If These Trees Could Talk

I am finally back from my pilgrimmage to the Holy Land and it was an incredible experience! It will take me weeks to process all that I saw, and over the next several weeks I will attempt to share with you what God shared with me.

As I prayed about where to start, God reminded me of the trees that we saw in Israel.  The sycamore tree is a beautiful tree that is plentiful throughout the Holy Land.  It is most memorable for being the type of tree that Zaccheus the tax collector sat in to get a good look at Jesus as he passed by on His way through Jericho. The sycamore tree also produces a nut that is delicious when roasted and can be eaten in its entirety--shell and all!

If that sycamore tree could talk.  Would it tell of the majesty of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who walked by it?  Did its branches and leaves give a wave offering to the one that created it?  Did it brace itself and strengthen its limbs to make sure Zaccheus had the support he needed to see the Savior?  After all, just one look is all it took, and Zaccheus was converted:

"And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, 'Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.' And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly." (Luke 19:5-6)

And, what about the trees in the Garden of Gethsemene?  Some of the olive trees in that garden are thousands of years old.  How can they live so long, you ask?  Because olive trees never die.  How appropriate that our Lord frequently visited this garden which was full of trees that, like Him, represented everlasting life!

The Garden of Gethsemene is also the place where Jesus agonized over the fate awaiting Him on the cross, praying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt." (Matthew 26:39)

One of the trees that we saw was 3,000 years old, which means it was there when Jesus visited the garden and prayed that prayer.  Take a look at the picture I took of it below.


3,000 year-old olive tree from the Garden of Gethsemene

Oh, if that tree could talk! Would it tell of how it gave forth its olives to be pressed and crushed to produce the olive oil that is a staple of life, just as Jesus gave forth His life to shed His blood in order that we might have life? Would that tree bear witness to the extent of the agony Jesus experienced when He sweated drops of blood as He prayed?

There's one more tree I wonder about.  The one used to make the cross Jesus was crucified on.  What would that tree say if it could talk?  Did it protest being cut down and fashioned into an instrument of torture? Did it humbly bear the body and the blood of Christ, communing with Him at that transformative moment in time?

Even though none of those trees can talk, we certainly can. And, as we proceed through Holy Week into our various celebrations of Resurrection Sunday, don't be shy about telling others what you know and have experienced with Christ in your life.  It's important that people realize Easter/Resurrection Sunday is not about a fictional bunny but about a real man whose real love for us is documented in the pages of the Bible and is even rooted in the trees that were firsthand witnesses of the life and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Have a wonderful and rich Resurrection Sunday!

BNcouraged!

Rev. Karen