This week we welcome Adele-Alys Spill back to My Messy Desk to talk about being grafted into God’s family.
GRAFT(ING)
The process by which a shoot or bud of one plant or tree (scion) is inserted into the stem or trunk of another plant or tree (stock) where it continues to grow, becoming a permanent part of the original plant and being nourished by its sap
Origin- from Middle English GRAFFE meaning pencil from Classical Greek GRAPHEION meaning pen or stylus
from the fact that the insertion end of the scion is whittled to a V shaped triangle resembling the writing tip of a stylus pen
Did you ever take an open book test and get the answer wrong ? Were you both embarrassed and frustrated to discover your folly?
That’s how I felt when I read Romans 11.
For years I wondered how the Jews “missed” Jesus . The Pharisees were a well read bunch; and their own Scriptures proved Jesus was the Messiah . Why couldn’t they recognize him then and why can’t they acknowledge him now?
“What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written: God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see, and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” Rom 11:7-8
Scroll back to the story of Exodus. Moses’s arguments to Pharoah were sound and his visual aids (plagues) were persuasive. But God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Ex 9:12; Ex 10:20; Ex 11:10) in the moment because he had a more momentous and eternal purpose in mind.
“So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean?” Rom 11:11-12
God loves us all (John 3:16). His will is that the entire world would come to know his character and to follow his word. Revealing himself first to the Jews, God chose them as his special possession. He intended them to be a blessing (Gen 12:1-3) and to carry that message forward. But they repeatedly stumbled in their efforts: either embracing the worship of lesser gods or becoming so zealous in adhering to their faith that they isolated themselves. A people like this could never spread the faith.
What was God to do? It was time to send his Son Jesus Christ into the world with a life- saving second chance for everyone. Jesus would be the vehicle…but who was there to point to Him as the way and to tell everyone to get on board
History had proved it could not be the Jews. The roots of their faith were strong and deep, but the trunk of their priesthood had become bent and hollow and their branches were not producing new fruit.
What about the Gentiles: women, men, soldiers and merchants. They were a people accustomed to travel and intent on forging a new future. They could and would pass along God’s plan of salvation to the ends of the earth. But they were young and vulnerable and uneducated about God’s word and his centuries long pursuit of mankind.
So God decided to do some grafting.
“… some of the branches were broken off and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree…remember, it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” Romans 11:17
The Jews were the STOCK plant.
The Gentiles were the SCION (interestingly a word synonymous with heir)
“And what was planted as a result of this grafting was that mixture of the elect and the adopted destined to rise from the valley of death and dry bones (Ezekiel 37: 1-6, and live in the heights and drink in the joys of the NEW JERUSALEM” ( Ezekiel 37:15-23).
The daughter of a Lutheran minister and a Catholic college professor, Adele-Alys faith life has always been a patchwork. Married to a Jewish man for 38 years, she delved deeply into his faith. It sharpened my picture of Jesus and popped my spiritual ears in ways I could not imagine.” You can connect Adele-Alys via Twitter (@morgantonrose), Pinterest, and her blog (adelealysblog.wordpress.com).
Leave a Reply