Homily 19 — Romans 11, verses 7 to 36

“What then? Israel has not obtained what he is seeking; but the chosen have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” [a]

He had said that God did not cast off his people. And to show in what sense he had not cast them off, he takes refuge in the prophets again. He had shown by them that the greater part of the Jews were lost. So that he might not seem to be bringing forward an accusation of his own once more, and make his discourse offensive, and be attacking them as enemies, he takes refuge in David and Isaiah, and says:

Verse 8: “As it is written, God has given them the spirit of slumber” (Isaiah 29, verse 10).

Or rather, we should go back to the beginning of his argument. Having mentioned the state of things in Elijah’s time, and shown what grace is, he goes on: “What then? Israel has not obtained what he is seeking.”

Now these words are as much what an accuser would say as what a questioner would. For the Jew, he means, contradicts himself: he seeks righteousness, and will not accept it. Then, to leave them no excuse, he shows their lack of feeling from those who did accept it, when he says, “But the chosen have obtained it.” And these chosen ones are the condemnation of the others. This is just what Christ says: “But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? That is why they will be your judges” (Luke 11, verse 19). To keep anyone from blaming the nature of the thing rather than their own temper, he points to those who had obtained it. [b]

That is why he uses the word so fittingly, to show at once the grace from above and the zeal of these people. For it is not to deny free will that he speaks of their having “obtained” it, as though by a lucky chance. It is to show the greatness of the good things, and that the greater part was of grace — though not the whole. For we too are in the habit of saying “So-and-so had the luck to get it,” or “So-and-so came upon it,” when the gain has been a great one. It is not by human labor but by God’s gift that the greater part was brought about. “And the rest were blinded.”

See how he has been bold enough to declare the casting off of the rest in his own voice. He had indeed spoken of it already, but by bringing in the prophets as accusers. From this point he declares it in his own person. Still, even here he is not content with his own declaration, but brings in Isaiah the prophet again. For after saying “were blinded,” he goes on: “as it is written, God has given them the spirit of slumber.”

Now where did this blinding come from? He had indeed mentioned its causes before, and turned it all back on their own heads, to show that it was because of their untimely obstinacy that they had to bear this. And now he speaks of it too. For when he says, “Eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear,” he is simply finding fault with their contentious spirit. They had “eyes to see” the miracles, and they had “ears to hear” that marvelous teaching, yet they never used these as they should. And do not imagine that “he gave” means here that God caused it; it means only that he allowed it.

“Slumber” is the name he gives here to a habit of soul inclined toward the worse, when it is so incurably and unchangeably. For in another passage David says, “that my glory may sing to you, and I may not be put to slumber” (Psalm 30, verse 12, as the Greek Old Testament has it) — that is, that I may not alter, may not be changed. For just as a man who has been hushed to slumber in godly fear would not easily be made to change sides, so too the one who is slumbering in wickedness would not easily change. To be hushed to slumber here is nothing else than to be fixed and riveted to a thing. So, pointing to the incurable and unchangeable character of their spirit, he calls it “a spirit of slumber.”

Then, to show that they will be punished most severely for this unbelief, he brings the prophet forward again, threatening the very things that actually came to pass. [e]

Verse 9: “Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block” (Psalm 69, verses 22 and 23).

That is, let their comforts and all their good things change and perish, and let them lie open to attack from anyone. And to show that they suffer this as punishment for their sins, he adds, “and a recompense to them.”

Verse 10: “Let their eyes be darkened, so that they may not see, and bow down their back always.”

Do these words still need any interpreting? Are they not plain even to the most senseless? Before ever we spoke, the plain outcome of events got ahead of us in bearing witness to what was said. For when have they ever been so open to attack? When have they been such easy prey? When has he so “bowed down their backs”? When have they been put under such bondage? And what is more, there is to be no release from these terrors. The prophet hinted at this too. For he does not say only, “bow down their back,” but, “bow down their back always.” [f]

But if you are inclined to dispute about the outcome, O Jew, then learn the present case from what has gone before. You went down to Egypt. Two hundred years passed, and God quickly freed you from that bondage — and that though you were ungodly, and ran after the most ruinous kind of sexual immorality. You were freed from Egypt, and you worshiped the calf, you sacrificed your sons to Baal of Peor, you defiled the temple, you went after every sort of vice, you came to the point of not even knowing nature itself. The mountains, the groves, the hills, the springs, the rivers, the gardens — you filled them all with accursed sacrifices. You killed the prophets, you overthrew the altars, you displayed every excess of wickedness and ungodliness. Still, after giving you up to the Babylonians for seventy years, he brought you back again to your former freedom. He gave you back the temple, and your country, and your old way of life; and there were prophets again, and the gift of the Spirit.

