Read: Romans 11:11-24; Isaiah 5:1-7
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. (Rom. 11:17)
Whenever one of her kids bragged, my mother-in-law would say, “Scratch your head way out here,” and she’d motion scratching her head with her hands a foot from her hair.
Paul now shifts his attention in this passage: “Now I am speaking to you Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13). They were tempted to boast in their full inclusion and to look down on Jewish believers despising Jewish spiritual heritage and practices. The Gentiles were “scratching their heads way out here”!
Beginning in verse 17, Paul used the image of the olive tree. Some olive trees grew wild (a symbol for the Gentiles) and were strong but were not producing fruit. The gardener might decide to take shoots from the wild olive tree and graft them into the trunk of the cultivated olive tree (a symbol for the Old Testament Israel) to create strength and fruitfulness. Paul’s communicates clearly that the Gentiles had been grafted in through God’s kindness. However, the Gentiles should not think for a moment that they had replaced the Jews, the main trunk, in God’s plan of salvation. The Gentiles were to embrace the Jewish believers as brothers and sisters in Christ. This one family of faith was the true peace for the Roman Empire.
As D. T. Niles once said, “Evangelism is witness. It is one beggar telling another where to get food.”
As you pray, look up to God in thankfulness but never down at others in haughty pride.
Kent Fry is a retired pastor and visiting research fellow at the Van Raalte Institute in Holland, Michigan. He and his wife, Joyce, are active members of Second Reformed Church in Zeeland, Michigan. Kent is an active cyclist, and he and Joyce enjoy time with their children and grandchildren.
