The Olive Tree: Grafted In

A Wild Branch Joined In

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Olive trees grew everywhere in Paul's world. Some lived for hundreds of years, and their oil was used for food, lamps and medicine. Paul used an olive tree to teach about God's family.

What grafting is. A farmer cuts a slit into a strong old tree and slips a young branch into it. He binds them tightly together. In time the branch grows into the tree and lives on its sap.

The root. “If the root is holy, so are the branches” (Romans 11:16). The root is God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fathers of Israel (11:28).

The promise to Abraham. God told Abraham, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). From the very start, God planned to bless the whole world through Abraham's family.

The gospel to Abraham. “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand” (Galatians 3:8). Justify means to declare someone right with God.

The wild branch. Paul tells Gentile believers, “You, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them” (11:17). A Gentile is anyone who is not Jewish.

Far away. Before Jesus, Gentiles were “strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). Covenants are God's binding promises.

Brought near. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13). Jesus' death on the cross is what joins us to God's family.

Sharing the root. The wild branch became “a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree” (11:17). Fatness means the rich oil and life of the tree. A partaker is a sharer.

Abraham's family. “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). Seed means children. Heirs are the ones who receive what was promised.

No bragging. “Remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you” (11:18). A branch cannot brag about holding up the tree.

Standing by faith. “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear” (11:20). Haughty means stuck-up and proud.

The vine. Jesus used a picture like this: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit” (John 15:5). Abides means stays joined. Branches live by staying joined to Him.

What we learn. God brought outsiders into His family through Jesus. We belong by faith, not by being better than anyone else.

What to do. Thank God this week that He grafted you in. Ask Him to keep you humble and close to Jesus.

In Romans 11:16-22 Paul answers a hard question with one picture: how can Gentiles who never knew Abraham's God share in Abraham's promises?

A farming word. The Greek verb is enkentrizo (say: en-ken-TREE-zoh), meaning to cut in and graft. Olive growers did it often, joining a good branch onto a strong stock so the tree would bear better fruit.

Backward grafting. God grafted the wild branch in “contrary to nature” (11:24). A grower would never graft a wild shoot into a garden olive and expect good fruit. God did exactly that, and the grafted branch thrives because the life comes from the root.

The root (11:16, 28). The root is God's promise to the fathers. Genesis 12:3 says, “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Galatians 3:8 calls that promise the gospel preached to Abraham beforehand.

The Root of Jesse. Isaiah 11:1 promised “a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Isaiah 11:10 adds, “For the Gentiles shall seek Him.” Paul quotes this in Romans 15:12. Israel's Messiah is the One the nations come to.

Joined, not replaced. Gentile believers were “grafted in among them” (11:17). They did not plant a new tree beside Israel. They were brought into Israel's story, under Israel's Messiah, and share “the root and fatness” of God's promises.

Citizens. “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

The warning (11:18-21). Some Gentile Christians in Rome were tempted to say, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in” (11:19). Paul answers: true, but they fell by unbelief, and you stand only by faith. Pride has no place in a grafted branch. Faith keeps a branch humble.

Goodness and severity (11:22). Both are true of God at once. His goodness welcomes all who trust Him; His severity is His right judgment on unbelief. Continuing in His goodness is the mark of a real, living faith.

Abiding (John 15:5). Jesus' vine picture says the same thing from another angle: “Without Me you can do nothing.” Fruit comes from staying joined.

Application. A Christian has no ground for pride over anyone, least of all over the Jewish people through whom the Scriptures and the Messiah came. Gratitude and humility are the right response to being grafted in.

Grafted In Again

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Paul did not end the olive tree picture with broken branches. He ended it with hope.

God is able. “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again” (Romans 11:23).

How much more. If God could graft a wild branch into a garden tree, “how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” (11:24). It is their own tree.

A secret made known. Paul calls this a mystery (11:25). In the Bible a mystery is a secret God has now told His people.

Blind in part, for a time. “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” (11:25). It is in part, not all. It lasts until a set time, not forever.

All Israel will be saved. “And so all Israel will be saved” (11:26). God is not finished with the Jewish people. A day is coming when Israel as a people will turn to Jesus.

The Deliverer. “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (11:26). The Deliverer is Jesus, the Messiah, who was born a Jew.

Sins taken away. God says, “For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins” (11:27). Through Jeremiah God promised, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

Still loved. Even now, “concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers” (11:28). God still loves the Jewish people because of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

God never takes it back. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (11:29). If God keeps His word to Israel, you can be sure He will keep His word to you.

Jesus' tears. Jesus cried out over Jerusalem, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Matthew 23:37).

Paul's prayer. Paul prayed, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved” (10:1).

God's patience. The Lord is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Repentance means turning from sin to God.

What we learn. God keeps every promise, and His mercy is bigger than we can imagine.

What to do. Pray for Jewish people to know Jesus, and treat every Jewish person with kindness and respect.

In 11:23-29 Paul turns from warning to promise. The natural branches are not thrown on the fire. God plans to graft them back.

Lesser to greater (11:24). Paul argues from the harder case to the easier one. If God grafted wild branches into a tree that was not theirs, “how much more” will He graft the natural branches into “their own olive tree.”

In part, and until (11:25). The hardening is partial, because there has always been a believing remnant (11:5). And it is temporary, lasting “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,” the full number of Gentiles God is gathering.

“And so all Israel will be saved” (11:26). Paul is speaking of Israel as a people, the same Israel that was hardened in part. He expects a real turning of the Jewish people to their Messiah. God has not finished with Israel.

The Deliverer from Zion. Paul joins words from Isaiah 59 and Isaiah 27. The Deliverer turns away ungodliness and takes away sins. Many Christians see this as connected to Jesus' return, when Israel will look on the One they pierced and mourn for Him (Zechariah 12:10).

The new covenant. “For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins” (11:27) points to Jeremiah 31:33-34, where God promised to write His law on hearts and “remember no more” their sin. Forgiveness comes through Christ alone, for Jew and Gentile.

Enemies and beloved (11:28). Both are true at once. Concerning the gospel, many Jewish people oppose it now. Concerning God's choice, they are “beloved for the sake of the fathers.”

Never taken back (11:29). The Greek word ametameleta (say: ah-meh-tah-MEH-leh-tah) means without regret. God does not change His mind about the gifts and calling He has given. The same faithfulness secures every believer (Romans 8:38-39).

Mercy on all (11:30-32). Gentiles received mercy through Israel's disobedience, and Israel will receive mercy through the mercy shown to Gentiles. God “might have mercy on all.”

Worship (11:33-36). Paul's answer to God's plan is praise: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”

Application. Pray as Paul prayed (10:1). Share the gospel with Jewish friends with love and respect. Never let anyone use Romans 11 to look down on the Jewish people.

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