Or rather, even in the time of your captivity you were not deserted. Even there you had Daniel and Ezekiel; in Egypt, Jeremiah; and in the desert, Moses. After this you went back to your former vice again, and gave yourself up to it in wild revelry, and changed your way of life to that of the Greeks in the time of Antiochus the ungodly (Daniel 8, verse 14; First Maccabees 4, verse 54). But even then you were given up to Antiochus for only three years and a little over, and then under the Maccabees you raised those bright trophies again. [h]

But now there is nothing of the kind; the reverse has happened throughout. And this is ground for the greatest surprise: the vices have ceased, and the punishment has grown heavier, and there is no hope of a change. For it is not seventy years only that have passed, nor a hundred, nor even twice as many, but three hundred and a good deal over, and there is no finding even a shadow of such a hope. And this though you are not idolaters, and do not commit the other outrages you committed before. What, then, is the cause? The reality has succeeded the type, and grace has shut out the law. The prophet foretold this long ago when he said, “And bow down their back always.”

See the precision of prophecy: how it foretells their unbelief, and points out their contentiousness as well, and shows the judgment that would follow, and sets forth the endlessness of the punishment. Many of the duller sort, not believing what was to come, wanted to see things to come by the light of things present. So from this point on God gave proof of his power on both sides: he lifted those of the Gentiles who believed above the heavens, and brought down those of the Jews who did not believe to the lowest state of desolation, and gave them up to evils that will not end. Having pressed them hard, then, both about their unbelief and about what they had suffered and were yet to suffer, he softens what he had said, writing as follows:

Verse 11: “I say then, have they stumbled so as to fall? Far from it!” [k]

Once he has shown that they were liable to evils without number, then he finds a way to soften it. And consider Paul’s judgment. The accusation he brought in from the prophets, but the softening he makes come from himself. That they had sinned greatly, he would say, no one will deny. But let us see whether the fall is of such a kind as to be incurable, and to rule out their ever being set up again. And it is not of that kind. You see how he is attacking them again: while they are waiting for some softening, he convicts them of sins no one disputes. But let us see what softening he does find for them.

What is it, then? “When the fullness of the Gentiles,” he says, “has come in, then all Israel will be saved” — at the time of his second coming and the end of the world. Yet he does not say this at once. He had made a hard assault on them and linked accusation to accusation, bringing in prophet after prophet crying out against them — Isaiah, Elijah, David, Moses, Hosea — not once or twice but many times. He did not want to drive them to despair in this way and so build a wall barring their way to the faith. Nor did he want to make the believing Gentiles unreasonably elated, so that they too would be puffed up and come to harm in the matter of their faith. So he comforts them further, saying, “But rather, through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles.”

But we must not take what is said here by the bare letter. We must get to know the mind and the aim of the speaker, and what he meant to accomplish. This is what I am always begging of your love. For if we take up what is said here with this in mind, we will find no difficulty in any part of it. His concern at present is to remove from the Gentiles the arrogance that might spring up in them from what he had said. For in this way they too were more likely to stay unshaken in the faith, once they had learned moderation; just as the Jews, once rid of despair, were more likely to come readily to grace. Keeping this aim of his in view, then, let us listen to everything said in this passage. What does he say, then? And how does he show that their fall was not beyond remedy, nor their rejection final? He argues from the Gentiles, as follows:

“Through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.” [m]

This language is not his alone. In the Gospels too, the parables mean this. He who made a marriage feast for his Son, when the guests would not come, called those on the roads (Matthew 22, verse 9). And he who planted the vineyard, when the tenant farmers killed the heir, let out his vineyard to others (Matthew 21, verse 38, and the verses that follow). And without any parable, he himself said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15, verse 24). And to the Syrophoenician woman, when she persisted, he went further still: “It is not right,” he says, “to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Matthew 15, verse 26). And Paul said to those of the Jews who stirred up an uproar, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you; but since you judge yourselves unworthy, look, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13, verse 46).

