The Living Tree

Text: Various

Central Idea of the Text: Christ’s work on the tree speaks to the promise of the tree, and HE is the way to access that tree.

Proposition: Jesus Christ is the WAY that you can’t avoid if you want to access eternal life. You must come through HIM.

Purpose: All hearers should respond in faith to the Son of God, and receive his promise of Eternal Life.

Christmas has a bad rap. Rightfully, it should at points, because much of it is built around commercialism. Charlie Brown screamed it at the sky long ago: “Doesn’t anybody know what Christmas is all about?” His dog didn’t, as he got caught up in the Christmas lights contest. His sister didn’t, as she got caught up in a Christmas list, asking Santa to send cash in $10’s and $20’s. His friends didn’t, as they got caught up in the politics and busyness of a Christmas pageant. He has to go digging through the clutter to find a young man willing to stand and earnestly say: “This day a savior has been born … he is Christ the Lord.”

And right behind Christmas, three months later, here we are celebrating Easter. And just as the truth of Christmas gets buried under the clutter of our distractions, so does Easter. If Charlie Brown were crying out this weekend in America: “Does anybody know what Easter is all about?” He might find scads of kids toddling after Easter eggs, and sitting amongst their candy wrappers in a chocolate induced coma. He might find parents frantically shopping and getting the kids dressed to the nines for those Easter pictures. He might find people driving all over tarnation to make it in time for family gatherings and tables of food, so that we can all bask in the glow of our Easter ham. Granted, we are enjoying some of those things on all fronts around here this morning, as we should! They are all God’s blessings! But many today will participate in all of these other things, but skip the celebration that is most central that we are engaging in this morning. Why go to all this work? Why celebrate our families and life? Why revel in the joy? Because there is a joy and a longing in the human heart that we would not only have these celebrations and memories here and now, but that there would be a life to come. Wise King Solomon once wrote of mankind in Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

It is easy for us to look around at the lives and celebrations around us and plainly observe: Life is beautiful. Look at these young men and women in the spring of their lives. We will take pictures and commemorate the day, because we know that time will march on. But God has written eternity on our hearts. We long to know what existed before the beginning, and we long to know a life that will live past our end. And so, the true center of Easter is what brings us into this space together as one church this morning, and just like we ate our best meal and we are wearing our best clothes this morning, I hope you’ve brought your best attention and your best amens to affirm the greatest truth of Easter: Jesus Christ is Risen! Amen?

That brings us back this morning to the story of the tree in scripture. In these past weeks we’ve been together, we have been meditating on the Apostle Paul’s words from Galatians 3:13–14 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” This is the Word of the Lord for us this morning.

Let us pray: Lord, this room is a place that is full of joy today. But I pray that joy would not be an earthly, temporary joy. I pray for eternal joy to be known in every human heart today. I pray that by faith we would receive your word, your promises and your life today. Guide us back to the way that leads to your tree of life today, we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

We’ve been asking these past weeks: “Why a tree?” What’s so special about a tree? The story of scripture, as we noted: Begins with a tree, ends with a tree and hinges at what takes place on a tree. Over our time together, we’ve looked at a few key trees in scripture and what those trees have taught us of our own inability to save ourselves:

There was the Tree of Life in the Garden, contrasted with the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God gave us the choice to live in the garden eating from that sustaining fruit forever. But we chose to sin, and we’ve been marked by the choice ever since. Because of our sin, God banned us from the garden and blocked the way to that Tree of Life. Our sin caused the separation.

There was the proud tree of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride, which grew so large in his dream that the whole world could see it. Yet God would send an angel to cut it down and bring it low. Our pride and thinking that we know more or better than God has separated us from God. And God has promised that one day he will bring low all who are proud before him.

There was the fruitless tree Jesus encountered during his final week in Jerusalem. When the savior showed up, the tree that had one job had nothing to show for it. It was an object lesson, displaying that even in mankind’s best efforts to be ready for a savior, they would be oblivious to his words, his works, and the signs of the times.

