Monday, September 08, 2003

The Time of the Gentiles
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes.
-- Romans 11:25-28

And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. -- Luke 21:24

On occasion, Adam's sin has been referred to as a Felix Culpa. The argument runs that, if it were not for Adam's fall, there would have been no incarnation.

I tend to think that the Judaic rejection of Jesus as Messiah is the occasion of my own Felix Culpa. Jesus compared heaven to a wedding feast where the invited guests declined to come. As a result, passersby were invited to the feast. The implication is that, if the intended guests had attended, the invitation to all and sundry would not have been extended.

If the Judaic community had accepted Jesus as the fulfillment of the Covenant, where would I be?

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