{"id":39708,"date":"2020-02-12T09:16:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T14:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=39708"},"modified":"2020-02-12T09:16:29","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T14:16:29","slug":"reflections-on-the-tree-of-life-part-3-christ-and-the-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2020\/02\/reflections-on-the-tree-of-life-part-3-christ-and-the-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on the Tree of Life, Part 3: Christ and the Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tree of life and its fruit mean many things to many different people.\u00a0 Immortality, eternal life, the presence of God, and Jesus the Christ are all important meanings of the tree in our tradition, but many more could be stated.\u00a0 Among Christians, one prominent meaning of the tree of life is as a symbol of the Christ.\u00a0 One way in which this is the case was hinted at when the apostle Peter spoke of Jesus\u2019s death and crucifixion as being \u201ckilled by hanging him on a tree.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 The cross is referred to as a tree elsewhere in the New Testament as well, and, as C. Wilfred Griggs wrote, \u201cSome have noticed that the Greek word used in these passages is the same as that used for the tree of life in the Septuagint, different from the usual New Testament word for\u00a0tree. <\/em>According to a number of sources, some early Christians thought of the cross as a tree of life.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 The tree and its fruit can be seen as a symbol of Jesus the Christ.<\/p>\n

The New Testament references to the cross as a tree took root and caused some commentary among Christians about the cross being the tree of life.\u00a0 For example, St. John of Damascus wrote that: \u201cThe tree of life which was planted by God in Paradise pre-figured this precious Cross.\u00a0 For since death was by a tree, it was fitting that life and resurrection should be bestowed by a tree.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 More recently, Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI stated that \u201cthe Cross is the true tree of life.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 St. Albert the Great developed the idea further, speaking of the cross as the tree and the flesh and blood of Christ (offered in the Eucharist as bread and wine) as the fruit.\u00a0 He wrote: \u201cThis sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life.\u00a0 Anyone who receives this sacrament with devotion of sincere faith will never taste death.\u00a0 It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast.\u201d[5]<\/a>\u00a0 Among Christians, the tree of life has been used as a symbol of the cross.<\/p>\n

For other people, the tree of life was the Christ himself.\u00a0 For example, the 18th<\/sup> century Christian poem \u201cJesus Christ the Apple Tree\u201d spoke of Jesus as the tree of life: \u201cThe tree of life my soul hath seen \/ Laden with fruit and always green \/ The trees of nature fruitless be \/ Compared with Christ the Apple Tree.\u201d\u00a0 We seem to see this as well in the Book of Mormon. \u00a0After Nephi’s request to see the tree of life was granted, he told the Spirit of the Lord that he wanted \u201cto know the interpretation thereof\u201d (1 Nephi 11:11).\u00a0 In response, he was shown \u201cthe mother of the Son of God\u201d and \u201ca child in her arms\u201d that was proclaimed to be \u201cthe Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father\u201d (1 Nephi 11:18-21).\u00a0 Throughout the vision, Nephi used terms to describe the tree that can be connected to the Christ.\u00a0 After seeing the Lamb of God, Nephi stated that the tree was \u201cthe love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men\u201d (1 Nephi 11:22) and that it was \u201cthe fountain of living waters \u2026 which waters are a representation of the love of God\u201d (1 Nephi 11:25).\u00a0 These images seem to have echoes in statements in the gospel of John, where Jesus proclaims that \u201cGod so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life\u201d (John 3:16).\u00a0 The Christ is also described as the fountain of living waters, such as when Jesus told the Samaritan woman that \u201cthe water I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.\u201d[6]<\/a>\u00a0 As if to confirm the connection to Christ in Nephi\u2019s vision, the angel next showed Nephi the Christ being baptized, ministering to the people, calling twelve apostles, healing all manner of infirmities, and ultimately, his trial and crucifixion (see 1 Nephi 11:26-33). \u00a0\u00a0Thus, as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated: \u201cThe Spirit made explicit that the Tree of Life and its precious fruit are symbols of Christ\u2019s redemption.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

An alternative understanding of the tree’s relationship to the Christ comes to mind from Nephi\u2019s vision.\u00a0 When shown the tree and the interpretation thereof, he is shown the mother of the Son of God with a newborn Jesus.\u00a0 In some Christian artwork and writings, there have been depictions of the tree of life associated with Mary, occasionally in contrasting imagery with Eve and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.\u00a0 For example, in the apocryphal Apocalypse of Paul<\/em>, we find the following passage:<\/p>\n

