Jesus was well known for using agricultural metaphors in His teaching. But the apostle Paul occasionally did the same. The most sophisticated example is his use of olive trees to illustrate the union of Jews and Gentiles into the redemptive plan of God (Romans 11:11-24).

Olive trees—wood, fruit, and oil—are mentioned nearly forty times in Scripture. Olive trees were so well known in the Mediterranean region that Paul could talk about the practice of grafting cultivated and wild trees knowing his readers would understand. Normally a branch of a cultivated olive tree would be grafted into a wild olive trunk to produce a new, fruit-bearing tree. In his example, a cultivated olive tree represented the Jews and the wild olive tree represented the Gentiles. “Contrary to nature,” Paul wrote, God has grafted a wild branch (Gentiles) into a cultivated tree (Jews) to extend the blessings of Abraham to all the world.

When you enjoy olive oil, remember how God has grafted Jew and Gentile together into a new “tree” of faith.

The glory of the body of Christ appears in the diversity of its members.
R. B. Kuiper