Throughout, it is clear that the natural course of things was this: that they should be the first to come in, and then the Gentiles. But since they disbelieved, the order was reversed, and their unbelief and fall caused the Gentiles to be brought in first. That is why he says, “through their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.” And if he speaks of what things resulted in as though it were the chief design of providence, do not be surprised. He wants to comfort their downcast souls, and his meaning is roughly this. Jesus came to them. They did not receive him, though he worked countless miracles, but crucified him. So he drew the Gentiles to himself, so that the honor the Gentiles received, cutting the Jews to the heart for their lack of feeling, might at least persuade them to come over out of resentment toward others. For they ought to have been admitted first, and then we. And this was why he said, “For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile” (Romans 1, verse 16). But since they had drawn back, we who were last became first. [n]

See, then, how great an honor he gathers for them even from this. One is that we were called at the time when they were unwilling. A second is that the reason we were called was not only that we might be saved, but also that they, growing jealous at our salvation, might become better. What does he say, then? That if it were not for the Jews’ sake, we would not have been called and saved at all? No — only that we would not have been called before them, but in the proper order. That is also why, when he was speaking to the disciples, he did not simply say, “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10, verse 6), but “Go rather to the sheep,” to show that the disciples must come to those other regions too, but after these. And again, Paul does not say, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you,” but “should first be spoken to you” (Acts 13, verse 46), to show that in the second place it must be spoken to us as well. And this was both done and said so that they could not, shameless as they were, pretend that they had been passed over and that this was why they did not believe. This, then, was why Christ, though he knew all things beforehand, still came to them first.

Verse 12: “Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their diminishing the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?”

Here he is speaking to please them. For even if these had fallen a thousand times, the Gentiles would not have been saved unless they had shown faith; just as the Jews, likewise, would not have perished unless they had been unbelieving and contentious. But as I said, he is comforting them now that they are laid low, giving them all the more ground to be confident of their salvation if they changed. For if, when they stumbled, he says, so many enjoyed salvation, and when they were cast out so many were called, just think what will happen when they return. But he does not put it this way, “when they return.” He does not say “how much more their return,” or “their changing,” or “their doing well,” but “how much more their fullness” — that is, when they are all about to come in. He said this to show that then too grace and God’s gift will do the larger part, or almost the whole.

Verses 13 and 14: “For I speak to you Gentiles. Since I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and save some of them.”

Again he works hard to clear himself of an unpleasant suspicion. He seems to be blaming the Gentiles and humbling their conceit, yet he gives the Jew a gentle provocation too. He goes all the way around, in fact, trying to veil and soften this great ruin of theirs. But he finds no way to do it, because of the nature of the facts. For from what he had said, they deserved all the greater condemnation, since people who were far behind them had taken the good things prepared for them. That is why he passes from the Jews to the Gentiles, and puts the part about them into the middle of his discourse, wanting to show that he says all these things to teach the Gentiles moderation. What he means is this: I praise you for two reasons: one, because I am obliged to, being your appointed servant; the other, that through you I may save others.

And he does not say “my brothers” or “my kinsmen,” but “my flesh.” And next, pointing out their contentious spirit, he does not say “if by any means I may persuade,” but “provoke to jealousy and save”; and here again not all, but “some of them.” So hard were they! And even amid his rebuke he shows the Gentiles honored once more, for they are causes of the Jews’ salvation — and not in the same way. The Jews became providers of blessings to the Gentiles through unbelief, but the Gentiles to the Jews by faith. So the position of the Gentiles seems at once equal and superior. For what will you say, O Jew? That if you had not been cast out, the Gentile would not have been called so soon? The man from the Gentiles can say the same: If I had not been saved, you would not have been moved to jealousy. And if you want to know where we have the advantage: I save you by believing, but it is by stumbling that you have given us access ahead of yourself. Then, seeing again that he had touched them to the quick, he takes up his former argument and says:

Verse 15: “For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what will the receiving of them be but life from the dead?”

