That We Might Have Hope
Romans 15:4-13
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… Paul writes to us in the Romans 15 that, “whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” So, what are the “things written before” that He speaks about? What writings give us hope? Well, Paul certainly is not talking about the secular histories, written long ago by men such as Heroditus. And he’s not talking about the philosophies of men like Plato and Aristotle, or not even the inspiring poetic and fictional works of such great men as Virgil and Homer.
St. Paul knew that the writings of men, however great their ideas are to their followers, never give true hope. St. Paul points the Christian to the one set of writings that does. He points us to the Holy Scriptures.
We have learned and have experienced that the Scriptures truly do give us confidence and hope, for in them we see very clearly the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospels His life is revealed to us and His sayings are passed on to us. In the Letters of the New Testament, the implications of what Christ has done for us are unpacked and clarified. And even in the mysterious book of Revelation, we hear very clearly about our Lord Jesus Christ.
But when St. Paul wrote these words concerning the Scriptures, that they were written for our learning and to give us hope, most of the books of the Bible we naturally think about had not yet been written. And those that had been completed were not gathered together into a Bible but were simply passed around from congregation to congregation as a letter from an Apostle or as a record of Christ’s life.
So what writings was St. Paul talking about? He was speaking about the other part of the Scriptures: the Old Testament. For many it is puzzling to hear the Old Testament called a book that gives comfort and hope. Most think of the Old Testament writings simply as Jewish history and poetry with some prophecy mixed in. And most of this history, poetry, and prophecy, they think, is not comforting or particularly helpful.
In the Old Testament we hear about God’s rigid laws; laws about what is right and wrong, laws about how one must worship and sacrifice, laws even about how to handle disputes with neighbors and how to deal with disobedient children. And we hear about God’s wrath against those who break those laws. We hear about how God is angry, sending the Israelites into war against the Gentiles with the instructions to leave no creature in their path alive, not a man, not a woman, not a child, not even an animal.
And we hear, especially in the books of prophecy, how God promises to send His wrath even upon His own people and to send armies against them if they will not follow His commands. And we see in the histories how these threats were carried out – how Israel was destroyed and exiled, how they lived in captivity for years, only to be brought back and then exiled again under a different conqueror.
It is not surprising, then, that many people find little comfort or hope in the books of the Old Testament. Some have even concluded that the God of the Old Testament is a different God than that of the New. One man who believed this, was named Marcion, a second century theologian. Marcion taught that the god of the Old Testament was not the true God but rather that the true and higher God had been revealed only with Jesus Christ. Marcion also went so far as to try to take the Old Testament out of the Bible; his Bible included only the Gospel and the Epistles. He just couldn’t see how these dark writings of the Old Testament could be edifying for the Christian who knows and worships a God of love and mercy. He didn’t believe that the Old Testament God of the Jews was the same God as the Father of Jesus Christ.
By the way, Marcion was excommunicated and condemned by the Church as a heretic for his false teachings about Christ and the Scriptures. But many people still agree with him. The Old Testament often paints a picture that is troubling to us who have received God’s love and mercy in Christ, His Son. Yet Paul tells us: “whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
Paul writes this because the Old Testament is not a collection of writings about an angry Jewish God who sends destruction wherever He pleases. The Old Testament is also about a God of love and mercy, the true God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in the pages of the Old Testament the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ is revealed. Putting it bluntly, the Old Testament is full of Jesus Christ.
Most certainly Christmas had not yet come, and Jesus had not yet been born. But Jesus is center of the Old Testament just as He is the center of the New. The Scriptures of the Old Testament were written for the learning of the people and to give them hope in the Messiah who would come and save them from their sins.
This hope was first given to the Jews. Paul says: “Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant… to confirm the promises made to the fathers.” Yes, the promises of Christ were first given to the Jews, to the Old Testament fathers, like Abraham, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, and others. This comfort and hope was the central theme of Jewish life. Jewish society was guided by three types of people: the prophets, who carried God’s Word to the people and spoke in His place; the priests, who offered up the sacrifices of the people; and the king, who ruled the nation with God’s authority.
Yet all these offices, of prophet, priest, and king were meant to point forward to the coming of Christ. And in Him these offices are fulfilled. In the New Testament we learn that Jesus is THE prophet, Himself being the Word of God incarnate, and preaching His Divine Word to all people. We learn that He is the King of kings, the ruler of our hearts and the monarch of heaven. We also hear, especially in Hebrews, how He is our great High Priest who offered up the sacrifice of His own blood that we might gain the forgiveness of sins and have access through Him to God the Father. Yes the entire structure of Jewish civilization is meant to point to Him who was to come, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
But Jesus came not only to be the Savior of the Jews, but of all mankind. And likewise, the Old Testament is not just a book for the Jews; it was given for the Gentiles as well. Again and again these ancient Scriptures speak comfort and hope to the Gentiles. Paul points this out in our Epistle and mentions a few examples, quoting II Samuel, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, and Isaiah: “For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name.” And again he says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him all you peoples!” And again Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse; and He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope.”
So, these Scriptures were not given just for the Jews, but that the Gentiles too might have the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. It is just as Paul said in Romans: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek [or Gentile]” (Rom 1:16).
Indeed, through His mercy, God is the god of all people. All who have faith and believe in God the Father through Jesus Christ are His people. He takes us like twigs from a foreign tree and grafts us into that tree which grows from the root of Jesse, the Tree of Christ.
Now, we who are Gentiles by heritage, are also brought into God’s grace and mercy. Yes, the Old Testament is book of hope for us too. These are Scriptures that should not be rejected or ignored, for in them, we see more than just past promises which were fulfilled. We see more than just history and poetry and prophesies.
We see Christ in the promised seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 – the One who would crush the devil’s head by dying on the tree of the cross, paying for all our sins. We see that Christ was the one who was “despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Is 53:3-5).
And we see that these things are nothing new, but that God has truly planned our salvation since the beginning of time and that He has been faithful in carrying it out. All the OT prophecies about the Messiah are fulfilled in Christ. And for these reasons, the Old Testament brings us hope. It shows us that our salvation is certain in Christ and that God will not forsake His plan. It teaches us patience, showing us that this plan takes time to unfold.
But while teaching us to be patient and wait, it also gives comfort. For we know with certainty that our waiting is not in vain but will lead to the promised reunion with Christ when He returns as He promises to do in the Gospel from last Sunday in Luke 21. For indeed the promises have been fulfilled. Christ has come and paid for our sins having suffered and died in our place on the cross and having emerged from the tomb the third day alive again.
This is now our great hope, that Christ who came once at Christmas, and comes to us in His Word an Sacraments, will at last one day come openly and majestically to bring us into His kingdom where He will ever be our Prophet, Priest and King.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.