ROMANS 11: 25-32

25 So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written,

“Out of Zion will come the Deliverer;

    he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.”

27 “And this is my covenant with them,

    when I take away their sins.”

28 As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. †

The Context

Christians and Jews have crossed swords far too often through history. The infant Church was persecuted by the synagogue, but in the 4th century, as soon as the Church’s numbers tipped the balance of power, the persecution ran the other way and has remained that way ever since. 

In this passage, Paul addresses Gentile converts to Christianity, telling them they must honor and respect their Jewish brothers and sisters because they are the chosen people and remain within God’s promises.  

He says, “a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” [25b] 

First of all, it should strike us that God hardens some hearts at all. He hardens the heart of Pharoah several times in a row, blocking him from repentance and obedience. In speaking about parables, and why He teaches by means of them, Jesus says, “The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’” [Matthew 13:13]

and from Isaiah 6:9:

‘You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive.”

God hardens some hearts. This is a problem for us, because if God hardens someone’s heart, how can they be held responsible for disbelieving or disobeying? They can’t, because God is all-powerful. This runs against so much of our thinking. We think that hearts are hardened by choice and by a lack of faith. Such things may in fact harden one’s heart, but this is not what the Bible says. The Bible says God hardens some hearts. In today’s text, it says He has hardened the hearts of His people, the Jews, to resist the gospel in order that Gentiles like us be brought in. 

“until the full number of Gentiles are brought in” 

We are living in an era of grace and mercy to the Gentiles in particular; that’s us. 

This entire passage brings to mind Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

[Luke 15: 11-32 paraphrased]

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your will.’  So he divided his property between his sons. The younger son took the money and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place so he went and hired himself out to feed pigs. When he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! So he went back home to live as a hired hand. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

[Here is where it gets interesting]: “Now the elder son was in the field; and he heard music and dancing from the house. He called one of the hired hands and asked what was going on. When he found out that his brother—or ex-brother—had come back and his father had killed the fatted calf for him, he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him, “Son, come inside and celebrate with us.”  But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has squandered our fortune, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

The younger brother: forgiven and restored. Included back into the family.

The elder brother: bitter, resentful, and feeling a horrid injustice has been done. 

The question is: Does the older son eventually go in to the party? This is the relevant question, because this parable is about God’s grace to the Gentiles. 

All my life, I’ve heard church folk ask: “Why don’t the Jews acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah?” Paul’s answer to this is simply that God has intentionally hardened their hearts, if only for a time. Again, verse 25: “a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” 

But this hardening is no different than any other part of God’s election. God calls whomever He calls, and hardens the hearts of whomever He calls. I think we must see the hardening as part of his work of salvation—part of His election. It is temporary. Once the full number of Gentiles has come in, God will harden their hearts no longer, perhaps. Then, we shall be one family.

As to the Hardened

We shouldn’t concern ourselves with hearts that are God-hardened; He is working out His purposes with them. Paul never doubts that his people are within God’s favor. Look at verse 26: 

all Israel will be saved

Guess what? Jews are among the elect! If you’ve grown up in Christian circles that talk Jews down for not receiving Christ, then mark well this text! God hardens their hearts not for their destruction, but for their salvation and for ours. 

Verse 28 says that they are “Enemies of the gospel for your [our] sake.” 

How? Their opposition opens up the mercy of God to the Heathen, the Gentiles, the formerly non-Elect and Un-chosen peoples of the world. That is great news for the whole world. This opening up of God’s mercy was proclaimed by Christ in the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14: 

Jesus says, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. 17 At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ 20 Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. [Luke 14: 16b-23]

This is the evangelical mission. We are the servants sent out into the roads to present God’s calling to come in. 

That’s us and our mission. 

That is the spiritual era we are living in!

Because of the hardening of the Jewish heart, we Gentiles—we, the unholy and unworthy—are adopted in the family of God. We are the dogs that Jesus brings home to the Father and asks, “Can I keep them?” and the Father says, “Absolutely!” 

Same Terms for All

Verse 32 makes clear that there is—as Paul says elsewhere—no distinction between Jews and Gentiles any longer. We all come into God’s good favor in the same way: His free choice and election of sinners.

“All are fallen and disobedient” 

The Jews failed to accomplish the terms of the Mosaic Law. The Gentiles had no cause for righteousness toward God. Both groups are utterly fallen and equally depraved, so there is only one plan of salvation for all people, and that is the good news that God elects for humanity out of pure mercy, goodness, and love. 

Though He hardens some hearts, it seems this is never the full story and that even such hardenings of heart are finite, temporary. 

The good news is that God has an irrational love of sinners. Our sinfulness is not ignored by God, but its price is paid in full in order that the broken Creation may be mended, and the lost children of His household be called, found, and returned to their true home. 

May we all be quick to bless our Jewish brothers and sisters. We live with a hope that God will accomplish for them what they cannot accomplish themselves. God’s promises will be fulfilled and every covenant finished. We should avoid criticizing the hard-hearted for being hard-hearted, but we may speak of our hope in God’s mercy and grace. 

Indeed, we Christians must proclaim what we know; namely, that mercy has come to us through Israel in the person of Jesus Christ, who is our savior and the sole source of our salvation. We do this without demanding responses. We do this as a gentle invitation only. God will do the crucial work in His time to His own satisfaction, which is something you and I should be perfectly happy with. †