Easter - Creation
Roger Peart has kindly produced some articles for the three weeks leading up to Easter. They were part of a longer term series he did on Creation.
EASTER CREATION NOTE 1
THE TREE
Trees play important roles in the Bible story from beginning to end. In the Garden of Eden the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil is the instrument that Satan uses to bring about the Fall through the actions of Eve and Adam. At the very end of Revelation, in the last chapter of the Bible, there is the picture of the Tree of Life in the new and heavenly Jerusalem, which is declared to be for the healing of the nations – symbolically completing finally the redemption of the people of God and undoing what happened in Genesis 3.
Between these two ‘book ends’ there is one other very important tree, certainly the most important one in history. The cross of Calvary! Due to the passage of time we are unable to say exactly what tree the cross (or any other used by the Romans) came from, as wood does not survive the passage of time unless kept in dry and airless conditions. Claims that remnants of the cross were discovered a few hundred years after the event may therefore be discounted. There are, however, two or three possibilities, namely the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), the Italian (or Evergreen) cypress and, less likely, the Cilician fir. The first of those is sometimes known as the Jerusalem pine as it is widespread throughout Israel and has a straight trunk, which would have been suitable for the two elements of the cross. It survives well with little need for water and grows fast, reaching up to 15 metres in height. It bears cones which are initially green but ripen to brown and may often remain on the tree for about three years.
The upright for the cross itself would frequently be re-used a number of times, being left in situ and, contrary to popular images, the victim would carry just the cross-piece to the site of crucifixion. Sometimes a living tree might be used for the upright.
So, what is the significance of the cross for us?
In Deuteronomy 21 we read: If a man guilty of a capital offence is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. (v 22-23).
Throughout the Old Testament a Messiah is prophesied, who will deal with man’s sin problem. The sacrifices of the OT point forward to the fact that the Messiah will be the ultimate sacrifice. Isaiah gives a compelling description of what he would do:
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (53 : 4-5)
And Psalm 22 also graphically portrays the agony of death on a cross.
Jesus fulfils completely the role planned out for him by his heavenly Father when he goes willingly to die on the cross, for no fault of his own. Those who crucified him were, seemingly unwittingly, fulfilling something which Jeremiah experienced prophetically :
I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realise that they had plotted against me, saying, "Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more." (11:19)
Peter, in his first letter, explains how we benefit from Christ’s death: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (2:24), and Paul quotes from the Deuteronomy verses when he writes: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (Galatians 3:13).
It is amazing to realise that something inanimate, a tree, that is part of God’s creation, should be the bearer of his Son as he took his last mortal breath on earth. So we should be thankful that a species of tree, even though unknown to us, played its part in achieving our redemption.
{I am indebted to Professor Julian Evans for his help with information about trees in this article. The photograph is from the internet}