Parable of the Olive Tree facts for kids

The Parable of the Olive Tree is a long story found in the Book of Jacob. This book is the third one in the Book of Mormon. A parable is a simple story that teaches an important lesson. This particular story was first told by a prophet named Zenos. His teachings were written on special metal plates called the brass plates, which are now lost. People who believe in the Latter Day Saint movement think that Paul might have mentioned a similar story in his letter to the Romans in the Bible.

The Story of the Olive Tree

The parable tells about a master who owned a vineyard. In his vineyard, he had a special olive tree that he cared for.

The Old Tree and New Hope

Over time, the master's favorite olive tree grew old and started to decay. To save it, the master trimmed its branches, dug around its roots, and gave it lots of care. New branches began to grow, but the top of the tree still looked like it was dying.

So, the master told his servant to cut off the dead parts. Then, he had the servant attach branches from a wild olive tree onto the old tree. This is called grafting. At the same time, some of the original tree's healthy branches were moved and planted in other parts of the vineyard.

Different Trees, Different Fruits

Later, the original olive tree, now with the wild branches, started to grow good fruit. The natural branches that had been moved to poor soil also grew good fruit.

However, one of the original branches that was planted in good soil grew both good and bad fruit. The master told his servant to cut off the bad branches from this tree and burn them. But the servant asked the master to give the tree more care. He hoped it would then grow only good fruit. So, the master and his servant worked hard to care for all the trees.

A Time of Trouble

After a long time, the master and servant returned to the vineyard. They found that all the trees, both the original and the transplanted ones, were failing. They were all growing only bad fruit. The master was very sad. He cried and asked his servant, "What more could I have done for my vineyard?"

The master decided to burn all the trees because they were only producing bad fruit. Again, the servant asked him to be patient. The master loved his vineyard very much and didn't want to lose it. So, he agreed to try again.

He decided to cut off the wild olive branches that were producing the worst fruit from the original tree. He replaced them with branches from the healthy "daughter trees" that had grown from the earlier transplanted cuttings. The master hoped that by bringing the original tree's branches and roots back together, they would grow good fruit again.

Hard Work and Good Fruit

The master and his servants worked very hard in the vineyard. They cut off the branches that grew bad fruit and burned them. They also trimmed and cared for the trees, and dug around their roots.

After a lot of effort, there was no more bad fruit in the vineyard. When the master saw that his fruit was good and his vineyard was healthy again, he called his servants. He told them how happy he was that they had worked so hard. He said they had helped him save the good fruit, just like it was in the beginning. He promised them joy because of the good fruit in his vineyard.

A Final Warning

The parable ends with a warning from the master. He says that if the vineyard ever grows bad fruit again, he will gather both the good and bad fruit. He will keep only the good fruit and throw away the bad. Then, he will burn the entire vineyard with fire.