Yet this again condemns them, since, while others gained by their sins, they did not profit by other people’s good deeds. But if he credits to them what happened by necessity, do not be surprised. As I have said several times, he casts his address in this form to humble the one party and to encourage the other. For as I said before, if the Jews had been cast away a thousand times over, and the Gentiles had not shown faith, the Gentiles would never have been saved. But he stands by the weaker party and helps the one in distress.

But see how, even in his favors to them, he comforts them in words only. “For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world” — and what is this to the Jews? — “what will the receiving of them be but life from the dead?” Yet even this was no boon to them unless they were received. What he means is this: if in anger with them God gave others such great gifts, what will he not give when he is reconciled to them? But just as the resurrection of the dead did not come through their being received, so neither does our salvation come through them now. They were cast out through their own folly; but it is by faith that we are saved, and by grace from above. And none of all this can be of any help to them unless they show the faith that is required.

Yet, doing as he usually does, he goes on to another word of praise — one that is not really praise, but only seems to be. In this he imitates the wisest physicians, who give their patients as much comfort as the nature of the illness allows. And what does he say?

Verse 16: “For if the firstfruits are holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” [p]

In this passage he gives the names of firstfruits and root to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the prophets, the patriarchs, and all who were of note in the Old Testament; and he calls “branches” those descended from them who believed. Then, since he was met by the fact that many had disbelieved, see how he plays it down again, and says:

Verse 17: “And if some of the branches were broken off.”

And yet above you said that the greater part perished, and only a few were saved. How is it, then, that in speaking of those who perished you have used “some,” which points to fewness? He replies: It is not to contradict myself, but out of a desire to win over and recover those who are distressed.

Observe how, all through the passage, one finds him working at this aim, the wish to comfort them. And if you deny it, many contradictions will follow. But let me beg you to notice his wisdom. While he seems to be speaking for them and devising comfort for them, he aims a hidden blow at them, and shows that they have no excuse at all, even from the “root,” from the “firstfruits.” For consider the badness of the branches, which have a sweet root and still do not imitate it; and the fault of the lump, when it is not changed even by the firstfruits.

“And if some of the branches were broken off.” Yet in fact the greater part were broken off. But, as I said, he wants to comfort them. That is why he brings in the words he uses not in his own person but in theirs. And even in this he gives them a hidden stroke, and shows that they have fallen away from being Abraham’s kin (Matthew 3, verse 9). For what he wanted to say was that they had nothing in common with their forefathers (John 8, verse 39). For if the root is holy, and these are not holy, then these are far away from the root. [q]

Then, under the appearance of comforting the Jews, he again strikes the Gentiles with an accusation. For after saying, “And if some of the branches were broken off,” he goes on: “and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in.”

The lower the standing of the man from the Gentiles, the more the Jew is stung at seeing him enjoy the Jew’s own goods. And to the Gentile, the disgrace of his low standing is nothing next to the honor of the change. And consider Paul’s skill. He does not say “you were planted in,” but “you were grafted in.” By this he again cuts the Jew to the heart, showing that the Gentile was standing in the Jew’s own tree, while the Jew himself lay on the ground.

That is why he does not stop even here. Even after speaking of the grafting in, he does not leave off — though in this he had said the whole thing. He still dwells on the good fortune of the Gentile, and enlarges on his fair name, in the words, “and with them you share in the root and richness of the olive tree.” He seems, indeed, to have looked on the Gentile as an addition. But he shows that he was not a bit the worse for that, but possessed everything that the branch which had grown up out of the root possessed. So, lest on hearing the words “and you were grafted in” you should suppose him to fall short of the natural branch, see how he makes him equal to it by saying that “with them you share in the root and richness of the olive”: that is, you have been put into the same noble rank, the same nature. Then he rebukes him, saying:

Verse 18: “Do not boast against the branches.”

He seems, indeed, to be comforting the Jew, but he is pointing out how worthless the Jew has become and how deep his disgrace is. That is why he does not say “Do not boast,” but “Do not boast against” — do not boast against them so as to cut them off. For it is into their place that you have been set, and it is their goods that you enjoy. Do you see how he seems to be rebuking the one while he is being sharp with the other?

