The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to you saying:
“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into
the fire.”
The very first time all of
creation encounters trees, it is a good thing. In Genesis 1, trees spring forth
with the rest of the vegetables on day 3 of creation, in which God separated
the dry land from the waters below heaven saying, “Let the earth sprout
vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is
their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth….And God saw that it was
good.” (Gen. 1:11-12)
The second time we encounter
trees, the situation is not so good. In fact, its downright fatal (Gen 3) as
Eve strove with the serpent and lost, condemning us all to a life of sin and
death. Before you judge Eve, the temptation was not just to eat, it was to take
what God had not given her to eat, in effect attempting to make a place where
she was god and He wasn’t.
Thus it was, that the Tree in the
garden of Eden stood not just for food, but as the spot for Adam and Eve to
worship God by hearing His command and obeying. And we know from our Catechism,
that where the Word is preached and heard, that is the holy Sabbath day; that
is the Church. The first sin made on a tree was against both God and Church.
Just as abundant as water, bread,
and wine is in the Bible, so are the references to trees. This may be not so
odd to you as you have grown up with an abundance of trees. In every kind of
environment, there are trees, so you would expect them in Bible stories, no?
But too bad the Bible is more than a story for bedtime.
Let’s jaunt through the Bible
quickly. We’ve had trees that raise sunken ax heads at the command of Elisha
when he threw a branch in to the river where the ax head fell (2 Ki. 6). We’ve
heard of trees that make water sweet at Moses speaking when he threw a branch
into bitter water in the wilderness for the people of Israel
There are also not so nice trees
in the Bible. Trees are also for hanging people on as punishment, as the Lord
commands Moses to do in Deuteronomy 21 saying, “And if a man has committed a crime
punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree...cursed
is he who hangs on a tree” (v.22-23). Joseph also encountered this when he
had a dream about the imprisoned Baker for Pharaoh and his coming death saying,
“In three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a
tree. And the birds will eat the flesh from you” (Gen 40:19)
There are trees for kings and
trees for false gods. So much do we idolize trees that we say to them “...‘You
are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For we have turned our backs to God, and not
our faces. But in the time of our trouble we say, ‘Arise and save us!’ (Jer
2:27) The false gods of this life have taken our loyalty. Just as Adam and Eve
hid behind trees in the garden, we too hide from God behind whatever is at
hand, usually a tree.
Like children who are playing hide
and seek, a tree become a sure defense in times of strife. We find shade in their
leaves, strength for our houses, and fruit from their labors. Even though that
is a real threat of danger from a fall, or a toppling over, or from bad fruit,
we still cling close as if our life depended on it.
And apparently it does. For, along
with bad trees, there are good trees. Trees of hope that, even if cut down,
will sprout again, says Job (14:7). Trees that the Lord cares for personally in
Psalm 104:16: “The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly.”
The more we hear of these trees of
the Bible, the more they begin to take on human characteristics. Trees do not
have morality, so how can we speak of trees being bad or good? God beings to
blur the lines as in Psalm 1 saying, “Blessed is the man who walks not in
the counsel of the wicked…but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his
law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that
he does, he prospers.” (V.1-3)
Again, in Proverbs 3, a tree, even
the tree of life, is Wisdom, whom those grab a hold of. Therefore the trees of
the Bible become something more than trees. Able to move around, give hope, and
offer security.
It is of no surprise then, that we
encounter another tree when God is made man. Jesus speaks to us today in the
Gospel saying, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased
tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire.”
Of course we all think He is
referring to the Israel
It is to this revelation that
Jeremiah speaks and prophesies: “But I was like a gentle lamb led to the
slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let
us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the
living, that his name be remembered no more.” (11:19)
Now, all of Scripture points no
just to Dendrology, but to the coming of the Savior Himself. For the tree we
are presented with is the tree of the cross. The tree that, to the world
produced no good fruit and was deserving of being cut down. A tree that held no
real support and comfort for sin and death and, since these are deeply
ingrained in us, we must reject it and throw it into the fire. In sin, we must
declare this holy tree dried up and fruitless, burning it away and burying it
in the tomb.
And God said, “And all the
trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree,
and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree
flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” (Eze 17:24)
Once again, we see things through
sin-corrupted eyes and get things backwards. The low trees of the earth we call
high, or heavenly. The dry trees, that are not gods to protect us, we call
green. But the Lord sees all things true and calls things like they are. The
earthly trees, though they provide food, are pale and sickly and are only good
at the command of the Lord.
The heavenly tree is the true tree
that provides life, light, and salvation. Where good fruit can only sustain
until the next meal, the fruit of the true tree is made sweet amidst
bitterness, gives live in the midst of death, and raises Wisdom from the
depths.
The dry tree that removed all life
from Jesus is made into the green tree of our salvation. The low tree that
humiliated the God of the universe is made into the high tree that redeemed all
mankind from their sin.
This tree, upon which hanged the
Son of Man, is now the new place of worship, even for Adam and Eve. Here, the
Lord’s command is the same as Genesis, to hear the Word. But the threat of
death has been removed; paid for. No longer do we hear, “you shall surely die”,
but instead, “Father forgive them.”
Never did a tree so fulfill its
eternal purpose as the one that supported Jesus at His crucifixion. And never
did trees teach so serious a lesson to us as how to see through false prophets
and diseased trees. If Jesus is not there, its not right.
Thus, our Lord began this road of
salvation, creating all things, both physical and spiritual. And He ends the
road the same way, in the God-man Jesus Christ. The unification of the
spiritual and physical. Using both spiritual and physical means to save His
people and guarding them in His Church until He comes again.
It is not that every tree you
interact with is now the tree that held Jesus. But now every time you see one
you should be reminded of what Christ did for you, just as every puddle,
shower, piece of bread, and gulp of wine should force the cross to the front of
your vision. The Lord is not far. He is in the means of the Spirit and in the
Tree of Life which was buried and three days later rose again, for you.
And then in the end we expect yet
another tree. A tree “…through the middle
of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, [even] 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. (Rev 22:2)” The
fruit of which shall have no end and shall satisfy even the hungriest recipient.
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