By Jeffery M. Leonard, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biblical Studies, Samford University
Committed to His Mission
Romans 10:9–17
On the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee is a small and unpretentious archaeological site called Kursi. Kursi is not much to look at — the ruins of a Byzantine monastery and a few mosaics and that’s about it. But a visit to Kursi is not so much to see what’s there as it is to remember what happened there.
Kursi is the spot where Jesus encountered the Gerasene demoniac (Mark 5). Here on this dangerous “other side” of the sea, Jesus cast a legion of demons out of this man and into a nearby herd of swine. Once, the man had been too violent to be restrained by fetter or chain. Once, he had lived among the tombs, howling day and night and gashing himself with stones. Now, the man sat before Jesus “clothed and in his right mind.”
Led no doubt by those who had lost their swine, the townspeople begged Jesus to go away. The demoniac begged Jesus too, but rather that he might be allowed to go away … with Jesus. Shockingly, Jesus’ answer was no; he would not let the man come. Instead, the man was instructed to go home and tell everyone all God had done for him.
It is easy to assume this was the end of the demoniac’s story. Left by Jesus on the seashore, the man must surely have drifted off into the mists of history. If we read the Gospels carefully though, we know this is not the case. Jesus returned to this region again later in His ministry (see Matt. 15:29–31), and this second time, the townspeople came out in droves begging Jesus to stay and not to go. What made the difference? It was the demoniac. This man whom Jesus had healed had become the first missionary. Before Philip and Peter and Paul would do their great work in Acts, it was this unnamed Gentile demoniac who first reached out to other Gentiles with the gospel.
The message of salvation is summed up in confession and belief in Christ. (9–10)
Although the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans is often viewed as Paul’s great defense of salvation by faith alone, an ever-present subtheme in the letter is his concern for the relationship between Jews and Gentiles. Paul is at pains to argue in Romans that Jews come first in the order of salvation (9:4–5).
But Paul also argues that a door has now been opened for Gentiles to gain salvation as well. Even pagan, idol-worshipping Gentiles can now come to God. How? Paul insists, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The message of salvation is for all people. (11–13)
Outreach to the Gentiles was a powerful subtheme in the ministry of Jesus too. Though He ministered mainly to Israel, Jesus kept planting seeds for future ministry to others as well. Stories like the Good Samaritan, the woman at the well, the Syrophoenician woman and the centurion’ servant foreshadowed the mission that would reach out to Gentiles as well as Jews.
In Romans, Paul picks up the torch of this outreach and signals that now the time has come when both Jews and Gentiles will be accepted on the same basis by the same Lord.
We are to share the message of salvation. (14–17)
In the remainder of Romans 10–11, Paul wrestles with the fact that, at least in his day, it seemed that almost the only people coming to faith were Gentiles. Paul’s own countrymen, the very people to whom Jesus had directed the bulk of His ministry, were not.
Paul’s confidence is that though this might be the case at the present moment, it would not always be the case. One day, he insisted, both God’s first people, Israel, and the rest of His people among the Gentiles would worship the same God together in faith.
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