"This is a hard teaching. Who can listen to it?" The crowds uttered these words during Jesus' earthly ministry when he had difficult things to say to them. We are apt to respond the same way as we study Romans 9. But just as Jesus would not avoid the hard teaching to ease his listeners, the apostle Paul doesn't back off his hard teaching about God's supreme choice in salvation. May we continue to listen to God's Word about God's mercy and not turn away from these words of life.