Where Trees Collide

It’s Holy week. Today is the day we call Maundy Thursday. This week and this moment is one that we’ve been leading up to in our Lent meditations. What happens on this day and on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday forms something of a bedrock for all that we believe and hold on to. And so today as we spend moments contemplating and remembering what our savior took upon himself and suffered for our salvation, it would be good for us to remember also the great scope that this salvation covers. So very much leads up to these few days; and so very much flows out from these few days. Let’s spend a few moments then reflecting on this cosmic context—this enormous plan that God set into motion on our behalf.

The First Tree – The Garden of Eden

And so in selecting a place to begin this story we could go back to the baptism of Jesus as a place to identify where Jesus began his ministry among his people leading to this moment. Or we could go back even further to Christmas; we could begin at the birth of Jesus as the mark of his setting into motion this grand act of salvation. What about further back to the prophets who foretold his coming; or further to the patriarchs from whom God selected the nation of people out of which our savior would come.

No. To really understand where it is we stand today we need to go all the way back to a garden. Specifically, we need to start at a tree; not just any tree, but a particular tree. At the end of Genesis 2 God names a specific tree that was to be avoided as an act of obedience to God. This is where our story tonight begins. It is beneath the tree of the knowledge of good and evil where we first hear mention of God’s plan of salvation. It is beneath this tree that we must begin our meditation tonight. Because as Adam and Eve literally ate the fruit of that forbidden tree; so too from that time on, all of us have symbolically eaten from that tree as well.

We begin beneath that tree in the Garden of Eden because that is where we best see the path that we have traveled. That is where we best see our uncovered and exposed need for Jesus. Let’s note tonight two things that we all need to remember on this Holy Week; two things that we see clearly when under the tree in the garden where sin began.

First. We see that in the garden where sin began, it began as an offence to God. Sin began because of disobedience to our creator. The tree reminds us that sin is more than a collected list of ways that we have hurt other people. Sometimes it’s easy for us to think of sin in that way. We see the pain it causes others. We see the destruction of relationships left in sin’s wake. We very noticeably see the effects of sin upon our world in the ways that it breeds suffering. But sin is more than that. Maybe we think of sin as a list of rules that have been broken. We have created formulas and guidelines for right behavior and wrong behavior. And by that model, sin is the act of being naughty…behaving wrongly. Certainly, but sin is more than that too. Sin is an offence to God. Sin is an affront upon God’s justice. Sin is a violation of the peace and order that was established in creation…of which God said, “very good.” Sin is a marring of his own image that has been placed within us. At the tree, in the garden, we are reminded that we have offended God. And God cannot ignore this injustice.

Second. We see already in Eden God’s reaction to our sin. After Adam and Eve realize what it is that they have done, the Bible tells us that they both became aware of their nakedness. And so they tried making coverings for themselves out of fig leaves. Adam and Eve are immediately stricken with shame; and their first reaction is to try and cover over that shame on their own. Later that day when God comes walking through the garden, we see the second thing that Adam and Eve do in reaction to their sin. They hide. God comes through the garden and calls out to them because they are hiding in their shame.

You know, Adam and Eve are not really hidden from God. Of course, God knows perfectly well where they are. And even though God questions the man and the woman about what it is they have done; God already knows perfectly well what has happened. But what we see here at the tree in Eden is God’s first reaction to the first sin. God comes and finds them. God seeks them out. He comes to them. Even though—just like our first parents; Adam and Eve—we have the tendency to try all we can to cover our shame, God still uncovers and exposes who we are. And even though we have a tendency, like Adam and Eve, to do our best to hide our sin from God, God comes and finds us. God already unveils his great plan of salvation when he says to the serpent, “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heal.”

This is why on this Holy Week we begin our story back at the tree in Eden. We understand that this day is not about a key to unlock eternal life; it’s not about a path for us to get to heaven. This day is about God’s reaction to our sin.

The Second Tree – The New Jerusalem

Let’s turn our attention now for a few moments on another tree. This time, instead of looking back and seeing where the story of God’s redemption begins, we need to look ahead and see where the story of God’s redemption ends. And so, in Revelation 22 we visit another tree. There, the writer John gives us a picture of the New Jerusalem. And in the center of this city is the throne of God where a river flows out. And along this river is a tree—the tree of life. It is under the tree of life that we see a glimpse of the complete restoration of God’s creation. By the tree of life the full glory of God is shown. In fact, John tells us that the glory of God is so fully abundant by this tree that there is no sun or moon; no night or darkness. The glory of God is so powerful that God himself gives eternal light. Revelation tells us that by this tree there will no longer be any curse. The curse that came to be upon all humanity back at that first tree is now completely obliterated at the tree of life. And John tells us that there will be no death and that God himself will wipe away every tear. What a wonderful image of a completely restored creation!

