In some eras, the daily news is so bad it seems to eclipse the gospel’s good news. The people wring their hands or stare morosely at their screens and wonder if all hope is lost. A question, inarticulate perhaps but haunting, underlies their fear: Has God rejected us?

Paul deals such despairing doubt a swift, decisive blow: “By no means!” Paul’s conviction comes not in reaction to a string of faith-damaging events but in passionate response to the world-redeeming power of the risen Christ. Through the death and resurrection of the Anointed One, God fulfills the promise made to Israel and expands that promise to include all believers. All is Paul’s clear and universal term for both the Hebrew people of the covenant and their now equally summoned and saved Gentile neighbors.

By no means does the gospel’s all-welcoming reach terminate God’s commitment to Abraham and Sarah’s descendants, of whom Paul is one. Rather, Paul explains, Jews who do not follow Christ are nevertheless subject to mercy, which is the sign of gifts and a calling never to be revoked.

When injustice, violence, and suffering bring us to our knees and press us to wonder whether God’s back is turned, we can draw courage from the ancient, unbreakable bond between Israel and the Lord. Encouraged by eternal ties that bind, we can come closer to the One whose voice carries on in the hearts of all generations and nations, calling the people to faith. We can listen inwardly and know God is faithful always. We can recall the ways we have been helped by divine mercy and trust that it reaches through us and beyond us to liberate prisoners of disbelief and wrap even those who reject Jesus Christ in the blessed ties that bind all humankind to God.