Self-Confident Jews
Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Romans 2:17-24
Paul has divided the human race into three groups and is showing how each is sinful, guilty and without excuse before God:
Firstly he portrayed Gentile society in its idolatry, immorality and destructive anti-social behaviour (1:18-32).
Secondly he exposed critical moralisers (whether Gentiles or Jews) who profess high ethical standards but apply them to others and not themselves (2:1-16).
Thirdly, he now turns to self-confident Jews who boast of their knowledge of God’s law but who don’t live up to it (2:17-3:8).
Fourthly, he will encompass the whole human race and conclude we are all guilty and without excuse before God (3:9-20).
We have begun our third section. Paul is anticipating Jewish objections to Jews and Gentiles being treated equally before God. He imagines Jews protesting: “We were the only ones given the law (the revelation of God) and circumcision (the sign of the covenant). These great privileges – covenant, law and circumcision – mark us out as God’s chosen people.” Here in 2:17-24 Paul writes about the law and in 2:25-29 about circumcision, insisting neither guarantee immunity from divine judgement.
Paul uses eight verbs to describe Jewish self confidence:
(1) ‘you call yourself a Jew’ the proud name for God’s chosen people (2:17)
(2) ‘you rely on the law’ given you at Sinai trusting it as your shield against disaster (2:17)
(3) ‘you … boast in God’ proud in your monopoly of God (2:17)
(4) ‘you know his will’ literally ‘the will’ to which all other wills are relative (2:18)
(5) ‘you … approve of what is superior’ so you can discern right from wrong (2:18)
(6) ‘you are instructed by the law’ (2:18)
(7) ‘you are convinced’ that you are competent to teach others, so you are ‘a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark’ ([2:19] the Gentiles). This is the stated ministry of the servant of the Lord in Isaiah 42:6f and 49:6. You are also ‘an instructor of the foolish’ and ‘a teacher of little children’ probably meaning proselytes to Judaism
(8) all this is because ‘you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth’ (2:20)
But they don’t live up to their knowledge. Paul asks five questions which expose their inconsistencies
(1) ‘you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?’ (2:21)
(2) ‘you who preach against stealing, do you steal?’ (2:21)
(3) ‘you who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?’ (2:22)
(4) ‘you who abhor idols, do you rob temples?’ (2:22)
(5) ‘you who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law?’ (2:23)
When Paul concludes by quoting Isaiah 52:5 ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ ([2:24] echoing also Ezekiel 36:20 and 23), he is drawing on the very centre of the prophet’s critique of Israel. This critique was so damaging that the same prophets could only see the future in terms of total judgement and reconstitution. Israel had not just made some mistakes. Israel had failed completely the task God had set before her. The only way now was for God to send the Messiah who would take upon Himself that failure and more, and through Him, would establish a new covenant. Isaiah 52 goes on just a few verses later to introduce the figure of the Suffering Servant who would die for the sins of Israel and the world. Ezekiel 36 talks of a new covenant in which God would write His law on peoples’ hearts. Paul clearly has both themes in mind.