Anti Anti-Semitism Series

A professor of math once said that if his life depended upon solving a problem in 15 minutes

he would spend 10 minutes trying to understand the problem. Understanding is so essential if any

problem is going to be brought to a satisfactory solution. Misunderstanding of a problem, or of a

puzzling passage of Scripture, can be disastrous. This is illustrated in the story of Michael

Trevanion by Mark Rutherford. Michael has an only son and he has set his heart on his boys

salvation above all else. He is worried, however, and fears that he will fail to realize his supreme

ambition because of Susan, who is the pretty girl his son Robert has come to love. Michael feels

that her bewitching worldly ways will keep his son out of the kingdom, and he weeps with bitter

anguish at the thought.

In his distress he turns to the Bible and opens it to Romans chapter 9. His eye falls upon

verse 3: "I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsman

according to the flesh." He reread it and wondered what Paul meant. Could he mean he was

willing to be damned to save those whom he loved? Shall I not be willing also to be damned for

the sake of my son Robert? He decided to do it. He reasoned that God would not damn Paul for

no reason, and so Paul must have meant he would commit a horrible sin for the sake of saving his

people. He plotted to do just that for the sake of his son. He first of all hinted to his son that

Susan's history is besmirched with shame. Then he left on his desk a fragment of an old letter

referring to the downfall of another girl named Susan. He knows it is a terrible deliberate sin, but

like Paul he is willing to lose his own soul for the sake of his loved one.

When his son saw the letter he ran away from home, and Michael overwhelmed by his sin

tried to drown himself. When he awakens on the bank Susan is bending over him, and he realizes

that she is good and has more grace than himself. He finds his son and dies making his

humiliating confession. He meant well and thought he had a biblical basis for his folly, but he

had misunderstood Paul completely. The Bible misunderstood is a curse, and much of the evil of

history has been due to man's misunderstanding of what was meant to be a blessing. Romans 9

had led men to conclude all kinds of terrible things such as, God hates Jews; that man is not free

but a mere puppet of God; and that God predestines some to hell so they don't have a chance. All

of these conclusions arise from misunderstanding and a failure to look carefully at exactly what is

being said. If we are not willing to be accurate in our interpretation of the Bible, we are better off

not interpreting it at all. It is our goal in the study of this chapter to understand it and to gain the

truth God intended us to gain and so we will study it verse by verse.

VERSE 1. This verse makes it clear that Paul is on the defensive. He has some difficult

questions to deal with, and he knows his testimony is suspect. It is perfectly normal for a person

who forsakes one religion for another to despise the one he has left. Both Christians and Jews

would just naturally suspect that Paul would be anti-Semitic. He forsook Judaism and put Christ

above Moses, and grace above law. The Jews charged him with being a hater of the Jews. Much

of the evidence would seem to support their charge, but the misunderstood Paul. He denies this

charge and begins this chapter with the strongest possible statement of his love for Jews. Paul is

not anti-Semitic. On the contrary, he is anti anti-Semitic, for he is opposed to the

misunderstanding and prejudice that exists between the Jews and the Gentiles. That is one of the

reasons for his writing of this chapter on the place of the Jews and Gentiles in God's plan.

Keep in mind that Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles, and keep in mind that Gentiles were

very anti-Semitic in those days. Most pagans despise the Jews, and it was these very pagans that

Paul was winning to Christ. These Gentiles, who are now Christians, did not immediately lose

their prejudice against the Jews. It is still true today that people can become Christians and carry

their prejudices right into their Christian thinking. As an example of how prejudice can pervert

the thinking of the finest Christians let me share a quote from John Chrysostom. He was one of