MEN AS TREES

 Notes for Sundays Facebook Live presentation (9:00 am CT)

Garden of Eden, a Garden of Metaphors

Bartimaeus, “I see men, as trees walking,” as he was face to face with Jesus.

As his vision was gradually restored, he surely saw that Jesus is the Tree of Life.

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God (Rev 2:7)

On either side of the river (of God), was there the Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev 22:2)

The twelve fruits of the Tree of Life were: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, forbearance, gentleness, faith, modesty, self-control, and chastity (Gal 5:22-23; Vulgate).

Those who bear “good” fruit are Christians and are symbolic of trees of the Garden.

Adam was assigned to “dress and keep” the Garden or serve and preserve the trees. (Gen 2:15).

God would do that work; all that Adam needed to do was serve the Tree of Life and Preserve the other trees from destruction.

Luke wrote that Jesus was hanged on a tree, meaning the Cross: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree” (Act 5:30).

Jerusalem is “in the midst” of what once was the Garden of Eden wherein were two trees: Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. Surrounding them were numerous other trees and vines of the Garden.

The Tree of Life (Jesus) was crucified on a symbolic Tree of Life — the Holy Cross.

The Tree of Death was also in Jerusalem in the valley of Gehenna. That tree is symbolic of the Tree of Knowledge of Evil. It is called the Judas Tree because Judas hanged himself from it. “He (Judas) cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself” (Mat 27:5).

Judas tried to pay the price of his own sin by his own works — hanging himself. Judas was cursed because, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” but “Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law” by being hanged on a tree (Gal 3:13).

Judas tried self-redemption and was cursed. Jesus redeemed us all and ended the curse of the Law. That curse was that mankind always thought that they could save themselves by the works of their own hands, Adam and Eve covering their shame with aprons of fig leaves of their own making. (Gen 3:7).

In other words, each man carries their own fig tree. Obviously, the Tree of Knowledge was a fig tree and each man carries a branch of it.

Jesus is the Vine (the trunk of the grape tree) and people are the “branches.” God dresses and keeps the Vine and the branches and is the Husbandman: 

¹ “I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Husbandman. ² Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:1-2)

Olive Trees are planted around grapevines to shelter the grape vine from the world. Olive Trees then preserve the vines, and as such serve them. Adam was to be the “vine” in the Garden, but shirking his devotion to God, Jesus became the True Vine, and mankind the branches.

One Tree had good fruit, and the other evil fruit: ^“19 The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, ²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like” (Gal 5:19-21)

Men are the branches and have either the twelve fruits of the spirit or many of the fruits for the flesh. Judas had evil fruit, silver is the root of all evil, and Jesus the good fruits of the Spirit.

Around the Tree of Life were two malevolent “trees.” They branched off from the same ground that Jesus was rooted in. “And when they (men as evil trees) were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.” (Luke 22:33)

“Malefactors” are those who commit an offense against the Law. Stealing is an offense against the Eighth Law. The two men were thieves: unrepentant thief, Gestas (left) and the repentant thief Dismas (right) (Gospel of Nicodemus).

Dismas means “death,” but he received life. Gestas likely comes from Gestus, meaning “carried.”

So, there on Calvary were two other trees: The Dismas Tree and the Gestas Tree. For Dismas, “To live is Christ; to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Why was that? Dismas saw Jesus as the Tree of Life.

On the other hand, the other thief would see Jesus as the Tree of Death in that they all would die that day.

³⁹ One of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” ⁴⁰ But the other answering rebuked him, saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?” ⁴¹ And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss. ⁴² And he said unto Jesus,” Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” (Luke 23:39-42)

“If thou be the Christ” showed that Gestas doubted that He was! Dismas called Jesus “God” and called Him ”Lord.” He recognized Jesus as the Lord God the One and only One who could save him.

 Ironically, Jesus carried the repentant thief to heaven whose sin he had borne, and the one who He could have carried was still-borne.

Next week, the Barabbas Tree.  Our question to ourselves: Is there a Larry Tree… a John Tree,…or a Susan Tree?

In that day (The Rapture) shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them (the branches) that are escaped of Israel (Isa 4:2).

There is hope of a Tree (Tree of Life), if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender Branch (Jesus) thereof will not cease. (Job 14:7)

The Tree here is Jesus and He was cut down on the Cross, but three days later, the Tree of Life sprouted again with the Resurrection. He is the tender Branch who shall not cease, because Jesus is the eternal God. As we are in the image of that Tree, even if death cuts us down, if we are in Christ, we shall never cease. Death shall be our gain!

(picture credit: dreamstime.com)