Cutting Your Nose off to Spite Your Face

These past few weeks we’ve been working through some tough sections of Romans. In fact as I was preparing today I was wondering why I was preaching through Romans in the first place? This is tough stuff, we are working through the very tough things that pastor Paul was working through, in essence we are dealing with God’s plan of salvation in relation to all His promises throughout history. This section has been wrestling with where the ethnic Jews fit in with God’s plan of salvation and it is in these chapters where theologies and dogmas take shape, where theologians draw lines in the sand, and where dispensationalists splash about, happier than a dog with two bones. Romans 9-11 presents a cadre of conundrums. What is Israel’s role in light of the good news of Christ? Who are the people of God — Israel, the church or both? What is the extent of God’s predetermination? Will there be a special salvation for Jews (“Sonderweg”) beyond the gospel of Christ?

To help explore these questions I want to look at a parable Jesus told it’s found in Luke 15 starting in verse 11 and we call it the story of the prodigal son. To refresh your memories I will summarize before we look at what we really need to look at which is the ending. A man has two sons and one day his younger son comes to him and basically says, “I wish you where dead, give me my share of the inheritance now.” The father does so, the son sells off the land and stuff and the proceeds to squander the proceeds on drugs, alcohol, loose woman and friends of ill repute. Soon he is living on the streets cleaning out hog pits and other gross jobs to earn a few table scraps. After hitting rock bottom he comes to his senses and decides to go home and work as a servant in his father’s home. The father’s reaction is where I want to pick up reading.

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. 25 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 31 "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"

I wonder how many times the older son thought about his younger brother and the “fun” he was having while he worked the land. Breaking his back to make a living, keeping the family farm going, never getting even a goat given him to celebrate with his friends. I wonder if he ever asked for one. But the older son represents Israel. They are the ones who had the law, the temple worship all the glory, and then Christ comes, the Messiah and says you have to believe in me, faith in me, Paul says they have to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in Him. But they wanted to cling to their “works” to their heritage to the fact that they had been following the law, “working the farm”, and these upstarts, Gentiles, who all their lives have been serving other gods, are now being welcomed into the family with a big celebration, well we will have none of it, “We reject the Messiah because He is not what we expected, we will cut our noses off in spite of our face.”

It is this section that some draw out a parallel form of salvation for the Jews, dispensationalism is born here, but Paul is clear early that unless you confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart then you can not be saved. He points out that natural branches have been cut off and wild branches have been grafted in, and Judgment has been suspended so that grace may flow. As Paul says in verses 28 and 29 “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.”

So what does this mean? Will all ethnic Jews be saved? Only if they confess Jesus is Lord and believe in Him. That is the way to salvation, grace and mercy that is granted to us by faith. Abraham was righteous in God’s sight because he believed. Contrary to popular belief not everyone will be saved, because all roads do not lead to God and to His kingdom. The road is narrow and so is the gate that leads to eternal life. It is only through Jesus Christ, He is the way, the truth and the life “no one” comes to the Father except by Him. No one. Doesn’t matter if they are Jew or Gentile, the only way to salvation is through belief in and confession of Jesus as Lord.

Paul wants to also make it clear that Jesus does not supersede the law but fulfill the law. And our being grafted in is to make the Jews jealous Pastor Paul says. Like the prodigal son’s older brother, they will be on the outside looking in and be so envious that they will not cut their nose off but instead give in and receive the same grace and mercy that we who confessed that Jesus is Lord and believed in His name have received.

And our hope and prayer should be that everyone who has not confessed Jesus is Lord and believed would see us and the forgiveness we have received and the difference it makes in our life and that they too would be moved either by jealousy or longing or whatever to want what we have.

We may look at passages of scripture where it reads that God hardened their hearts and think how unfair. But how often are we like the prodigal son, and come upon the joyous celebration only to refuse to go in because it’s not in our honor? Or because we didn’t get to have a party and so we are left on the outside looking in, cutting our nose off in spite of our face.

On the one hand salvation is so near and so easy, confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. That’s it that’s all you got to do. But in doing that then you admit other things, such as you yourself are not lord, that someone else has a claim to your life and that you are subject to God. Or that you have been wrong and sometimes that is the hardest part for us not confessing Jesus is Lord but in giving up what that confession means, we refuse to receive the grace and mercy out of fear, or anger or hard heartedness or hard headeness.