Romans 11:13-24 (NIV)
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
Paul, as the apostle to the gentiles, was a key player in God’s plan to make the unrepentant Jews jealous of the blessings being enjoyed by the gentile Christians; jealous enough that they would repent and be saved. He did this by talking about the blessings being received and enjoyed by the gentiles at every opportunity.
But Paul didn’t want the gentile believers to become smug and self-confident. Those were exactly the things that had caused so many of the Jews to turn away from the opportunity to be saved by grace through faith in Jesus. They preferred to rely on their own self-righteousness.
Paul used an illustration of an olive tree, a common symbol for the nation of Israel, but here symbolizing God’s chosen people, whether Jew or gentile. The root symbolizes the source of nourishment for the tree: God Himself. And all the branches and limbs of the tree are able to live because they are in relationship with that root.
The broken off branches symbolized the unbelieving Jews. They had a natural claim to be part of the tree, but were pruned out, broken off when they opted out of being God’s chosen people by rejecting Jesus. The grafted-in branches symbolize the gentile believers who, by having faith in Jesus, opted into God’s chosen people, and were thus grafted into the tree, and thus able to enjoy a life-giving relationship with the root.
The fact that the believing gentiles had been grafted into the olive tree of God’s chosen people, while many Jewish people had been pruned out could be a source of pride for those gentile Christians. But here Paul gives a grave warning designed to erase any smugness. The new branches were grafted in by grace, not because they were so special or so good. In fact, the grafted in branches were taken from a wild olive tree, a tree that produced fruit far inferior to that of a cultivated tree.
Paul assures the gentiles that they really have been grafted in and are legitimately part of God’s people. But then Paul provides a cautionary condition: provided that you continue in his kindness, and a warning: Otherwise, you also will be cut off. These gentile believers will remain a part of the tree only if they continue in the faith and don’t fall into the self-righteousness that excluded so many of the Jewish people. If they allow themselves to become smug, lax, and self-confident, and thus sever their relationship with the lifegiving root of the tree, they will dry up and be cut off, just as those Jewish people were. (See John 15:1-6 for a similar warning given by Jesus using a slightly different set of symbols.)
And, of course, the flip side of this story is also true. Any of the Jewish people who turn to God by faith in Jesus (and Paul is a perfect example of this) can easily be grafted back into their natural place in the tree, opting back into the rapidly growing group of God’s chosen people.
Father, this makes sense. The same smug self-righteousness that caused so many Jews to reject Jesus, and to thus sever their relationship with You, the root, can still sever our relationship with you today, if we allow it to. This makes clear Jesus’ strong warning in His parable that we must remain in Him. It is not enough to just get connected to Him once and then never think about it again; we must remain connected to Him, just like a productive branch must remain connected to the vine. If that connection is severed, the life-giving, fruit-producing sap stops flowing, and the branch dries up and is cut off by the farmer and thrown into the fire. In both of these parables, You are encouraging us to stay strongly connected to You so that we can continue as one of Your people, part of the vine, part of the olive tree, forever. Thank You, Lord, that in addition to connecting us to Yourself when we exercise saving faith in Jesus, You give us all the strength and power that we need to enable us to keep that connection strong all the rest of our lives. Thank You! Amen.