DECEMBER 25TH
The Most Beautiful Tree
1 Peter 2:24 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.
Of all the traditions and decorations associated with Christmas, the Christmas tree is one of the most well-known and loved. Your Christmas tree is most likely a big part of your celebration on Christmas morning as well. Maybe you have a real tree you picked out at a tree lot or cut down yourself. Maybe you have an artificial tree that never turns brown or loses its needles. You might use colored lights or white lights, top it with a star or an angel, and decorate the tree while listening to your favorite Christmas songs or drinking hot cider. It's hard to imagine celebrating Christmas without a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Have you ever looked at your tree and wondered how the Christmas tree originated and if it has a deeper meaning?
The custom of the Christmas tree began in Germany more than 1300 years ago when it was initially called Christbaum, or "Christ tree." The first person in history to bring a Christmas tree inside may have even been the great Christian reformer Martin Luther, who noticed the stars shining through the tree branches as he walked in the woods one evening. To recreate the effect of stars in the trees for his children, he cut down and brought a Christmas tree inside and decorated it with small candles, and the idea soon gained popularity.
But as interesting as the history of our modern Christmas tree is, the first real Christmas tree was found in Jerusalem, 2000 years ago, in the shape of a cross. The cross of Jesus Christ is referred to repeatedly in scripture as a tree. In the New Testament, the Greek word used for “cross” also means tree. The greatest description of that tree and what happened on it is found in one of the greatest single verses in all of the New Testament, 1 Peter 2:24. The cross, made of wood from a tree, ultimately became the greatest reason for joy, just as a Christmas tree is a reason for joy. Think about the shape of a Christmas tree, like an arrow that points up towards the heavens. Two thousand years ago, at the base of a tree stood a crowd of sinful people looking up at Jesus on the Cross. Just as the lights hang on our tree, the light of the world hung on that tree, pointing heavenward to a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us so that we might be saved. Once a year, at Christmastime, we take a tree from outside our home and put it inside. That is exactly what God wants us to do in response to Jesus Christ on the cross: invite Him to come inside our hearts and homes, and to live in the power He gives us to live for Him and to do what is right. From this point forward, every time you see a Christmas tree, whether it be a tiny scraggly one or the huge tree in Rockefeller Center, let it serve as a reminder to you to live your life for the one who gave His life for you on the most beautiful tree that ever existed.
The custom of the Christmas tree began in Germany more than 1300 years ago when it was initially called Christbaum, or "Christ tree." The first person in history to bring a Christmas tree inside may have even been the great Christian reformer Martin Luther, who noticed the stars shining through the tree branches as he walked in the woods one evening. To recreate the effect of stars in the trees for his children, he cut down and brought a Christmas tree inside and decorated it with small candles, and the idea soon gained popularity.
But as interesting as the history of our modern Christmas tree is, the first real Christmas tree was found in Jerusalem, 2000 years ago, in the shape of a cross. The cross of Jesus Christ is referred to repeatedly in scripture as a tree. In the New Testament, the Greek word used for “cross” also means tree. The greatest description of that tree and what happened on it is found in one of the greatest single verses in all of the New Testament, 1 Peter 2:24. The cross, made of wood from a tree, ultimately became the greatest reason for joy, just as a Christmas tree is a reason for joy. Think about the shape of a Christmas tree, like an arrow that points up towards the heavens. Two thousand years ago, at the base of a tree stood a crowd of sinful people looking up at Jesus on the Cross. Just as the lights hang on our tree, the light of the world hung on that tree, pointing heavenward to a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us so that we might be saved. Once a year, at Christmastime, we take a tree from outside our home and put it inside. That is exactly what God wants us to do in response to Jesus Christ on the cross: invite Him to come inside our hearts and homes, and to live in the power He gives us to live for Him and to do what is right. From this point forward, every time you see a Christmas tree, whether it be a tiny scraggly one or the huge tree in Rockefeller Center, let it serve as a reminder to you to live your life for the one who gave His life for you on the most beautiful tree that ever existed.