“But if you boast,” he says, “you do not bear the root, but the root bears you.”

Now what is this to the branches that have been cut off? Nothing. For, as I said before, while he seems to be devising a kind of faint shadow of comfort for them, and right in the middle of his aim at the Gentile, he deals them a deadly blow. By saying, “Do not boast against them,” and, “If you boast, you do not bear the root,” he has shown the Jew that what had been done was something to boast of, even if boasting was not right. So at one stroke he rouses him and provokes him to faith, and strikes at him while standing there as his advocate, and points out to him the punishment he was undergoing, and that other people were in possession of what had been his own goods.

Verse 19: “You will say, then,” he goes on, “The branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” [r]

Again, by way of an objection, he sets up the opposite of his former position. He does it to show that what he said before he had not said as belonging strictly to the subject, but to draw them to himself. For it was no longer through their fall that salvation came to the Gentiles, nor was it their fall that was the riches of the world. We were not saved by this, because they had fallen; it was the reverse. And he shows that God’s providential care for the Gentiles was a main purpose, even though he seems to put what he says in another form. The whole passage is woven out of objections; through them he clears himself of any suspicion of hatred and makes his words such as will be welcome.

Verse 20: “Well said.” He praises what they said, and then he alarms them again by saying, “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you are grafted in by faith.”

So here is another word of praise, and for the other party an accusation. But again he lays their pride low by going on to say, “Do not be proud, but fear.” For the thing is not a matter of nature, but of belief and unbelief. He seems again to be reining in the Gentile, but he is teaching the Jew that it is not right to cling to a kinship of nature. That is why he goes on, “Do not be proud”; and he does not say, “but be humble,” but, “fear.” For haughtiness breeds contempt and carelessness.

Then, as he is about to go into the full sorrow of their disaster, he puts it in the form of a rebuke to the other party, to make the statement less offensive, as follows. Verse 21: “For if God did not spare the natural branches” — and then he does not say, “neither will he spare you,” but, “take care, lest he not spare you either.” So, cutting away what was distasteful in his statement, and showing the believer as still in the middle of the contest, he at once draws the others to himself and humbles these as well.

Verse 22: “See, then, the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you too will be cut off.” [s]

And he does not say, “See your good deeds, see your labors,” but, “See the goodness of God” toward humankind — to show that the whole thing comes from grace from above, and to make us tremble. For this reason for boasting should make you afraid: since the Master has been good to you, for that very reason you should fear. For the blessings will not stay with you fixed and immovable if you grow careless, any more than the evils will stay with them if they change. “For you too,” he says, “unless you continue in the faith, will be cut off.”

Verse 23: “And they also, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in.”

For it was not God who cut them off; they broke themselves off and fell — and he did well to say that they broke themselves off. For he has never yet cast them off in that way, even though they have sinned so much and so often. Do you see how great a thing a person’s free choice is, how great the power of the mind? For none of these things is unchangeable, neither your good nor his evil.

Do you see, too, how he raises up the one in his dejection and humbles the other in his confidence? You, do not lose heart when you hear of severity; and you, do not grow confident when you hear of goodness. The reason he cut you off in severity was so that you might long to come back. The reason he showed goodness to you was so that you might continue — he does not say “in the faith,” but — “in his goodness”; that is, if you do things worthy of God’s love for humankind. For something more than faith is needed.

Do you see how he lets neither the one lie low nor the other be lifted up? He also provokes them to jealousy by giving the Jew, through the Gentiles, the power to be set again in their place, just as the Gentile had first taken over the Jew’s ground. The Gentile he puts in fear by means of the Jews and what had happened to them, so that the Gentiles would not grow proud over it. But the Jew he tries to encourage by what had been granted to the Greek. He says in effect: “You too will be cut off if you grow careless — for the Jew was cut off — and he will be grafted in if he is in earnest, for you too were grafted in.”

And it is very wise of him to direct everything he says to the Gentile, as he is always in the habit of doing: he corrects the weaker by rebuking the stronger. He does this at the end of this letter too, when he is speaking about keeping rules about food. Then he bases this on what had already happened, not only on what was still to come; and this was more likely to persuade his hearer. And since he means to go on to a chain of reasoning in which each step follows from the last and no one could contradict it, he first uses a proof drawn from the power of God. For if they were cut off and cast aside, and others took their place ahead of them in what was theirs, still, even now, they are not to despair.

