When Paul arrived in Rome he wanted his people, the Jews, to understand who he was and how he ended up there. He told them, ‘It is on account of the hope of Israel that I wear these chains.” For Paul the hope of Israel was to be found in Jesus, sent from God as Lord and Messiah. His detractors would accuse him of destroying Israel by insisting on this “new way” of faith as the Chosen People. We live in an age of sharp divisions as well — divisions not just over this or that policy but over the very nature of who we are as a church or as a country. The way forward, as Paul demonstrated, is by listening to each other.
MAY222021
By Church Staff