[The angel] having again taken hold of me by the hand, he led me near the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.\u00a0 And he says to me:\u00a0 This is the tree by means of which death came into the world, and Adam took of the fruit of it from his wife, and ate; and thereafter they were cast out hence.\u00a0 And he showed me another, the tree of life, and said to me:\u00a0 This the cherubim and the flaming sword guard.\u00a0 And when I was closely observing the tree, and wondering, I saw a woman coming from afar off, and a multitude of angels singing praises to her.\u00a0 And I asked the angel:\u00a0 Who is this, my lord, who is in so great honour and beauty?\u00a0 And the angel says to me:\u00a0 This is the holy Mary, the mother of the Lord.[8]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gregory of Narek likewise wrote that Mary was \u201cthe living Eden\u201d and the \u201chealer of the pangs of Eve.\u201d[9]<\/a>\u00a0 Medieval artwork occasionally depicted Mary associated with the tree of life, with Jesus as the fruit.\u00a0 In at least on one depiction, Eve was shown in the same image as Mary, with each woman distributing fruit from their respective trees.\u00a0 Tying this back to Nephi\u2019s vision, the imagery of Mary as the tree also helps make sense of Nephi\u2019s emphasis on Mary being \u201cexceedingly fair and white\u201d (1 Nephi 11:13), given that he also notes that the \u201cthe whiteness\u201d of the tree \u201cdid exceed the whiteness of the driven snow\u201d (1 Nephi 11:8).[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

Whether as the fruit of Mary, a direct symbol of Jesus or of his bearing \u201cour sins in his own body on the tree\u201d (1 Peter 2:24, KJV), Jesus the Christ can be tied to tree of life symbolism.\u00a0 In a way, the tree of life in Nephi\u2019s vision can be seen as a reversal of the Garden of Eden\u2014by partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Eve and Adam brought death and separation from God into the world.\u00a0 Jesus (the son of Mary) overcame those effects, offering eternal life and re-union with God.\u00a0 Thus, by partaking of the fruit of the tree of life, humankind is redeemed and atonement is made with God, reversing the effects of the Fall.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Acts 5:30.\u00a0 See also 1 Peter 2:24 and Galatians 3:13. Bible verses are cited using the NRSV unless otherwise noted.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> C. Wilfred Griggs, \u201cThe Tree of Life in Ancient Cultures,\u201d Ensign<\/em>, June 1988, https:\/\/www.churchofjesuschrist.org\/study\/ensign\/1988\/06\/the-tree-of-life-in-ancient-cultures?lang=eng<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> St. John of Damascus \u201cExposition of the Faith\u201d, 6 Book IV, Chapter 11 (6th paragraph).<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Gheddo, Piero (March 20, 2005).\u00a0“Pope tells WYD youth: the Cross of Jesus is the real tree of life”<\/a> AsiaNews.it.\u00a0 Retrieved 2020-02-09.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> https:\/\/www.crossroadsinitiative.com\/media\/articles\/fruit-of-the-tree-of-life-albert-the-great\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> John 4:14.\u00a0 See also John 7:37-39.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon<\/em> (SLC: Deseret Book Company, 1997), 160.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> https:\/\/ccel.org\/ccel\/schaff\/anf08.vii.xl.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> See https:\/\/bookofmormonresearch.org\/mary-and-the-tree-of-life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> This was pointed out in Daniel C. Peterson\u2019s article Nephi and His Asherah: A Note on\u00a01 Nephi 11:8-23,\u201d in Davis Bitton, ed.,\u00a0Mormons, Scriptures, and the Ancient World: Studies in Honor of John L. Sorenson<\/em>\u00a0(Provo: FARMS, 1998), 191-243.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tree of life and its fruit mean many things to many different people.\u00a0 Immortality, eternal life, the presence of God, and Jesus the Christ are all important meanings of the tree in our tradition, but many more could be stated.\u00a0 Among Christians, one prominent meaning of the tree of life is as a symbol of the Christ.\u00a0 One way in which this is the case was hinted at when the apostle Peter spoke of Jesus\u2019s death and crucifixion as being \u201ckilled by hanging him on a tree.\u201d[1]\u00a0 The cross is referred to as a tree elsewhere in the New Testament as well, and, as C. Wilfred Griggs wrote, \u201cSome have noticed that the Greek word used in these passages is the same as that used for the tree of life in the Septuagint, different from the usual New Testament word for\u00a0tree. According to a number of sources, some early Christians thought of the cross as a tree of life.\u201d[2]\u00a0 The tree and its fruit can be seen as a symbol of Jesus the Christ. The New Testament references to the cross as a tree took root and caused some commentary among Christians about the cross being the tree of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10397,"featured_media":39713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,18,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-of-mormon","category-general-doctrine","category-latter-day-saint-thought"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Tree-of-life-cross-e1581516971165.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39708"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39714,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708\/revisions\/39714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}