“For God is able,” he says, “to graft them in again,” since he does things beyond all expectation. But if you want things to follow in order, and reasons that lead on one from another, you have from yourselves a proof that more than meets your need.

Verse 24: “For if you were cut out of the olive tree that is wild by nature, and were grafted, contrary to nature, into a good olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”

If faith, then, was able to do what was contrary to nature, much more will it do what is in keeping with nature. For if this man, cut off from those who were by nature his fathers, came, contrary to nature, to Abraham, much more will you be able to recover what is your own. For the Gentile’s bad lot was according to nature, since he was by nature a wild olive; and his good lot was contrary to nature, since it was against nature for him to be grafted into Abraham. But with you it is the reverse: the good is yours by nature. For it is not onto another root, as the Gentile was, but onto your own that you are to be set, if you are willing to come back. What, then, do you deserve, when the Gentile was able to do what was contrary to nature, and you are not able to do what is in keeping with nature, but have given up even this?

Then, since he had said “contrary to nature” and “were grafted in,” so that you would not suppose the Jew to have the advantage, he corrects this again by saying that the Jew too is grafted in. “How much more,” he says, “will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” And again, “God is able to graft them in.” And before this he says that if they “do not remain in unbelief, they too will be grafted in.”

And when you hear him keep speaking of “according to nature” and “contrary to nature,” do not suppose that he means the nature that cannot change. In these words he is telling us of what is likely and follows in course, and on the other hand of what is unlikely. For good things and bad things are not a matter of nature, but of disposition and choice alone.

Consider, too, how careful he is not to wound. After saying that you too will be cut off if you do not remain in the faith, and that these will be grafted in if they “do not remain in unbelief,” he leaves the harsh-sounding part and dwells on the kinder one, and ends with it, setting great hopes before the Jews if they were willing not to remain as they were. That is why he goes on to say, Verse 25: “For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery, so that you may not be wise in your own estimation.”

By “mystery” here he means what is unknown and beyond words, and has much that is wonderful about it and much that no one would expect. So in another passage too he says, “Look, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed” (First Corinthians 15, verse 51). What, then, is the mystery? [u]

“That blindness has come in part upon Israel.” Here again he strikes at the Jew while seeming to take down the Gentile. His meaning is roughly this, and he had said it before: the unbelief is not universal, but only “in part.” So too when he says, “But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, except in part” (Second Corinthians 2, verse 5). So here too he says what he had said above: “God has not cast off his people whom he foreknew” (Romans 11, verse 2); and again, “What then? Have they stumbled so that they should fall? Far from it!” (Romans 11, verse 11). This is what he says here as well: it is not the whole people that has been uprooted; many have already believed, and more are likely to believe.

Then, since he had promised a great thing, he brings in the prophet as a witness, in these words. Now it is not for the fact that blindness had come upon them that he quotes the passage — everyone could see that — but to show that they will believe and be saved he calls Isaiah as witness, who cries aloud and says, Verse 26: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and will turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Isaiah 59, verse 20).

Then, to add the mark that ties its meaning to salvation, so that no one could draw it aside and fasten it to times gone by, he says, Verse 27: “For this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” [v]

Not when they are circumcised, not when they offer sacrifice, not when they do the other works of the law, but when they receive the forgiveness of sins. If, then, this has been promised, but has never yet happened in their case, and they have never yet received the forgiveness of sins through baptism, it will certainly come to pass. That is why he goes on, Verse 29: “For the gifts and the calling of God are not taken back.”

And even this is not all he says to comfort them, for he makes use of what had already come about. What followed as a consequence he states as though it were the main intention, putting it in these words, Verse 28: “As regards the good news, they are enemies for your sake; but as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.”

So that the Gentile would not be puffed up and say, “I am standing. Do not tell me what would have been, but what has been,” he uses this consideration to bring him down, and says, “As regards the good news, they are enemies for your sake.” For when you were called, they became more contentious. Yet even now God has not cut short your calling; he is waiting for all the Gentiles who are to believe to come in, and then they too will come.

