In Romans 9 Paul wrote of Jews who stumbled at the stone of stumbling, a rock of offense, just as Isaiah had prophesied in Isaiah 28:16: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame” (Romans 9:33).
They were repeating what Peter told the rulers of the Jews that they had done: crucified Jesus, but God had raised him up, and they had fulfilled the prophecy which David had uttered: “The stone which was set of naught of you the builders, was made the head of the corner” (Acts 4:11).
The same error was repeated in Antioch of Pisidia. Paul and Barnabas had preached in the synagogue there and the Jews had blasphemed and contradicted Paul’s message. Paul declared: “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46).
Why did the Jews reject the message of Christ when the Gentiles so readily accepted it?
Paul gave one reason in 1 Corinthians 1:23-25 where He wrote, “We preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling block, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” The prophets had spoken of a victorious Messiah, one who conquered the enemy and reigned triumphantly, one who “put all his enemies under His feet.” David had prophesied, “Why do the nations rage and the people meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh; the Lord will have them in derision, then will he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure: yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion … thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 2:1-9). Israel was not interested in a Messiah who offered no resistance to His enemies; to one who was rejected by His nation and killed by them.
Yet, the prophets had spoken of such a Messiah. The Messiah of Isaiah 53 had little appeal to His nation. The prophet wrote, “Who hath believed our message and to whom hath the arm of of Jehovah been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1-12). The Messiah of Isaiah did not offer His nation victory over earthly enemies, but He did offer them victory over Satan, sin, and death. He offered them eternal life. The Jewish nation wanted independence and casting off of Rome’s rule. They wanted a Messiah who would defeat Rome and subject her under their feet as they had been under her dominance for nearly 100 years.
Sadly, Israel did not see that the purpose of Christ’s death was to produce His resurrection; they did not see that the overthrow and defeat of Rome was nothing compared to the defeat of death and the glorious victory of the resurrection. Paul’s words are compelling and significant: “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
The Jews stumbled at Christ the stumbling block because they didn’t want a suffering Messiah; they wanted a victorious one. They stumbled because the kind of righteousness they sought was one they deserved; one they had earned rather than righteousness that came through grace and faith. The kind of righteousness the Jews sought was unobtainable; the righteousness Christ offered comes as a gift from God.
May the day come when all men, Jew and Greek alike, see the blessedness of the Messiah God sent to lost men.
Jim McDonald