Tree of Life

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.

1 Peter 2:24

As we approach Holy Week, we focus on the last days of our Lord’s life.  This Sunday, we will see our King come in true humility, riding on a donkey, as we celebrate Palm Sunday.  That humility will continue on to Maundy Thursday, where we will see Jesus washing the feet of His disciples – the task of a slave.  In humility, Christ accepted the fact that He would be betrayed, arrested, beaten, and crucified – all for the sins of the entire world.

Christ Himself bore our sins, because only He could pay the penalty that our sin deserves.  Christ was the perfect sacrifice – the Lamb of God.  As Jesus hung from the cross, the wood that our Lord was nailed to became more than just an ordinary cross – it became a life-giving tree for all who believe in Him.

As Christians, we partake of the fruit of this tree every time we go to the Lord’s Supper.  For the fruit of this life-giving tree is nothing other than the true body and blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  The wounds that were inflicted on Christ have served to heal us – for it is through those wounds that the life-giving blood of Christ was shed on behalf of us and all believers.

May Holy Week and our celebration of Christ’s victory over death on Easter morning – serve to remind us that through the wounds Christ suffered and died from, we are healed.  For just as Christ was raised from the dead, imperishable – we, too, have the promise of eternal life!