Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring! I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to 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 consider yourself to be superior to those other 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 tremble. 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! All Israel Will Be Saved I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As far as the Gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Within the Bible, there are nearly 200 mentions of either olives, olive oil, or olive trees. On a practical level, olives have many uses and applications. They were used as food, as medicine for wounds, and as a preservative. Doves sent out by Noah brought back an olive branch. The formed Cherubim on the top of the Ark of the Covenant were made from olive wood and covered in gold. We read in 1 Kings 6:23 that the interior doors of Solomon's temple were made of olive wood. Olive oil was a holy symbol used in anointing prophets, priests, and kings, and the oil itself was also used as a sacrificial offering. Exodus 27:20 tells us olive oil was used as fuel for lighting, and because of olive oil's flammable properties, many Christian martyrs in the early church were burned alive in olive oil. In Old Testament times, ripe olives were pounded to a pulp in pestles or by stomping on them, much like with grapes and wine. The pulp was then collected in reed baskets, and the oil was allowed to drain off. This first oil, the finest, was called “beaten oil." The Israelites then extracted more oil by heating and pressing the pulp again. This process of olives being beaten and crushed to produce olive oil contains much spiritual significance and symbolism as well. Jesus Christ was beaten and crushed on the cross so that His Holy Spirit would be poured out on the church after His ascension to heaven. In a sense, we can look at Jesus as God’s olive tree and the Holy Spirit as his olive oil. It is also significant to mention that Christ’s impassioned prayers on the night of his arrest occurred in Gethsemane, a place of many olive trees whose name means “olive press.” The olive tree itself was also used as a symbol for the nation of Israel: the branches, shoots, and roots. When an old olive tree had lost its vitality and health, one easy way to tell would be by seeing the dead and dying branches. One remedy used in antiquity to heal the dying tree was to cut away the failing branches and graft in young, healthy, wild olive shoots. The result was said to be the invigoration and renewed health of the once-failing tree. The new ingrafted shoots helped not only strengthen the other branches but also bring nutrients to the roots and strengthen them as well.

In this picture, which Paul begins to paint in today's passage, Paul chooses the cultivated olive tree to portray Israel and the wild olive tree to represent Gentile believers. The roots of the tree are the early Israelite (Hebrew) people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, leading to Jesse, his son King David, and later Jesus himself, who is known as the 'root of Jesse.' All those engrafted into this line are the shoots. The Jewish Talmud speaks of Ruth the Moabitess as a “godly shoot” engrafted into Israel. The olive tree is pruned and nurtured so that it continues to bear much fruit. The fruitless, ineffective branches are trimmed and discarded, but the root remains intact. Using this illustration, we see that Israel was in no way removed from God’s purpose and plan. God has preserved the holy root of Israel and pruned off only the worthless, unbelieving, dead branches. God had a specific purpose to fulfill in allowing Israel to stumble so that salvation would come to the Gentiles and new shoots and branches could be grafted in, which was God's desire all along. Paul’s hope in seeing many Gentile salvation isn’t so that these riches of God's blessing would be enjoyed by the Gentiles only, but that the Jews would be provoked to a good kind of jealousy, motivating them to repent, turn to Jesus as Messiah, and receive the same blessings the Gentiles now enjoy. Paul reminds Gentile Christians that it is only by God’s grace that they can be grafted into the “tree” of God – the “root” of which is Israel. If Gentiles are unbelieving, they will be “cut off" just as much as unbelieving Israel was. In the end, the whole tree, all those who remain in covenant through Christ, will be saved. The same is true today. The religiously self-righteous, the atheist, the spiritualist, the agnostic; God is not done with them yet. He still has a plan to preach the Gospel and bring the good news once again to their ears. God desires to give them yet another chance to turn from sin and death and instead receive the blessings that God is wanting, willing, and waiting to pour out. There is still time to be ingrafted into the tree of life, and God has commissioned each of us to play a role in that by boldly and unashamedly bringing this good news to the ends of the earth. Remember, the age of grace is still upon us, but it will not last forever!