their vocal and financial support. We are overwhelmed each day when letters of support and direct deposits are made into our bank account by ordinary Christians who want us to have the wherewithal to make a difference in the lives of Jewish people. Maybe you on this Zoom call are among them. Maybe you are watching this YouTube video will be among them. We even put our giving link in the caption each week in YouTube. Ordinary believers send us money like the Macedonians and the Achaeans did in Paul’s day. We use it for the glory and the purposes of God.
Paul says, Gentiles, you have a responsibility to support Jewish people. You are the beneficiaries; you must share in material things as well.
By the way, this is not a self-serving exercise in biblical interpretation. This is letting the text speak.
Here’s what I read today in chapter 15. We are to accept and receive one another, Jew and Gentile, not for the purpose of judgment, but as Messiah welcomed us, we should welcome and embrace one another. It has ever been God’s plan to include all peoples who will put their faith in Yeshua, who become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers. That plan included Gentiles and Jews who believe in Jesus and grow in love and encouragement and hope together. Paul wants us to pray for him in his efforts, even as modern ministers want the same, and we should join them in that prayer ministry.
God wants us to love one another and represent him in this dark and darkening world. Amen?
Dear friends on YouTube and Facebook and on this zoom call, if you are not yet a believer in Yeshua, I urge you today, call on him while he is near. If you know your Torah, and you know yourself, you know you need help, you’ve been stumbling, you need salvation, you need a Saviour. Joel the prophet said, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be rescued, will be saved.
If you want, you can pray a prayer with me just now to solidify your choice. Something like this, “Father in Yeshua’s name, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Yeshua to save me from myself, from my selfishness, from my despair and the harm I cause so many. Thank you for making me right with God by your sacrifice. I receive Yeshua (Jesus) as my saviour and the lover of my soul. He frees me to love others. I repent of my sins and ask for God’s forgiveness to be my portion. I receive the free gift of God, eternal life in Messiah Jesus our Lord. Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer, will you let us know via the messages or write me directly. I would appreciate that.
NEXT WEEK we will look at the final chapter and see not only a long list of persons of good character and worth, but also, we will hear Paul’s summary of his letter which is so important. Please try to join us again then, as we only have one more week to go in this study series.
I’m delighted to be able to read and help us understand this book each Friday here from my home in Sydney. Shabbat shalom!
The actual text:
Rom. 15.8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, “THEREFORE I WILL GIVE PRAISE TO YOU AMONG THE GENTILES, AND I WILL SING TO YOUR NAME.” 10 Again he says, “REJOICE, O GENTILES, WITH HIS PEOPLE.” 11 And again, “PRAISE THE LORD ALL YOU GENTILES, AND LET ALL THE PEOPLES PRAISE HIM.” 12 Again Isaiah says, “THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE, AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.”
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Rom. 15:14 And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation;
21 but as it is written, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.”
Rom. 15:22 For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; 23 but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you 24 whenever I go to Spain — for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while — 25 but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
Rom. 15:30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; 32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
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Bibliography
Briscoe, Stuart. The Communicator’s Commentary (Romans), Word Books, Waco Texas.1982.
Dunn, James D.G., Word Biblical Commentary, Romans, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1988.
Flynn, Leslie, What the Church Owes the Jew, Magnus Press, 1998.
Murray, John, The Epistle to the Romans, New International Commentary on the New Testament, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1965.
Robinson, Donald. Selected Works (Volume I) edit by Bolt and Thompson, Australian Church Record, Camperdown, 2008.
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Wright, Tom, Paul for Everyone, SPCK, Westminster John Knox Press, London, 2004
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