Christmas trees are an integral part of the Christmas season for many people. You can see them in stores, in public buildings, through windows, on lawns, and in homes. The image of a Christmas tree can be seen everywhere during the Christmas season. There are cookies and wrapping paper with Christmas trees on it. There are trees on Christmas cards, and there are earrings, necklaces, and pins shaped like Christmas trees. You will see them on shirts and towels and blankets. Christmas trees are an inescapable aspect of Christmas.
Tradition
Like many families, we have always put up a Christmas tree in our home and decorated it with lights and ornaments. Traditionally, we would go to a Christmas tree farm and cut down a tree every year before bringing it home to decorate. We used tinsel, popcorn strings, and cranberries as garland from time to time. There is something wonderful about a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.
But the truth is, these trees are not the real Christmas tree. The one in my house is not, and the one in your house is not either. The artificial trees are not, and the live trees are not either. The Christmas tree at the White House is not the real Christmas tree, nor are any of the “Charlie Brown Christmas trees” we may see around us. There is only one real Christmas tree.
The real tree
The real Christmas tree is not one that is talked about at Christmas. However, it is a central focus of Easter. The Tree I am alluding to is the one upon which Jesus died. The Cross of Calvary is the true Tree of Christmas. The whole purpose of the incarnation, which we celebrate at Christmas, is the redemption that comes through the death of Jesus on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead. The tree associated with Jesus is the one that He died on. Even from His earthly birth, the tree that is connected to Jesus is the cross because His purpose in being born was the cross. This tree is the true Christmas tree.
So, what about the brightly lit, beautifully decorated trees in my house and yours? Nothing looks less like the cross than a carefully decorated evergreen tree. Are these trees wrong to have? Are they simply pagan expressions of a secular holiday? They do not have to be, and they should not be. As Christians, nothing is more precious than the fact that God came to earth as a man for the purpose of dying on a cross to save us from our sins. Every part of that should be celebrated.
the beauty of the cross
The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are to be celebrated with great gratitude. In whatever way we can do that, we should, including the decorating of trees. In fact, I would suggest that we should do all we can to make our homes beautiful in remembrance of the arrival and anticipation of the return of our Savior. Our decorated trees can become true Christmas trees if they point us to the most beautiful tree of history, the cross. Their beauty should welcome His coming and remind us of the "tree" for which He came (and died upon). Each time we see a tree decorated for Christmas, we should be reminded of the ultimate gift that Jesus has given us.
As Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, we are entering a time of introspection and prayer leading to Easter. Let us reflect on the significance of death preceding resurrection, urging readers to embrace a daily practice of surrendering self in preparation for our spiritual transformation.