Then he does them another kind favor by saying, “As regards election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.” And what does this mean? Where they are enemies, punishment is theirs; but where they are beloved, the virtue of their ancestors does them no good if they do not believe. Nevertheless, as I said, he does not stop comforting them with words, so that he may win them over. That is why, as a fresh proof of what he had said before, he says, Verses 30 to 32: “For as you in times past did not believe God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief, so these too have now not believed, so that through the mercy shown to you they also may obtain mercy. For God has shut them all up in unbelief, so that he might have mercy on all.”

He shows here that the Gentiles were called first. Then, since they would not come, the Jews were chosen; and the same thing happened again. For when the Jews would not believe, the Gentiles in turn were brought over. And he does not stop here, or bring the whole to a close with their rejection, but with their being shown mercy again.

See how much he grants to the Gentiles — as much as he had granted to the Jews before. He would say: “When you, who were of the Gentiles, ‘in times past did not obey,’ then the Jews came in. Again, when these did not obey, you have come in. Yet they will not perish forever.”

“For God has shut them all up in unbelief” — that is, he has convicted them, has shown them to be disobedient; not so that they may remain in disobedience, but so that he may save the one through the contrariness of the other, these through those and those through these. Just consider: you were disobedient, and they were saved. Again, they have been disobedient, and you have been saved. Yet you have not been saved so as to be cast off again, as the Jews were, but so as to draw them over through jealousy while you remain.

Verse 33: “Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments!” [w]

Here he has gone back to former times and looked back to God’s original arrangement of things, by which the world has existed up to the present time; and having considered what special provision God had made for everything that happens, he is struck with awe and cries aloud. In this way he makes his hearers confident that what he says will certainly come to pass. For he would not have cried aloud and been struck with awe unless it was quite sure to happen.

That it is a depth, he knows; but how great it is, he does not know. For the words are those of someone marveling, not of someone who knew the whole. But marveling and awestruck at its beauty, as far as it lay in him, he proclaims it with two words of heightened force, “riches” and “depth.” Then he is awestruck that God had both the will and the power to do all this, and to bring about opposites by means of opposites.

“How unsearchable are his judgments!” For they are not only impossible to comprehend, but even to search into. “And his ways past finding out” — that is, his arrangements too are not only impossible to know, but even to seek into. For he means: “Even I have not found out the whole, but only a little part, not all.” For God alone knows his own affairs clearly. That is why he goes on:

Verses 34 and 35: “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him?” [x]

What he means is roughly this: though God is so wise, he does not have his wisdom from anyone else, but is himself the fountain of good things. And though he has done such great things and given us such great gifts, it was not by borrowing from anyone else that he gave them, but by making them spring up from himself; nor as owing anyone a return for something he had received, but as always being himself the first to do good. For this is the chief mark of riches: to overflow in abundance and yet need no help.

That is why he goes on to say, “For from him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” He himself planned it, he himself created it, he himself works it all together. For he is rich, and does not need to receive from another; and wise, and needs no counselor. But why do I speak of a counselor? No one is able to know the things that are his, except himself alone, the Rich and Wise One. For it is a proof of great riches that he should make the Gentiles so well supplied, and of great wisdom that he should make those who had been beneath the Jews into their teachers. Then, since he was awestruck, he also offers up thanksgiving in the words, “To him be glory forever. Amen.”

For whenever he speaks of some great thing of this kind, a thing beyond words, he ends in wonder by giving glory to God. He does this with regard to the Son too; for in that passage also he went on to the very same thing he does here: “From whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9, verse 5). [y]

Let us, then, imitate him too, and glorify God in all things by a careful way of life. And let us not put our confidence in the virtues of our ancestors, since we know the example that has been made of the Jews. For this is not — it certainly is not — the kinship of Christians. Theirs is the kinship of the Spirit. So the Scythian becomes Abraham’s son, while Abraham’s own son becomes more of a stranger to him than the Scythian.

So let us not put our confidence in the good deeds of our fathers. Even if you have a parent who is a marvel, do not imagine that this will be enough to save you, or to win you honor and glory, unless you are related to him in character. So too, if you have a bad parent, do not think you will be condemned for that, or put to shame, provided you order your own conduct rightly. For what could be less honored than the Gentiles? Yet by faith they quickly became related to the saints. Or what could be more closely related than the Jews? Yet by unbelief they were made strangers.

