Jews and Gentiles in Rome — The Story Behind the Unity Theme
Suggested reading: Acts 18:1–3; Romans 11:17–24; Romans 14:1–15:13
If you read Romans carefully, you notice Paul keeps saying "Jew and Gentile," "the Jew first and also the Greek," and "no distinction." That is not accidental. A piece of Roman history helps explain why.
An emperor's eviction notice
Around AD 49, Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. The Roman historian Suetonius records that the Jews were causing constant disturbances over someone he calls "Chrestus." Many scholars believe this was a garbled reference to Christ, and that arguments over Jesus in Rome's synagogues prompted the emperor's order.
The Bible confirms the expulsion. When Paul arrived in Corinth, he met Aquila and Priscilla, a Jewish couple who had recently come from Italy "because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome" (Acts 18:2). They became some of Paul's closest friends and co-workers.
A church that changed while they were gone
If Jewish believers had to leave Rome, the house churches that remained would have been mostly Gentile. For about five years, Gentile Christians led those congregations, shaped their worship and set their habits.
Claudius died in AD 54, and Jewish people, including Jewish Christians, began returning. By the time Paul wrote Romans a few years later, Priscilla and Aquila were back in Rome hosting a church in their home (Romans 16:3–5).
You can imagine the friction. Returning Jewish believers may have found churches that no longer kept the Sabbath or the food laws. Gentile believers may have looked down on newcomers who seemed stuck in old ways.
How Paul speaks into it
Read with that background, many parts of Romans come into sharper focus:
Everyone needs grace. Chapters 1–3 show that Gentiles and Jews alike are under sin. No group gets to feel superior (Romans 3:9, 22–23).
Abraham belongs to all who believe. In chapter 4, Paul shows that Abraham was declared righteous by faith before he was circumcised, making him the father of Jewish and Gentile believers alike (Romans 4:11–12).
Gentiles, don't be proud. In chapter 11, Paul pictures Gentile believers as wild olive branches grafted into Israel's tree. He warns them not to boast, because the root supports them, not the other way around (Romans 11:17–18).
The weak and the strong. Chapters 14–15 deal with disputes over food and special days. Paul tells believers not to despise or judge one another, but to pursue peace and build each other up (Romans 14:1–3, 19).
The climax comes in Romans 15:7: welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Unity is a gospel issue
For Paul, unity between Jewish and Gentile believers was not a side issue or a matter of good manners. It was proof that the gospel actually works. If God justifies sinners by faith alone, then no one can claim a higher place at the table.
The church in Rome was meant to be a living picture of what Christ had done: people who would never have chosen each other, now family.
What about us?
Our divisions may look different. We may not argue about kosher meals, but we know how easily preferences, backgrounds and opinions can divide a church. Paul's words still apply. The same grace that saves us also humbles us, and it calls us to make room for one another.
As we study Romans, look for this thread. You'll see it everywhere once you know it's there.
Join us Sunday at Harvest Community Church as we continue our journey through Romans.
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