“Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?” -Romans 11:13–15
Here Paul focuses his audience’s attention on his ministry to the Gentiles and asserts that in a very particular way, his ministry is accomplishing what he just explained God is doing in the more universal sense (Cf. Romans 11:11).
It may be of help to note at this point that Paul’s over-arching purpose for writing this letter to the church at Rome in the first place was to introduce himself and justify his coming to them to have some fruit among them. Recall what he wrote in his introduction:
“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” (Romans 1:11–15).
The historical context is equally important. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans sometime between 54-58 AD. The Roman historian Suetonius, tells us that in approximately 49 AD, Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome because of a tumult that arose amongst the Jews of the city over someone named Chrestus. See also Luke’s account in Acts 18:1-3.
As scholars have found no documentation supporting the existence of someone named Chrestus, it is largely believed to be a misspelling of Christos, the Greek word for Christ. After the Jews were expelled, the church at Rome became predominantly Gentile, with Gentile leadership. After Claudias died in 54 AD, many of the Jews returned to Rome and were now part of a largely Gentile church (Cf. Romans 14-15).
Paul’s preaching to the Gentiles is a worthy ministry because because he knows he is participating in God’s plan for the redemption of the world—both Jews and Gentiles. If his preaching saves some Gentiles and makes some Jews jealous, then he is line with God’s plan. And, as he said before, if [the Jews] rejection means the reconciliation of the [Gentile] world, what will [the Jews] acceptance mean but life from the dead [for the whole world]?