“by Hanging Him From a Tree…”
Let us love the trees,
to us the trees are good.
Within their shoots of green
streams God’s own living blood.
Once the wood did harden,
so Christ hung thereupon.
To nourish us with new food
eternal flow’ring was won.
(Albert Steffen 1921)[i]
HOLY WEEK AND TREES
Trees permeate Holy Week. On Palm Sunday branches are torn from trees (Gk: den’-dron) and placed on the road into Jerusalem (Mt 21:8). On Monday the fig tree (soo-kay’) is cursed, on Tuesday it is dead (Mk 11:13, 20). Also on Tuesday, in his apocalyptic discourse, Christ says: “Observe the fig tree and all the other trees (den’-dron).” (Lk 21:29).[i] On Thursday he refers to himself as the vine (essentially a water-laden prostrate tree) (Jn 15:1-5). On Good Friday Christ says: “…if they do these things when the wood (or ‘tree”) (xoo’-lon) is full of water (or “green”), what will happen when it is dry” (Lk 23:31)[ii]