Perspectives on the Jews and salvation, from Luke and Paul

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross,
daughter of the chosen people

20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Romans 11:13-15,29-32

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

Earlier this week (on Tuesday), the Church celebrated the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). She was, of course, a Jew and she always held her Jewish heritage in high esteem. Once, she said to her confessor, “You don’t know what it means to me to be a daughter of the chosen people – to belong to Christ, not only spiritually, but according to the flesh.”

The strong emphasis of this great saint on her blood relation to Jesus through her Jewish lineage can make some uneasy. Such persons wonder: Can we really say that the Jews are still the “chosen people”? Is it not necessary for the Jews to believe in Christ in order for them to be saved? Since none are saved by being born of blood, nor by the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (John 1:13), is there any importance to being a Jew?

Rather than discussing these questions directly, it will be helpful to consider a tension which exists within the Scriptures themselves. In the Gospel according to St. Luke and in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, we are presented with two different accents of the relation between the Jews and salvation – note, I do not say there are two different theologies but only two accents. St. Luke’s Gospel, recording the words of Christ, seems to imply that the Jews who have rejected Christ are (as a people, though not necessarily as individuals) shut out from salvation and left behind. St. Paul, on the other hand, seems to state that salvation will only come to the world when the Jews (again, as a people) are converted to the true Faith.

This difference is all the more interesting when we consider that St. Luke was a disciple and friend of the Apostle to the Gentiles.

The accent of St. Luke

And a certain man said to him: Lord, are they few that are saved? But he said to them: Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able. But when the master of the house shall be gone in, and shall shut the door, you shall begin to stand without, and knock at the door, saying: Lord, open to us. And he answering, shall say to you: I know you not, whence you are. Then you shall begin to say: We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. And he shall say to you: I know you not, whence you are: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And there shall come from the east and the west, and the north and the south; and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, they are last that shall be first; and they are first that shall be last. (Luke 13:23-30)

This parable was spoken by Jesus to the Jews, those with whom he ate and drank and in whose streets he taught. Those from among the Jews who do not convert and who do not enter by the narrow gate of faith, will be shut out. How great will their torment be, when they see their own ancestors according to the flesh (i.e. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets) joined with Christ in his kingdom, and they themselves thrust out and condemned to hell – left behind.

Moreover, many from the east and west, the north and south – that is many of the Gentiles – will be converted and will enter into the kingdom of God. But there is no mention at all of a “second conversion” of the Jews as a people. Rather, they are (again, as a people though not as individuals) utterly shut out and left behind – the Gentiles (as a multitude of peoples) do not seem to depend upon the Jews (as a "chosen" people) at all.

Of course, when I say that this parable shows the accent of St. Luke, I do not mean to imply that the passage is somehow an "invention" of the Evangelist - not at all! Obviously, our Savior did tell this very parable; and yet we must admit that each Evangelist recorded the historical events in such a way as to preserve his own particular focus in writing. Thus, St. Luke strongly emphasizes the part of the parable where the Jews are left out and the Gentiles are brought in; and it is noteworthy that none of the other Gospels contain this particular parable [though individual phrases from this passage are used in both Matthew and Mark].

The accent of St. Paul

I say then, have they so stumbled, that they should fall? God forbid. But by their offence, salvation is come to the Gentiles, that they may be emulous of them. Now if the offence of them be the riches of the world, and the diminution of them, the riches of the Gentiles; how much more the fulness of them? For I say to you, Gentiles: as long indeed as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I will honour my ministry, If, by any means, I may provoke to emulation them who are my flesh, and may save some of them. For if the loss of them be the reconciliation of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? […] For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, (lest you should be wise in your own conceits), that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in. And so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: There shall come out of Sion, he that shall deliver, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is to them my covenant: when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, indeed, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are most dear for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. (Romans 11:11-15,25-29)

The Letter of St. Paul to the Romans is certainly one of the most theologically rich (and complex) portions of Scripture. The discussion of the Jews is particularly complicated. Still, we can notice at least a few points from the eleventh chapter.

St. Paul does not seem to think that the Gentiles can be saved without the conversion of the Jews. Whereas St. Luke ends Jesus’ parable with the unbelieving Jews being shut out and left behind, St. Paul emphasizes that the general resurrection will only come when the Jews are received (as an "elect" or "chosen" people) into the household of the faith.

Nor can any claim that St. Paul here means “Jews” and “Israel” in an allegorical sense – as though “Israel” here stood for the Gentile Church. No, the context is quite clear: These “Jews” are those who had fallen away, this same people remains precious to the Lord even though they have not yet believed in the Christ. It is this people, the Jews, who will return – for they have not stumbled so as to fall, but will again be restored to faith.

It is of this same people which St. Paul speaks when he says, And so all Israel should be saved. Not that the Jewish people alone are all Israel, but the Gentiles are grafted into the Jews and become with them all Israel. In other words, the Gentiles are not going to be saved without the Jews: The sons of Israel will not, as a people, be shut out while people come from the north and the south, the east and the west; no, they too will be re-incorporated as the chosen people.

St. Paul states quite directly: But as touching the election, they are most dear for the sake of their fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. How can we possibly think that they are no longer the chosen people, when their election is among the gifts and the calling of God which are without repentance? How can we possibly think that they will not (as a people) be saved?

Still, this does not imply at all that each and every Jew must be saved; no, but as a people, they will be saved. And until the Jews are converted, as a people, the world will not be renewed, for the Gentiles are only saved as having been incorporated into all Israel.

Salvation is from the Jews

Finally, we consider our Savior’s words to the woman of Samaria: Salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22). We turn to the commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas on the Gospel according to St. John:

“Salvation comes from the Jews in three ways. First in their teaching of the truth, for all other peoples were in error, while the Jews held fast to the truth, according to Romans (3:2): What advantage do Jews have? First, they were entrusted with the words of God. Secondly, in their spiritual gifts: for prophecy and the other gifts of the Spirit were given to them first, and from them they reached others: You, i.e., the Gentiles, a wild olive branch, are ingrafted on them, i.e., on the Jews (Rom 11:17); If the Gentiles have become sharers in their (i.e., the Jews’) spiritual goods, they ought to help the Jews as to earthly goods (Rom 15:27). Thirdly, since the very author of salvation is from the Jews, since Christ came from then in the flesh (Rom 9:5).”

And here again there is a tension: For salvation can be said to be from the Jews in two respects. Firstly, it may be from them as being of them. Insofar, as the whole world finds salvation from the Jews – and this is the sense in which St. Thomas interprets the passage.

Second, salvation may be from the Jew as being out of them. In this sense, salvation would have come forth from the Jews as to denote a separation, such that they are now far from salvation.

And yet, even if they are now outside of the household of the faith and separated from salvation, yet they will again be received by God for the sake of their fathers the patriarchs. Are they not the one lost sheep which went astray? Are they not the prodigal son who will be returned to his father? (to take two more parables found only in St. Luke’s Gospel and which [unlike the one above from Luke 13] are more open to an interpretation which would emphasize the return of Israel in a sense closer to that found in St. Paul's Letter to the Romans)

Hence, we should not be surprised if the issue of the relation between the Jews and salvation, and the question of whether or not they are still the chosen people causes some tension and difficulty - this tension exists within the Sacred Texts themselves! But remember, it is only a tension not a contradiction. Perhaps some day we will come to understand that all of history rests with the Jews.