We will spend the following four weeks reading St. Paul's epistle to the Romans. The Romans is the masterpiece of St. Paul. Many commentaries, both ancient and modern, have been written for it. However, it is no exaggeration to say that nobody, except Paul himself, can claim a thoroughout understanding of this theological gem.
Today, we begin reading the introductory greeting (Romans 1:1-15). Already, Paul had packed this greeting with a lot of theology.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1-6)
In introducing himself, Paul presented a threefold role in front of the recipients (Romans 1:1):
1) He was one of the many servants of Jesus Christ whom the recipients knew and confessed to be their Lord.
2) He was called to be an apostle, to be sent out to proclaim the message, the gospel of the Lord. Here, Paul simply asserted his authority as an apostle. He might have met people who challenged his apostle status, especially because this church in Rome was established by St Peter.
3) He was holy, sacred and saintly because he was set apart to serve God.
In case the recipients did not know what the gospel was, Paul had made several points about this gospel.
1) This gospel had been promised by the prophets in the holy scripture (Romans 1:2). From this, we hypothesize that some of the recipients were Jewish Christians in Rome; or at least people who were sympathetic with Judaism, who knew something about prophets of the Old Testament.
2) This gospel was about the Son of God who incarnated as an offspring of King David. From this, Paul affirmed the status of Jewish Christians because Jesus himself was a Jew, a descendant of King David.
3) Spiritually, this Jesus Christ was the Son of God by virtue of his death and resurrection.
The Christology is ambiguous here. Did Jesus become the Son of God because of his passion and resurrection? Or rather, was Jesus the Son of God, therefore he died and came back to life for us? This was an early stage of theology development. The language might not be precise enough.
4) Paul and his companions had received grace and apostleship from Jesus Christ, the Lord, to preach the gospel among the nations, to bring about the conversion of many peoples all over the world. The expression "for the sake of his name" is very Jewish.
5) The recipients had received this gospel and belonged to Jesus Christ.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1-6)
In introducing himself, Paul presented a threefold role in front of the recipients (Romans 1:1):
1) He was one of the many servants of Jesus Christ whom the recipients knew and confessed to be their Lord.
2) He was called to be an apostle, to be sent out to proclaim the message, the gospel of the Lord. Here, Paul simply asserted his authority as an apostle. He might have met people who challenged his apostle status, especially because this church in Rome was established by St Peter.
3) He was holy, sacred and saintly because he was set apart to serve God.
In case the recipients did not know what the gospel was, Paul had made several points about this gospel.
1) This gospel had been promised by the prophets in the holy scripture (Romans 1:2). From this, we hypothesize that some of the recipients were Jewish Christians in Rome; or at least people who were sympathetic with Judaism, who knew something about prophets of the Old Testament.
2) This gospel was about the Son of God who incarnated as an offspring of King David. From this, Paul affirmed the status of Jewish Christians because Jesus himself was a Jew, a descendant of King David.
3) Spiritually, this Jesus Christ was the Son of God by virtue of his death and resurrection.
The Christology is ambiguous here. Did Jesus become the Son of God because of his passion and resurrection? Or rather, was Jesus the Son of God, therefore he died and came back to life for us? This was an early stage of theology development. The language might not be precise enough.
4) Paul and his companions had received grace and apostleship from Jesus Christ, the Lord, to preach the gospel among the nations, to bring about the conversion of many peoples all over the world. The expression "for the sake of his name" is very Jewish.
5) The recipients had received this gospel and belonged to Jesus Christ.
The paragraph above is no more than a paraphrasing of Paul's greeting. It is not even a summary or an outline. From this greeting, we are already able to see that St. Paul was very anxious in defending the gospel. I am sure we will be reading about it very soon.
St. Paul continues to praise the Romans for their faith which had become well known all over the Roman Empire. He further expresses his strong desire to visit them.
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine (Romans 1:11-12).
What a paradox! What a surprise! In giving the Romans a spiritual gift, Paul would be encouraged and strengthened! Perhaps this was only the rhetoric of St. Paul. But perhaps there is a certain truth in it. One plus one can be more than two. The mutual support St. Paul mentioned could generate more enthusiasm than each tried to generate or sustain individually. After all, Christianity is a social religion, not a solitary one.
St. Paul further explained that it was his obligation to preach the gospel. Again, he left an enigma behind.
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish:
so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome (Romans 1:14-15).
So, were the Romans wise or stupid?
St. Paul continues to praise the Romans for their faith which had become well known all over the Roman Empire. He further expresses his strong desire to visit them.
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine (Romans 1:11-12).
What a paradox! What a surprise! In giving the Romans a spiritual gift, Paul would be encouraged and strengthened! Perhaps this was only the rhetoric of St. Paul. But perhaps there is a certain truth in it. One plus one can be more than two. The mutual support St. Paul mentioned could generate more enthusiasm than each tried to generate or sustain individually. After all, Christianity is a social religion, not a solitary one.
St. Paul further explained that it was his obligation to preach the gospel. Again, he left an enigma behind.
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish:
so I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome (Romans 1:14-15).
So, were the Romans wise or stupid?
Dear Lord, inflame my heart so that I may appreciate the passion Paul had in the writing of the Romans. Amen.
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