The Tale of Two Trees

The tree stood alone in the garden, the only one of its kind. It was a beautiful tree. It wasn't an apple tree or a fig tree or a cherry tree. It wasn't a pine tree or a cedar. It was the Tree of of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Anyone could see that it was "good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise." And the tree, as it turned out, when Man ate of it, resulted in death for all.

The tree was an ugly tree. Rough hewn, it had no beauty of its own. It was the Tree of Death. In human terms, it represented the most horrible means of execution devised by Man. To the Son of God, it represented the worst possible suffering. He knelt in the garden and begged His Father to let Him avoid it if there was any possible way. There wasn't. And when He partook of it, it resulted in the possibility of life for all.

Adam failed to follow directions and took the fruit from the Tree of of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In that disobedience, sin came into the world. Jesus followed His Father's command and ate of the fruit of the Cross. In that final act of obedience, salvation came into the world. Today we celebrate that Cross and His Resurrection. He brought life by embracing that certain death. And His Resurrection shows us that He defeated death for us all.

We still have the option. We can embrace the Tree of of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and continue to die, or embrace the Cross and participate in life. Praise God for the two trees, and the Savior who obeyed, taking the curse for us.