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Day 5 - The Tree of Life

1 Peter 2:21-25 (ESV) 
21  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
22  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
23  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
24  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
25  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Acts 5:30 (ESV) 
30  The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

Revelation 22:1-2 (ESV) 
1  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2  through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

It’s interesting that the Cross is often referred to as a “tree”.  We can understand the Cross coming from wood, but it is still an interesting way to refer to it. 

We use “Tree” in other ways too.  For example, when any of us do genealogical research in order to discover our family before us we build a family tree.  I have done some genealogical research to discover some roots to my family.  We do so to understand the heritage, the line of people we've come from.

As Christians we are linked back to the tree through Jesus.  His death on the cross is the beginning point for our understanding of who we are.  Peter says because of the tree are sins are taken care of, we died to them, and now we can live to God's righteousness...in fact, we are healed through that work on the cross.

And, because of the cross we're linked through heritage, lineage, to 2000+ years of Christians who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation.  In fact, one day we will see a new tree...the tree of life in heaven.

It’s significant to link the two of them together - the tree of the cross and the tree of life, our heritage. 

The early church also saw the significance of building on the imagery of the “tree” in both cases.  
Four generations of early Christians discipled each other…
  • Jesus called John to follow him, and he became the “Apostle John” upon Jesus’ ascension.
  • The Apostle John discipled Polycarp who served as one of the church’s first apologists against Roman accusations.
  • Polycarp discipled Irenaeus who became one of the church’s earliest theologians and also served as an apologist to Rome.
  • Irenaeus discipled Hippolytus who continued with the same distinction as those before him.
Each man was considered to be a stalwart of the early church’s leadership and faith.  Each one who followed Jesus, stood for Christ when it was unpopular to do so.   Each one suffered and died from martyrdom because of their faith in Christ.

The last one, Hippolytus, was distinguished as both theologian/scholar and preacher.  He published volumes of writings that crossed over from law to apologetics, to theology and the devotional.  Here’s one of these thoughtful meditations on the the cross as the tree of life.

The Cross - the Tree of Life, by Hippolytus (c.170-236) 
The tree is my everlasting salvation.  It is my food, a shared banquet.  Its roots and the spread of its branches are my own roots and extension… Its shade I take for my resting place; in my flight from oppressive heat it is the source of refreshing dew for me… Food for my hunger and wellspring for my thirst, it is also covering for my nakedness, with the spirit of life as its leaves… Fearful of God, I find in it a place of safety; when unsteady a source of stability.  In the face of a struggle, I look to it as a prize; in victory my trophy.
It is Jacob’s ladder, the passage of angels, at whose summit the Lord is affixed.  This tree, the plant of immortality, rears from earth to reach as high as heaven, fixing the Lord between heaven and earth.  It is the foundation and stabilizer of the universe, undergirding the world that we inhabit.  It is the binding force of the world… It is riveted into a unity by the invisible bonds of the Spirit, so that its connection with God can never be severed.  Brushing heaven with its uppermost branches, it remains fixed in the earth, and between the two points, its huge hands completely enfold the stirring of the air.  A single whole, it penetrates all things and all places.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ this is our family tree.

Peace


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