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December 17, 2011 |
| The Real Jew | ||
Some Christians have the mistaken belief that Judaism is a religion based on "works", not on "faith". They come to this understanding very naturally - that's what they see of the religious leaders of Jesus' time. But it wasn't always this way.
From the Old Testament we know God allowed the Israelites to be conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians as punishment for their idolatry. We also know that they returned to the land after 70 years in captivity. As the New Testament opens we find them under the control of the Romans. But what happened between the Old Testament and the New is important here.
Israel was conquered by the Greeks. Eventually they drove out the Greeks but were soon after conquered by the Romans. Over this period the Jews came to understand that these were all punishments for not obeying God's law and they determined this would not happen again - and that's where they got on the wrong track. Judaism transformed from a religion of the heart and faith into one of following the letter of the law and works, doing what is right to be seen by men.
There was also a lot of arrogance among Jews. They considered that they must be a great people because they had been chosen by God. But they didn't understand that when you go into your house you don't choose the prettiest or strongest key to open the door - you choose they key that will get you in the door. God chose them as a tool to use to bring glory to himself, not to them.
Paul deals in various places with various aspects of what Judaism had been and what it became (See Hebrews 11). In this lesson he deals with hypocrisy among Jews, but not the kind of hypocrisy we usually see.
The verses below are a mix of two translations, one that is very direct (Aramaic NT) and one that is more smoothed (NIV). Because smoothing requires interpreting and restating what the author means I usually prefer the direct version. But sometimes the direct version is too direct and hard to understand. So I've tried to get the best of both worlds.
This passage begins with one of the longer sentences Paul ever wrote.
17 [If you call yourself a Jew] and are comforted by The Written Law and are boasting in God, 18 you who know his will and discern what is right, you who are taught from The Written Law, 19 and you are confident yourself that you are a leader of the blind and a light of those who are in darkness, 20 and an instructor of those lacking understanding and a teacher of children, and you have [the embodiment] of knowledge and […] truth in The Written Law, 21 you therefore who are teaching others, you do not teach yourself. […]
"While the Gentile had knowledge of God, Paul says that the Jew had in the law a much clearer understanding of the essential features of knowledge and of the truth. What was written on the human heart and subsequently obscured through the fall and sin was made explicit in the Mosaic Law—and much more as well. In terms of revelation from God, the Jew was in a position of privilege for he not only had nature and conscience, he also had the Mosaic Law."1
The NIV closes the verses above with the words "Do you not teach yourself?" But from the Aramaic NT we see the more accusative "You do not teach yourself". Paul is saying that these people are not applying to their own lives, the things they teach others. He continues on with some examples.
21 […] You who are preaching that people should not steal, you are stealing!
22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, you commit adultery, and you who despise idols plunder the holy place!
23 And you who are boasting in The Written Law, you violate The Written Law, and you insult God himself!
Paul is speaking to all of the Jews in the Church of Rome. The acts that Paul charges them with are ones that we think of first as physical acts. We can hardly imagine that the church would contain such a bad bunch of Jews who called themselves Christians. But while there may have been some who called themselves Jews that were guilty of these charges, Paul is referring to the spiritual commission of these acts.
In the spiritual world stealing is often taking credit for things that God or angels have done. Adultery is wrongful associations between the people of God and the people of the world. Usually this comes in the form of giving up the spiritual wealth we have to get the physical things of the world. Similarly idolatry is leaving our real spouse behind to chase after another. Boasting, in this sense, is boasting of the spiritual possessions we have acquired.
But all boasting is foolishness. Nothing that we have came to us through our own works but only through God. So what right do we have to boast about what we have? Jesus provides an example of this in Luke 18:9 in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Also, from 1st Corinthians 1:31 we have "Therefore, as it is written: 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.'2" Therefore boasting in the law is a violation of the law and an insult to God.
A lot of commentators have trouble with the second half of verse 22. This turns out to be the key to the passage. Without understanding it you are likely to misunderstand the whole passage. The keys to understanding it are the context and that the holy place is singular.
Therefore Paul is not talking about idolatry in the usual sense. He must be referring to greed. We know from Ephesians 5:5 and Colossians 3:5 that greed is idolatry. Therefore they are greedy for something in the Jewish holy place. But exactly what is not clear. Perhaps it is something physical like the money in the treasuries or perhaps it is more spiritual like taking the things that belong to God. As we will see later, the reference is to plundering the praises that should be God's. This fits nicely with the spiritual meanings of stealing, adultery, idolatry. It is therefore also this reference that hints to us that Paul as talking more about the spiritual than the physical.
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, according to what has been written.3
The actions of the Jews had been so out of line with their teachings that the gentiles were saying bad things about their God.
One of the key elements of Judaism for Jews was physical circumcision. They used it as the definition of who were God's people and who were not. They had forgotten what Moses said in Deuteronomy 10:16 "Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer." Therefore the physical circumcision, though required by the law, was only symbolic of what was required by God.
25 For circumcision is beneficial, if you will perfectly observe The Written Law, but if you depart from The Written Law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.
Paul is saying that physical circumcision, by itself, has no benefit. Its benefit comes only if the circumcised continues to obey the law. This was counter to what the Jews believed at the time, i.e. physical circumcision was the definition of a Jew.
26 But if he of the uncircumcision will observe the commandments of The Written Law, behold, is not the uncircumcision [regarded as though he was circumcised]?
It is the observing of the law that makes one circumcised. Here he says "as though he was circumcised". Paul isn't saying that observing the law results in physical circumcision. He is leading into the idea of circumcision of the heart.
27 And uncircumcision which by its nature perfectly observes The Written Law will judge you, who with the Scripture and with circumcision, violate The Written Law.
Having the Scripture and circumcision will not keep the Jews from judgment if they violate the law. This is just as true for us though the symbol for the new covenant is baptism, not circumcision. In fact their shame and ours would be greater, they who had the written law and we who had the Holy Spirit, that we should be judged by those who did not.
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that which is seen in the flesh circumcision. 29 But he is a Jew who is in secret, and circumcision is that which is of the heart, in The Spirit and not by the Scriptures, whose glory is not from the children of men, but from God.
Paul comes to his point; a real Jew is one whose heart is circumcised. Note what else he says. This circumcision is by the Spirit and not by the scriptures. "Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God"4 This line takes us back to the start of this section where we discussed stealing, adultery, idolatry, and boasting.
Paul has not been accusing every Jew in the Christian church at Rome of stealing, adultery, idolatry, and boasting in the usual sense. They have not all been stealing from men but from God. They have been greedy for the praise of men, which should be given to God. They have been boasting of their place as God's chosen people, when they have done nothing to boast about.
1. Why weren't Jewish women circumcised?
2. If we, who call ourselves Christians, do not live the Christian life, what can we expect on judgment day?
3. The Jews in the Christian church would have been shocked to hear Paul accuse them of such sins. This is because they would have been thinking only of the physical acts associated with the sins, not the spiritual world acts. Do we sometimes cheat God of his praise?
1 http://bible.org/seriespage/study-and-exposition-romans-217-29
2 Jeremiah 9:24
3 Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:20-23
4 NIV