For that other relationship is a matter of nature and necessity, and by it we are all relatives. We all sprang from Adam, and no one can be more of a relative than another, whether as regards Adam, or as regards Noah, or as regards the earth, the common mother of all. But the relationship worthy of honor is the one that marks us off from the wicked. It is not possible for everyone to be related in this way, but only those of the same character. We do not call those our brothers who were born of the same birth pangs as we were, but those who show the same zeal.

In this way Christ gives people the name of children of God, and on the other hand of children of the devil, and so too of children of disobedience, of hell, and of destruction. So Timothy was Paul’s son through goodness, and was called “my own son” (First Timothy 1, verse 2); but of Paul’s sister’s son we do not know even the name. And yet that one was related to him by nature, and still it did him no good; while the other, though far removed from him both by nature and by country — he was a native of Lystra — still became his closest relative.

Let us, then, become sons of the saints too — or rather, let us become sons of God. For to learn that it is possible to become sons of God, listen to what he says: “Be perfect, therefore, as your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5, verse 48). This is why we call him Father in prayer: not only to remind ourselves of the grace, but also of virtue, so that we may not do anything unworthy of such a relationship.

Someone may say: “And how is it possible to be a son of God?” By being free from all passions, and by showing gentleness to those who insult and wrong us. For your Father is like that toward those who blaspheme him. That is why, though he says various things at various times, in no case does he say “that you may be like your Father” except when he says, “Pray for those who mistreat you; do good to those who hate you” (Matthew 5, verse 44). Then he brings this in as the reward. For there is nothing that brings us so near to God and makes us so like him as this kind of doing good. That is why Paul too, when he says, “Be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5, verse 1), means them to be so in this respect.

For we need all good deeds, but above all love for others and gentleness, since we ourselves need so much of his love for humankind. For we commit many wrongs every day; that is why we need to show much mercy too. But much and little are not measured by the amount given, but by the means of the givers. So let the rich not be proud, nor the poor dejected because they give so little; for the poor often give more than the rich.

We must not, then, make ourselves miserable because we are poor, since poverty makes almsgiving easier for us. For the man who has piled up much is seized by arrogance, and by a stronger attachment to what he has. But the man who has only a little is free of both these domineering passions, and so he finds more occasions for doing good. This man will go cheerfully into a prison, and will visit the sick, and will give a cup of cold water. But the other will not take on any service of this kind, bloated as he is by his riches. So do not lose heart over your poverty, for your poverty makes your trading for heaven easier. And if you have nothing, but have a compassionate soul, even this will be stored up as a reward for you. That is why Paul, too, told us to “weep with those who weep”

(Romans 12, verse 15), and urged us to be toward prisoners as though we were in chains with them (Hebrews 13, verse 3). For it is not only those who weep who find some comfort in having many people feel for them; so do those in other painful circumstances. There are cases where words have as much power as money to lift up someone who has been cast down. That is why God urges us to give money to those who ask: not merely to relieve their poverty, but to teach us to feel for our neighbors in their misfortunes. This too is why the greedy man is hateful: not only because he disregards people reduced to begging, but because he is training himself in cruelty and great inhumanity. And so the man who thinks little of money for their sakes is loved for this very reason as well, that he is merciful and kind to his fellow human beings. [ad]

And when Christ blesses the merciful, he blesses and praises not only those who give alms in money, but also those who have the will to give. So let us be inclined to mercy, and every other good thing will follow. For whoever has a loving and merciful spirit will give his money away if he has any. If he sees anyone in distress, he will weep and grieve over it. If he comes across someone who has been wronged, he will stand up for him. If he sees someone being mistreated, he will reach out his hand to him. For since he has that treasure-house of good things, a loving and merciful soul, he will make it a fountain for every need of his brothers and sisters, and he will enjoy all the rewards that are stored up with God. So, that we may attain these things, let us above all shape our souls in this way. For so we will do countless good deeds while we are in this world, and we will enjoy the crowns to come. May we all attain them by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.