Grafting a Wild Olive Shoot Into the Garden Olive Tree

This farmer grafts a shoot from a wild olive tree into a cultivated, or garden, olive tree. Paul likens the cultivated olive branches to Jews and the wild olive branches to Gentiles. Many natural Jews did not put faith in Jesus, so Gentiles were grafted in to take their place as members of spiritual Israel. (Ro 11:13, 17) Paul reminds the congregation in Rome that both Jews and Gentiles must maintain their faith in Christ and appreciate God’s kindness. (Ro 10:4; 11:22) He uses the illustration of an olive tree to emphasize part of the theme of his letter to the Romans: God is impartial and holds out the possibility of salvation to “everyone having faith,” whether Jew or Gentile. Therefore, Christians must remain united, regardless of their background​—Ro 1:16, 17; 2:11; 10:12.