Grafted In
As those who believe in Jesus, how are we to respond to God’s people that don’t place their trust in Him? Listen to Pastor Jim’s sermon here, or read it below.
Gentiles Who Believe In Jesus Grafted In
If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
In the early part of chapter 11 of Romans, as we saw last week, Paul has been explaining that God is not through with Israel yet, despite the nation as a whole choosing not to believe in Jesus. He provides a thorough-going answer to the question, “Has God rejected His people, Israel?” That answer is a firm, “Absolutely not,” and he provides multiple points of evidence.
Dough: An Example For Those Who Believe In Jesus
In verse 16, in what serves as a transitional verse between the previous section and the one we are considering this morning, Paul introduces two metaphors for his points in this passage.
The first involves dough.
If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump…
Paul is probably referring to God’s instructions through Moses in Numbers 15:
When you eat of the bread of the land, you shall present a contribution to the LORD. Of the first of your dough you shall present a loaf as a contribution; like a contribution from the threshing floor, so shall you present it. Some of the first of your dough you shall give to the LORD as a contribution throughout your generations.
All food, before it was eaten, had to be offered to God. So the law in Numbers 15 laid it down that, if dough was being prepared, the first part of it was to offered to the Lord; when that was done, the whole lump of dough became sacred. It was not necessary, as it were, to offer every separate mouthful to God. The offering of the first part sanctified the whole.
The part of the dough offered as firstfruits represents the first Jewish converts—the first from among Israel to acknowledge and believe in Jesus as Messiah and transfer their trust to Him. Because they are set apart for God, a much larger movement of Jews converting to faith in Jesus can be anticipated in the future.
From that affirmation, it is an easy step for Paul to recognize that the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—represented in verse 16 by the root, were sacred to God.
…and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
The patriarchs had, in a special way, heard God’s voice and obeyed God’s word; in a special way they had been chosen and consecrated by God. The entire nation of Israel traces their lineage—whether ethnically or religiously—to the patriarchs. Just as the offering of the first portion of the dough made the entire batch of bread holy, so the faith of the patriarchs set apart the entire nation of Israel apart unto God as His special possession—that is, it made them holy unto the Lord.
The Olive Tree: An Allegory For Those Who Believe In Jesus
In verses 16-24, Paul develops an allegory of the olive tree.
An allegory is a story or picture with a hidden meaning. Each of the characters or elements of an allegory symbolizes a particular person or idea. You might think of The Pilgrim’s Progress or The Chronicles of Narnia. So let’s start by identifying the elements in Paul’s allegory and what each one symbolizes.
We have already seen that the root in verse 16 represents the patriarchs, and the branches are Jews that believe in Jesus.
The broken branches are, accordingly, unbelieving Jews—that is, Jews who have failed to recognize or believe in Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. John wrote of Jesus in the first chapter of his gospel, “He came to his own (that is, the Jewish people), and his own did not receive Him.”
The wild olive shoot represents Gentiles who HAVE chosen to believe in Jesus, who have recognized Him for who He is, the Son of God and the only Savior, and have transferred their trust to Him.
The “others” in verse 17 are the “faithful remnant” of Jews who believe in Jesus and accept him as their Messiah.
The nourishing sap from the root of the olive tree may be a reference to the richness of biblical Judaism. It may also be a reference to the gospel of justification by faith alone.
In modern times, some people have taken the apostle Paul to task here. They point out that according to normal procedure, grafts must come from branches of a cultivated olive tree inserted into a wild stock, not the other way around as Paul presents it; they claim that the reverse process as Paul presents is never practiced and would be useless.
In 1905, however, Sir William Ramsay—a Scottish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in 1904—wrote an interesting article, which is still quoted, in which he drew on both ancient and modern authorities.
“The process Paul described was still in use in Palestine ‘in exceptional circumstances…’, for ‘it is customary to reinvigorate an olive tree which is ceasing to bear fruit by grafting it with a shoot of the wild olive, so that the sap of the tree ennobles this wild shoot and the tree now again begins to bear fruit.’” Paul’s reference, therefore, is not to the ordinary process of grafting the young olive tree, but to a method of stimulating new growth and fruitfulness in an older olive tree that had stopped bearing fruit. In this case, what is contrary to nature (verse 24) is not the “grafting” but the “belonging,” namely, that the shoot has been cut from the wild olive tree to which it naturally belonged, and has been grafted into the cultivated olive tree to which it does not naturally belong.
Quoted in John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World, p. 300
Paul develops two themes in this allegory. One focuses on the branches that have been broken off; the other focuses on the wild shoot grafted in. The two themes teach two lessons that complement each other. The first is a warning to Gentile believers about presumption in verses 17-22, and the second is a promise to unbelieving Israelites about the prospect of being grafted in again.
Theme 1: A Warning About Presumption To Gentiles That Believe In Jesus
1. Do not be arrogant toward the branches
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches.
Don’t be arrogant because you do not naturally belong to God’s people. Don’t look down on the branches, but remember who you are. You were an uncultivated, wild shoot, grafted in when you chose to believe in Jesus. You had no claim to the benefits of God’s people, but now the sap that nourishes your spiritual life and your new status before God is being drawn up from the root of Israel.
2. Remember it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you.
If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.
Remember your dependency on the root. Branches have no life in themselves. Their life depends on being vitally connected to the root.
3. Do not become proud, but fear.
Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
There are segments of Christianity that believe and teach that the church has replaced Israel in God’s kingdom. Nothing could be further from the truth. But it is that attitude that Paul is addressing here.
There’s kind of an attitude of superiority that says, “God broke off the branches of unbelieving Israel and grafted us in, so we’re now the special ones.” Paul is saying, “But remember the reason they were broken off: it is because of their unbelief.” And he adds, “Remember also the basis for your stability. It’s not your religious works or your ethnicity. You have no claim to the blessings of Israel other than your faith.”
So, Paul says, “Do not become proud, but fear.” That phrase “become proud” is literally, “Don’t become high minded. Don’t exalt yourself in your mind over the unbelieving Jews. Recognize that we all—Jew and Gentile alike—stand before God as unworthy sinners.
Instead, Paul tells them to “fear,” to adopt an attitude of reverence and awe toward God that includes the full realization that our only standing before God is by his grace, and that it is exclusively on the basis of faith as we believe in Jesus.
4. Note the kindness and the severity of God.
Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
God’s kindness is His goodness, that meets our needs without even a hint of blame or harshness.
God’s severity is His exercise of justice which is impartial and stern.
Paul said earlier that nothing and no one will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Is Paul now saying something different? No. It’s not that those who truly belong to Him will ever be rejected by Him, but an authenticating test of God’s children is that we persevere. We don’t persevere in our own strength. We persevere, we endure, we continue in His kindness only by His grace.
Theme 2: A Promise About The Prospect of Restoration For Jews That Don’t Believe In Jesus
And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
There is a promise here that Jews who trust and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior can be grafted back in to the olive tree, because God has the power and the willingness to do it. The argument is from the greater to the lesser. What was contrary to nature was grafting in the gentiles. What should be, and is, the most natural thing in the world, is that Jewish believers—the natural branches of the cultivated olive tree—should be restored by faith to the family of God.
How Should You Respond If You Believe In Jesus?
Be thankful and be reverential toward God for your salvation. And pray for the restoration of Israel to faith in Jesus as their Messiah.
This post is based on the transcript of Pastor Jim Hays’ sermon on October 6, 2019. Due to the nature of oral sermons, it may include thoughts and ideas from outside sources beyond those explicitly cited. If you have any questions or would like to know more about what he’s shared, please contact us or visit us this coming Sunday!