“Out of the ground the LORD God made grow 

every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, 

with the tree of life in the middle of the garden 

and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

A river rises in Eden to water the garden; 

beyond there it divides and becomes four branches.” 

—Genesis 2:9-10.

“Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, 

sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God

 and of the Lamb down the middle of its street. 

On either side of the river grew the tree of life 

that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; 

the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations.” 

—Revelation 22:1-2.

“…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth

with the Holy Spirit and power.

He went about doing good

and healing all those oppressed by the devil, 

for God was with him…

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree.” —Acts 10:38-39.

“See how the cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.”

—Liturgy of the Hours, 5th Sunday of Lent, Office of Readings, First Antiphon.

As a sort of symbolic bookend to the library of God’s Word, which is the Bible, the image of the tree of life appears in the second chapter of the first book, Genesis, and in the final chapter of the last book, Revelation. Among other things, it is a symbol of eternal life, of God’s very life. Eating the fruit of the tree of life is a participation in God’s very life. On this Easter Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. He suffered, died upon the wood of the cross (a tree, of sorts), and has been raised from the dead. After the fall, Adam and Eve were prevented from eating of the tree of life. In Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, we now have access once again to the tree of life. The cross has become for us not just a symbol of suffering, death, or defeat, but a symbol of love, life, and victory. The cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.

This is a day of great joy! Alleluia! He is risen! I would dare say, however, that many of us, most of us, or all of us still carry our own crosses today. Some may be heavier crosses, bigger crosses, rougher crosses, or more obvious crosses than others, but each of our crosses are still there, even on this day of joy. I could do a laundry list of grief, injustice, illness (physical or mental), addiction, fear, conflict, and much more, but it suffices to say that you know your own cross. I know mine, too. Jesus didn’t avoid, deny, minimize, or ignore his cross. He embraced it and died upon it in love and for love. He transformed it from suffering, death, and defeat to love, life, and victory. We cannot avoid, deny, minimize, or ignore our crosses either (usually, that just leads to more crosses!). We can embrace our crosses, die to self, and in the embrace of Jesus, who is love in the flesh, let them and us be transformed into new life, resurrected. On this Easter Sunday, place you cross on the altar with the cross of the Lord, where it may spring forth anew with healing fruit, the bread of life, the very life of God, for the cross of the Lord stands revealed as the tree of life.