And this past week on Friday, we were led to the cursed tree … the place where Christ would take the sin of the world on himself. Because he was sinless, he was qualified to be the spotless lamb of God who could be that once for all sacrifice. But that would not be all there was to the story.

Today, we tell the end of a true story of life beyond death: How it was attained for us, how it is promised to us, and how it may be attained by the way made for us. We start this morning as I guide your eyes to …

The Empty Tree

The tree on which our Savior Jesus hung was a place where the greatest expression of the Love of God was on display for all of humanity to see it. Even if we were not there with eyes to actually see it, we can now, because of the recorded testimony of eyewitnesses know that the work of salvation, and the expression of his love and salvation’s work were complete. Christ, enduring the beating, the nails, the crown of thorns, the mocking of the crowds and the scorn of onlookers, stated at the end of his 6 hours on the cross in John 19:30 “he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

John’s testimony goes on to state that those were his last words, and it was confirmed by the fact that breaking Jesus’ legs would not be necessary to confirm his death. The efficient Roman soldiers would simply take a spear and pierce Christ’s heart. Blood and water flowed out. Everyone could see it. The signs that a man had died and had now fully bled out. The Jewish leaders saw it. The Roman soldiers saw it. The few supporters who were there saw it. This man was fully dead.

And so, Christ was taken down from that tree and placed in a well known tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He was placed there under Roman guard in a well known location, just to ensure there was no funny business, and that his followers didn’t play some prank with his body But there would be no pranks nor hoaxes with the body of Jesus. John testifies in John 20 an embarrassing detail. It was a woman, Mary Magdalene, who first found the empty tomb. This would be a detail that any falsified account would try to hide, because her testimony was not admissible in court at the time, simply because she was a woman. But she found it empty, and both Peter and John who ran there confirmed that there was no body in the tomb. It was just after this that Jesus first appeared to the weeping Mary, then to the disciples, then to Thomas, then to (as Paul testifies) more than 500 people. The words of the risen Jesus to Thomas still echo in the ears of all disciples on a day such as today: “Peace be with you. … Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe. … Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The response of Thomas was simply this: “My Lord and My God.”

The most cursed tree, the cross, is no longer occupied. It is done, the work is finished. Jesus does not perpetually hang there. The tomb that was once filled with his body is now no longer occupied. Jesus is not forever dead. He was temporarily dead in his physical body to fulfill the prophecies about him, but now? HE IS FOREVER ALIVE! Eyewitness testimony of MANY eyewitnesses prove it. Those who opposed Jesus could not come up with a convincing enough lie to quell the eyewitness testimony. And because he LIVES. The tree of the curse at the Cross is empty, the tomb is empty and the sins that Jesus carried away have been put in the grave because the savior is alive. And that leads us to the final tree of the scripture … the one at the end ...

The Living Tree

On the evening when Jesus was about to be arrested and was having that passover meal with his disciples, he told them what he was preparing to do FOR THEM. He spoke to them in John 14:1–4 “1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”” Yes, he would be gone for three days from them, but he would return to life in his resurrection. But it was preparing them for a time he would be away for a longer departure. Matthew’s Gospel, and Luke’s recording in Luke and Acts tell us that after 40 days, Jesus would ascend into heaven. He wasn’t just risen from the dead to die at some other point. No, he was preparing this disciples for a time in which he would not be physically present as he had been before. He would ascend to prepare a place for his disciples, and then he would leave his Holy Spirit to live in the believers and to act as a seal that was promising the hope that was to come.

What is to come, you may ask? Well, you don’t need to wonder, because the Bible does not keep it a secret. But we should look closely, because we find a familiar tree in the promise. Look at Revelation 22:1-5

Revelation 22:1–5 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. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Some people have some odd ideas about heaven, or things that they’ve cooked up on their own, as if the promise of heaven and eternal life is simply as list of “all of my favorite things.” But the revelation that Jesus gave to John in these short verses communicate a lot with a little. In heaven there is: no curse, no night, no need of a lamp. There is worship of the Lord always, and the Lord will reign with his people forever. But don’t miss verse 2! Right in the middle of this city and it’s beautiful river: There is a tree. Not just a tree, but THE tree of life. It’s got not just one fruit but 12. They are always in season, and they are available to all.

