Many of Paul's countrymen had rejected Jesus and so in the opening verses of chapter 9, he details his concern for his own people. Paul has a genuine anguish for those of his own race. They have received everything from the Lord their God and now they have returned his favour by rejecting his Son.

v1. The opening verse is designed to emphasize verse 2. It is an emphatic statement where Paul declares that he is speaking truthfully,speaking with a good conscience, and doing so as a believer in union with Christ.

v2. Paul is filled with anguish for the present state of Israel. Paul's fellow Jews had a full and complete place before the living God, but they are now outside his grace. It is a great loss.

v3. Paul states that if it were possible, he would be willing to trade places with his fellow countrymen. Paul is willing to forfeit his salvation for them. "If I could"....ie. if it were right and according to the will of God. "I would pray" (NIV "wish")..... I would ask this of God. And why this depth of feeling? They are his "brothers", his "own race"; they are members of God's family, but are in rebellion against Him.

v4-5. Paul goes on to make four statements detailing the privileges of his race. It is the loss of such wonderful privileges that causes Paul so much pain:

i] They are Israelites. This is a religious term denoting the Jews as God's chosen people.

ii] They are a blessed race.

a) Theirs is the adoption as sons - people in a special relationship with God. He is their Father.

b) Theirs the Divine glory. God has manifested himself to his people. He has been personally present with his people.

c) The covenants, the receiving of the law. Probably here covenant means the agreements that God has made with his people.

d) The gift of the Law

e) Service to God. Many translations have "worship" here, but the Greek word means "service" - the privilege of serving God.

f) The promises. All the promises revealed in the scriptures.

iii] "Theirs are the patriarchs." They are part of the family God chose to deal with throughout history.

iv]. Finally, from the Jewish people came the Messiah, Christ. Paul concludes by making two points about Jesus:

a) "Who is over all". He is Lord, and therefore, our Lord and master. Phil.2:10.

b) "God blessed forever, Amen." He is blessed of God. The NIV translation is probably not correct. It is unlikely that Paul would confuse his readers by calling Jesus "God over all". Such would imply that he has authority over the Father.

With this list of privileges before Paul, what else can he do but be filled with anguish at the thought that so many of his countrymen have lost everything.

The children of the 80's and 90's will probably be known as the "me" generation. We moved into the minimum self and insulated ourselves from the endless invasion of our persons by the media, government, associations, .... and yes, even our Christian fellowship. Yet, now in this new millennium we are on the way out of the island of isolation. Some commentators suggest that we are even now moving into the "re" generation, the rediscovery of.......... Well, I'm not sure what. Is it pragmatism? We may be rediscovering the 1960's!

It's very hard allowing ourselves to be burdened by the troubles of others. Yet, Paul did not isolate himself from feelings of concern. In fact, he saw his feelings as rightly motivated by his relationship with Christ and confirmed by his renewed conscience. They were genuine feelings, originating in truth and unaffected by the warp of human nature. Paul allowed himself to have a genuine anguish for his Jewish brothers. He mourned their potential loss in Christ.

When it comes to focusing our emotions on the needs of those around us, on whom do we release our limited emotional energy? We see the images of starvation on the TV night after night. We see the mass of humanity surge past us, lost and alone. A broken world lies before us. Like Paul, our emotional energy should rightly be applied to our brothers and sisters in the Lord. "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence."

When it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, no one is an island unto themselves. We have to learn to carry each other. "He's not heavy, he's me brother."

Why does Paul feel great anguish for his fellow Jews?