Tree of Life

   Several years ago, as our family sat around the dinner table one evening, I submitted that to buy a Christmas tree was a substantial expense and that we ought to simply prepare the manger.  After all, the tree was an old tradition handed down through the years but didn’t really have anything to do with the true meaning of Christmas; Jesus’ birth. 

   We went without a tree that year.  But by November of the following year, the children, ages 11, 9, 6, and 3, had a plan; if they could present several reasons why the Christmas tree symbolized Jesus, perhaps they could convince us that we should reinstate the tradition... and buy a tree!

   As it turns out, there is more to the Christmas tree than celebrating His birth…

Tree:  triangular shape   

Jesus:  three days

“The Jews then said to Him, ‘What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?’  Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’”  ~John 2:18,19

Tree:  branches

Jesus:  a royal entrance

“And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields… shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord; blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!’”  ~Mark 11:8   (*Quoting Psalm 118:26, one of the praise psalms traditionally sung at Passover.)

Tree:  evergreen

Jesus:  everlasting life

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  ~John 3:16

Tree:  cut down

Jesus:  crucified

“So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.  They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull… and there they crucified Him.”  ~John 19:16-18

Tree:  lifted up

Jesus:  lifted up

“For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased.  And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up… The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”  ~Isaiah 2:12-17

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.”  ~ John 3:14

“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.  He is the One whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”  ~Acts 5:30,31

Tree:  brought inside the house

Jesus:  enters our hearts

“He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”  ~ John 1:11-13

Tree:  water to keep it fresh

Jesus:  living water

“He who believes in Me will never thirst.”  ~John 6:35b

Tree:  ornaments

Jesus:  adornments of Emmanuel

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people and God Himself will be among them.’”  ~Revelation 21:2,3

Tree:  lights

Jesus:  glory

“And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light… and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!’”  ~Matthew 17:2,3

Tree:  scent

Jesus:  fragrance of obedience

“Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”   ~Ephesians 5:2

Tree:  real

Jesus:  wisdom

“She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast.” ~Proverbs 3:18

Tree:  bears gifts

Jesus:  gift of life

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”  ~Revelation 2:7

Tree:  kneel to obtain gifts

Jesus:  kneel before Him

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every Name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  ~Philippians 2:9-11

Tree:  centerpiece

Jesus:  focal point

“They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”  ~John 19:37

“Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us…”  ~Titus 2:13-14a

~ae