Romans 11:17–21

Warning to the Gentiles

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, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

The overarching theme of chapters 9 to 11 has been Paul’s loving concern for his fellow Jews, who by and large have refused to accept Paul’s gospel. God had fulfilled his Old Testament covenant, but many Jews—in fact, the majority—were insisting on continuing under the Old Testament regulations. They remained preoccupied with keeping the Mosaic regulations as they still awaited the Messiah, who had already come. Disheartening and depressing as this was for Paul, he never lost sight of the fact that God’s grace was retaining a remnant for salvation. Furthermore, that remnant would increase in number when many Jews would join the Christian ranks out of envy over seeing Gentiles receiving God’s gospel blessings.

Before returning to that optimistic thought regarding Israel, however, Paul first delivers a stern warning to the Gentiles. He tells them not to become arrogant in the favorable circumstances in which they now find themselves, as though they were somehow superior to Israel. He keeps them in their place by expanding the previously introduced illustration of a tree’s roots and branches.

According to Paul’s figure of speech, God’s chosen people, Israel, could be compared to an olive tree in an orchard.

The patriarchs are the roots, and their descendants, the rankand-file Jewish nation, are the branches. Because of individual unbelief and unfaithfulness in the chosen people, many “branches” of the tree have been broken off by God.

But amazingly, God has taken Gentiles, branches from a wild olive tree not in the orchard, and has grafted them into the cultivated olive tree representing God’s people. Therefore, considering their lowly origin, Gentiles have no basis on which to boast about the remarkable upturn in their current fortunes. Hence Paul warns, “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 boast over those branches.”

If Gentiles are inclined to boast, they not only are forgetting their “wild” and lowly origin but are misreading their present status as well. They are failing to realize their continuing indebtedness and their dependence on blessings God has delivered through the Jewish nation. Christian gentile branches are still dependent on Jewish roots. Jesus, himself a Jew, said it very plainly when he told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22).

Hence in his warning against Gentile pride and arrogance, the apostle makes two points. He says first of all: You Gentiles are not contributors, but receivers. Branches don’t support the root. It is the other way around. You gentile branches are drawing strength and nourishment from what is essentially a Jewish blessing.

The second point is startling in its bluntness and directness. Paul alerts the Gentiles to the sobering fact that God can break them off as easily as he did the unfaithful members of the Jewish nation. Paul declares, “If God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.”

The basis for that sobering observation lies in the nature of God’s plan of salvation. There the central feature is the individual’s acceptance or rejection of Christ. Unfaithful Israel refused to accept Christ and was broken off “because of unbelief,” whereas Gentiles now “stand by faith.” The presence or absence of faith in Christ makes all the difference before our Savior-God.

Paul now invites his readers to reflect on the twofold implication of what he has just said about God. For Gentiles, Paul’s description of God is to serve as the grounds for fear (verse 20)—or more appropriately, “reverent awe”—but for Israel it is also the basis of hope.