Olives Tree and it's Branches

Romans 11:16-24

I’m not into growing olives trees, so I had to do a little research on what the Holy Spirit is telling us.  First, we are told in verse 16 that “ . . . if the root is holy, so are the branches.”  The branches are going to get nourishment from the root, and the root is God, so one might say if the root is good then the branches also will be good. 

Now you may be wondering why were good branches broken off, and whom do the branches symbolize?  Great questions, it is clear in verse 20 the good branches were broken off because of their unbelief, and if you refer back to verse 7, you will see Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking because they rejected the author of Life, Jesus Christ.  But God!  Yes, God’s plan was to show grace to a remnant chosen by grace.  Do not go there, it is Gods way not ours, and He can choose to do what He wishes with any old lump of clay.

The next thing that came into my mind was the wild olive shoots that were grafted into the tree, and it seems clear in verse 11 that salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.  You and I have been offered the free gift of life in Christ, not by works, for if by works it would not be grace, and it is of the upmost importance to each of us that we come to understand; faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

From everything I’ve read you never take a wild branch and graft it into good stock, but you can take good branches and graft them into a wild fruit tree, but you must keep cutting back the wild branches so that the good branch can flourish.  As I look at my life, Jesus extended grace to me a lost Baptist at the age of 27 years and gave me faith to believe that He and He alone is the source of Love, Hope, Faith, and Life.  I was that wild olive shoot, and when the Holy Spirit tells us in verse 18 “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 stand in awe.  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.”  This is a watch out verse, it is so each of us will not buy into the lie that you are good, you deserve, but that is not true, for Jesus made it very clear that no one is good but God.  You are on dangerous ground when you believe that God should take notice of all that you are doing for Him.

When it comes to God’s word, it is not up for man’s interpretation, as a follower of Christ our job is to love those who loathe us, to always give a good report of the hope we have in Christ, and His love for sinners.  God will show grace to the Jewish people at some point and time, and that is great, so read and ponder on verse 24, “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.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice