Are you grafted in? In agriculture, grafting is a pretty fantastic thing. A live branch from one tree is cut and then inserted into a cut on a host tree. The graft is secured in place and left to grow as one with the tree. In this way, gardeners have even created “salad trees,” where various types of fruit within the same family grow on one tree.
According to Romans 11:11, Gentile Believers in Jesus are grafted into the faith of Israel like a wild olive branch is grafted into a natural tree. Gentile Believers have not become Israel or replaced Israel any more than a grafted branch becomes or replaces the original tree. Instead, they grow together, each having their specific role in producing fruit. We are two distinct groups made one in Jesus.
As grafted-in Believers, Gentile followers of Jesus have been blessed to take part in the “fatness” — the richness and abundance — of the olive tree that is Israel. They are not obligated to follow God's mandates to Israel in Scripture but are invited into them to share in their rich meaning.
What, then, is Grafted Day? We’ve set aside January 15 to celebrate this grafted-in relationship between Jewish and Gentile Believers in Jesus. January 15 is a special day for Jewish Voice. It’s the date of our founding. In December of 1966, the Lord told evangelist Louis Kaplan to begin a radio program reaching out to his own Jewish people and teaching Gentile Believers about the Jewishness of faith in Jesus. He immediately obeyed, and January 15, 1967, was the first episode of a weekly 15-minute radio program by the newly formed “Jewish Voice Broadcasts.” We may have changed our name over the years as we merged with Jonathan Bernis’ Hear O Israel Ministries, but we’ve never changed our purpose. Jewish Voice Ministries International is still focused on sharing the Gospel with unreached Jewish people worldwide and helping Gentile Believers deepen their connection to Jesus by understanding and embracing His Jewishness.
So, celebrate Grafted Day with us!
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