Scripture Story Sketch Notes · Romans 11:16–24; Jacob 5
The Olive Tree and the Grafting
“For God is able to graft them in again.” Romans 11:23
A tame tree, broken branches, a wild branch grafted in, and a Lord of the vineyard who will not give up. Paul’s olive tree, with Zenos’s allegory beside it.
Writing to Gentile Saints in Rome, Paul compared the house of Israel to a tame olive tree. Some natural branches had been broken off because of unbelief, and branches from a wild olive tree, the Gentiles, had been grafted in, sharing “the root and fatness of the olive tree.” Paul warned the grafted branches not to boast, because “thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.”
He also promised that the broken branches could return: “God is able to graft them in again.” The Book of Mormon prophet Zenos told a longer version of this allegory in Jacob 5, where the Lord of the vineyard prunes, digs, grafts and weeps over His trees, saying, “It grieveth me that I should lose this tree,” and finally labors side by side with His servants until the vineyard bears good fruit.
Who’s who
Paul: an Apostle writing to the Saints in Rome
The Lord of the vineyard: God, who cares for the trees
The tame olive tree: the house of Israel
The wild branches: the Gentiles
Where and when
An olive vineyard, in Paul’s letter to the Romans and Zenos’s allegory in Jacob 5.
Watch for the Savior
Watch how the Lord keeps working to save every branch, and how every branch lives by the root.
Eight stops from the tame tree to the harvest. Scroll, or tap a number on the map.
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The story, plainly
Four scenes: the old tree, the wild branch, the graft and the harvest. Look for the Savior in each one.
Read it plainly
The words that trip people up
Tap any dotted word for its meaning. The scripture stays exactly as written.1
Romans 11:16 “if the Meaning: the first part of the harvest offered to God. be holy”
Romans 11:17 “the root and Meaning: richness, the oil and sap.”
Romans 11:20 “Be not Meaning: proud.”
Romans 11:22 “the goodness and Meaning: strictness. of God”
Romans 11:25 “wise in your own Meaning: opinions.”
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Look closer
Small details tell the story. Some cards are details in the text; others share insights from Church resources. Each card says which.
0 of 9 turned
All nine. The root, the branch, the wild branch, the graft, the oil, the broken branch, the hand, the pruning hook and the olives. Romans 11:16–24
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Where are you?
Feeling wild, broken off, tempted to boast, or grafted and growing. Which feels most like you right now?
A next step for you
Your choice is saved only on this device.
Try it
Stay bound to the root
A grafted branch lives only while it stays bound to the tree. Press and hold to keep the branch bound, and watch it leaf out and bear olives. Let go, and it starts to wilt.
“Abide in me, and I in you.” John 15:4
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Their world, their words
A little background helps us see olive trees and grafting. Outside sources are labeled.
Church resource · Student manual
Adopted in
The student manual: Paul’s branches “grafted in” refer “to Gentiles who were ‘adopted in’ to the house of Israel.”8
Covenant, not birth, makes the family.
Church resource · Student manual
Contrary to nature
“In the natural world, grafted branches control the destiny of the tree.” Paul described the reverse.8
The good root changes the wild branch.
Apostle
The same story
Elder Russell M. Nelson quoted Nephi: “The natural branches of the olive-tree … should be grafted in, or come to the knowledge of the true Messiah.”7
Grafting means coming to Christ.
Apostle
Many trees, one vineyard
Elder Gerrit W. Gong: the Lord “and his servants bring forth precious fruit and strengthen each tree by binding together the strengths and weaknesses of all the trees.”6
“The great Lord of the vineyard throws down his spade and his pruning shears and weeps, crying out to any who would listen, ‘What could I have done more for my vineyard?’”
Paul said we remain “if thou continue in his goodness.” Ask Heavenly Father which daily habit keeps you most connected to the Savior, and which one has slipped.
Try it today
One step each day. It saves on this device, one day at a time.
0 of 7 today
This week:0 of 7 days
Seven days in the vineyard. Come again tomorrow.
A quiet moment
“It grieveth me that I should lose this tree.”
Read Jacob 5:41, 47 and 72 slowly. Then think about how much the Lord of the vineyard cares for you, and thank Him. Jacob 5:41–47
A verse to hold
Talk about it
Who is the tame olive tree, and who are the wild branches?
Why does Paul tell the grafted branches not to boast?
How does the Lord of the vineyard feel about His trees?
How can we help someone feel grafted in at church?
Open
For adults and deeper study
Go deeper
Longer readings, harder questions, and where to study next. Each one says what it is before you click.
Apostle
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Grandeur of God” (2003)
How a weeping God, and the weeping Lord of the vineyard, reveal the true nature of the Father and the Son.4
The Olive Tree and the Grafting, ready to print $3.99
Everything on this page as a 11-page letter-size PDF: the map, scenes, cards, activity, word studies, tracker, Go deeper and sources. For home, class or a quiet Sunday.
The Olive Tree and the Grafting is part of the Scripture Story Sketch Notes for the New Testament, set alongside Come, Follow Me for August 9–15, 2027 (Romans 7–16).
Independent study notes from Weak Things, not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. The story is told in Romans 11:16–24, with Jacob 5; the insights in “Look closer” are labeled by source.