It is at the tree of life that we see fully the shalom of God—the peace of God. The wholeness and completeness of all things will be perfectly held together at this tree. Nothing will be lacking. And the picture we see over and over again in the New Jerusalem at the tree of life is a picture of worship. There is continual awe and joy and praise and wonder and thanksgiving to Jesus, the lamb upon the throne. This is the picture we see in Hebrews 12 where it says of Christ that, “for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.”

The joy set before him. We must not forget on this day that Jesus went to the cross for joy. That’s the scene before us at the tree of life. That’s what we see when we look at the creation completely restored unto God. It’s a picture of joy. And for most of us—in fact, maybe for all of us—we prefer to associate the joy of the tree of life with Christ’s resurrection. We place the joy on Easter Sunday. It feels awkward or wrong for us to associate joy with Maundy Thursday or Good Friday; yet that’s exactly what Hebrews 12 tells us.

You see, the tree of life reminds us that God’s love for us is freely given. God gives love to his people because he chooses to do it, not because he has to. God acts for us his people out of joy. The tree of life also reminds us that our love for God is not born of guilt. We are not compelled to love God. We are not forced to love God. It is our joy to love God. Sometimes maybe we fall into the trap of loving God out of guilt. After all—we may think—God suffered so much on my behalf, I really ought to love him in return. That’s love motivated by guilt or compulsion. But the tree of life shows us the glory of God. And it’s because of this glory and this joy that we love God, just as it is in God’s glory and joy that he loves us.

Where Trees Collide – The Tree of Calvary

Here in this Holy Week of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday we come to a unique place. Nowhere else in all of human history is there a place like this. You see, the cross—the tree of Calvary—holds the culmination of all human history. What began at the tree in the Garden of Eden and what reaches fulfillment at the tree of life in the restored creation comes crashing together at this moment, in this place, on this tree—the cross. This is where trees collide. It is at the cross where all the sin that has ever come as an offence to God is brought to bare. And it is also at the cross where the ultimate sacrifice takes place securing an eternity of life and joy. Both sin and death, and joy and life somehow meet and collide at this tree.

When we see the collision of trees here at the cross, we are reminded of our place in all of this. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 NIV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is what happens at the cross. Christ, who had no sin, became sin. And you and I, who have sin, became righteous. Sin and death – life and joy; crashing together. And in the moment of that collision the sin and death that belonged to us was taken by Jesus. And then also in that same moment the life and joy that belonged to Jesus was given to us. Here at the cross is where that happened. So you see, we don’t look at the cross as symbolic of taking our sin. It really happened. When we read in 2 Corinthians that we are now new creations in Christ, that’s not just a metaphor. Because at the cross something real of our sinful nature was atoned for, right then and right there, even before we ever existed.

The invitation we have in Holy Week is not to behold Christ’s suffering on the cross, but to realize that you and I take part in it because it is our sin that Christ suffered for. You and I take part in the cross because that is where Christ’s righteousness is placed upon us. The collision of trees at Calvary is more than something we witness and remember; we’re a part of it. How else can it be that we become the new creation of God if we do not enter into this union with Christ?

Do you see the awesomeness of the cross here tonight as we are called to be there with Christ? God, in his infinite wisdom, did not simply snap his fingers and make our sin disappear. His justice demands that a penalty be paid; and that price is high, too high for any of us to endure. But beyond that God also knows that the one who pays this price, the one who carries this burden, the one who atones for all our sin will eternally be the magnified object of all our worship. The one who atones for our sin will eternally be the one who we adore with unending thanksgiving. So how, then, could it be that anyone but God himself takes this task upon himself? Only God is worthy of our worship. And so only God is worthy to take our sin. At the cross we find a bond between sinners and the one who takes that sin away. And so, it is at the cross where our bond with Christ becomes eternally sealed.

This is no cheap gift. Sometimes we make that mistake. We think that because the gift of grace is freely given by God, that this grace comes at no cost. No. The cost was enormous. Salvation is not free. Grace is not cheap. But the gift comes to us at no cost because the price has been fully paid.

The cross is where our salvation is won. It’s at this tree where our sin and death are taken. And it’s at this tree where the righteous life and joy of Christ is given. Our salvation didn’t happen the moment we came to accept or recognize or receive the gift of grace. Our salvation happened the moment Christ exchanged our sin for his righteousness. The cross is where we are called. The cross is where we need to be. The cross is where trees collide.