Remember that tree we lost access to in the beginning? It’s there at the end! This isn’t just hyperbole on Jesus or John’s part. As real as the promise of heaven and eternal life is the promise of the tree. That tree that we lost access to in the beginning has been planted in God’s garden in eternity. Everything that we wished Eden would have been in the beginning, is restored and made complete in the end in heaven.

But is this heaven that is promised the default reality for every human being? The price for sin paid, the promise of heaven sure, so all is well, we all go to heaven and there are no worries for all of humanity! We all have the promise to eat from this tree!! Don’t we? Not so fast. Jesus made sure that we understand clearly that NOT everyone is on this road and that not everyone will eat of that tree. He said in Matthew 7:13–14 “13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” No friends, there is a way to come to that tree and to eat of it’s fruit. You must come by …

The Way to the Tree

Jesus says: There is but one way to the tree, and the way to the tree is through Jesus. Is Jesus being legalistic by saying this? No. He is the both wrote and kept the law. Is he being judgmental? No. He is the only one who is righteous. He has no speck in his eye, and he can see the heart. Is this somehow mean or cruel of Jesus? No. He is the one who has paid the price for your sin, and he gets to determine who comes into his heaven. And he says it again and again, that HE is the way.

When responding to the disciples questions about how to get to where he is going. He clearly tells them: John 14:6 “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

When he arrives to demonstrate his power over sin and death by raising his friend Lazarus, he ways to Mary & Martha in John 11:25 “25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”

When Jewish leaders questioned Jesus’ authority and his mission, Jesus cut through their confusion with clarity in John 10:10 “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

When the questioning crowds came to Jesus demanding signs and thinking he was here for simple temporary food provisions, he made it clear that his food he offered was eternal in John 6:35 “35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

When people were confused about Christ’s mission, he shone the light of clarity in John 8:12 “12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.””

When Jesus assured his disciples of how to know and have REAL life, he reminded the disciples of their essential connection to him in John 15:9–10 “9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

And as Jesus was questioned by Nicodemus as to how one could know this new life and birth, he responded CLEARLY in John 3:16 “16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

EVERY TIME … When people enquire, Jesus answers: want to know the way to life? I AM IT. You have to come through me. My salvation offered freely. My blood was freely shed. My resurrection displayed my authority. My word and my spirit keep my promise. What will You do with me?

Summary:

And that is the question of Easter that you need to answer. Is the hope we speak of a hope that you possess? Or is it just out there somewhere and you’re trying to slide by, leaving your relationship with God in some nebulous status or lukewarm state. Jesus is not just some imaginary friend or mythological being. Because his cross is empty, because his tomb is empty, because his word tells us where he is and because his promises are sure. We have to come to him in order to taste that fruit of the tree and live forever. Friends, I am planning to taste that fruit of that tree one day. Do you have plans to be there to? Will you meet me at that tree where we will taste joy and JESUS will wipe every tear?

Then you must come to the source. Call on Jesus. Come to the cross where they nailed him and leave the sin that you have committed with Him there. When you leave your sin with him at the cross, and you die to yourself, you will take up your new life in Jesus. Paul described it this way in Galatians 2:20 “20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So how does this start? It starts today when you believe that Jesus really IS, that he did all this and he did it for you. If you believe that today, would you pray and call upon his name: “Jesus. I believe that you are real and that you really died to pay for my sins. I believe you are alive, and I want you to be my savior and Lord.” The early Christians were instructed as they were convicted of their sin and knew the reality of the Savior: Repent and be Baptized. Cross the line for Christ and be known as a Christian. If you are making this step today, fill out a connect card. Click it in the app, scan the QR code, or fill out a connect card in the back. We strongly desire to walk with you into a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

When you walk with Christ, then You will become like a tree for his use, described in Jeremiah 17:7–8 “7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”” To those who follow Christ, let us make this our prayer today. “Lord, please make me a tree: fully rooted in you, planted and growing, bearing fruit, with our branches spread upward in worship to our only worthy King, Jesus Christ.”