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THE TREE OF LIFE OR THE TREE OF GOOD AND EVIL

2024-12-05 11:50:00, Blog Miron Çako

December is the month where we see the natural or artificial fir tree placed in squares, houses or businesses.

We even see that people in these days of the end of the year are seized by an uncontrollable desire to definitely place the fir tree as a necessary accessory to symbolically show what they want to celebrate, some Christmas some New Year's Eve, even for some it has become an obsession, ie if they do not place it and do the rituals around the tree, they see it as a curse that brings misfortune to their families.

But why are people so obsessed with the fir tree as a symbol of prosperity, of life, and why has the tree become so cosmic?

We must know that humanity has a beginning, and an initial history that has affected us all.

Man is not simply an animal creature with only flesh and instincts because otherwise he would not have consciousness, that is, he would not be a mental being, with ideas, memory, fantasy and reason with questions about where he comes from and where he is going.

Humanity has its origins not by chance, but by God, the Creator, therefore man in general is a religious being, according to the saying: "if God did not exist we would still create him".

Man in the order of creation is a special being because he is a projection, a miniature of the Lord God, all religions say this in their writings, but the Bible tells us more precisely; Then God said: "Let us make man in our image and likeness to us, and let him rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the animals and over all the earth, over the creeping things that creep on the ground27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he male and female" (Genesis 1 26-27)

"Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and in it he placed the man whom he had formed. Then the Lord God caused to grow out of the ground all kinds of trees that were pleasant to look at and that yielded fruit good for food; in the middle of the garden were also the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil". (Genesis 1 8-9)

This is the reason why we humans like gardens, plants, flowers, trees, fruits, even when we don't have gardens near us, we improvise them and make them part of our environments where we live, because in our inherited subconscious we have nostalgia for the garden of Eden.

Man, as a soul-body being, was created with freedom, this is a divine attribute, and for man to exercise his freedom, he was given an order by the Creator in Eden: "And the Lord God commanded man, saying: "Eat freely of every tree of the garden; but do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat from it you will surely die". (Genesis 2 16-17)

The Bible story continues and tells a bitter truth, why we lost the earthly paradise, the garden of delights: "But the serpent was the most cunning of all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had created, and he said to the woman: "Has he said to me truly God: "Do not eat from all the trees of the garden?". And the woman answered the serpent: "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God has said: 'Do not eat or touch it, or you will die.'" Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die at all; but God knows that in the day you eat them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be able like God to know good and evil". And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise; and she took of her fruit, and ate, and gave also to her husband who was with her, and he also ate. Then their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves and made belts to cover themselves. (Genesis 3 1-7)

So man, unfortunately abusing his freedom deceived by the devil, an archangel fallen from the heavenly paradise and the "father of lies" (John 8-44) ate the forbidden fruit of the forbidden tree, because he was tempted into three selfish temptations that the fruit of the tree performed, like, carnal pleasures, the greed of the eyes and mental pride.

Man's unrepentant sinful state after eating the forbidden fruit forced God to take man out of Eden, because man was in danger of eating from the tree of eternity in his sinful state and thus becoming immortal in evil, just like the devil and the eternally damned demons. (Genesis 3-14): "And the Lord God said: "Behold, the man became like one of us, because he knows good and evil. And now he does not he must be allowed to stretch out his hand to take from the tree of life so that, eating from it, he will live forever." Therefore the Lord God drove man out of the garden of Eden, in order to work the ground from which he had come out. Thus he expelled the man; and he placed in the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, which revolved on every side a flaming sword to guard the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3 22-24).

Even though this biblical event seems to some atheists and agnostics to be a religious whim, it is not like that, because if we observe historically, people have dealt with this human tragedy in religion, art and poetry since ancient times.

They are drawn to trees in a mystical way, they even worshiped trees especially the green ones because they saw them as immortal beings, for example the Egyptians worshiped the palm tree, the Greeks, the Romans, the Asians worshiped the fir tree as the cosmic tree.

Although today knowledge has increased and man has examined that trees are plants without logic, without supernatural power, still people place trees at the center of civilization and surround them with auspicious rituals.

This whole general situation is nothing but that initial event imprinted in our subconscious and we, the children of Adam and Eve, ask again to go to our origin, to the garden of Eden and place ourselves again before the tree, we even accept to be tempted and we continue to err like the first human couple who believed the devil that the forbidden tree of good and evil has occult knowledge a magical power that makes it immortal man.

The bitter experience of humanity showed that feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil darkens the reason, annihilates in man the gift of distinguishing the eternal from the transitory, makes him enmity with God, the Creator, and leads man to transitory bodily pleasures, a materialistic slavery, and necessarily separated from the God of life, the Father of lights (James 1-17), man continues to be stuck in the vicious cycle of mental darkness, spiritual and physical death, turning the world into a cosmic graveyard.

Knowledge and human life, was not in the tree of knowledge and its tempting fruits, but was hidden in God's command: "do not eat" (Genesis 2-17), in this command is the knowledge and the true life of people that comes from obedience to God's commands, this is called fear of God, which is the principle of knowledge. (Proverbs 9-10)

Therefore the tendency that people have today to put a tree and call it the tree of life, of the New Year, which symbolizes the whole aspiration of human rebellion to become gods without God, is repeated history, an idolater who rivals God, a spirit hereditary rebellion to disobey God and the vital divine commandments "thou shalt not", a law of three diabolical temptations that repeats itself in time and space, first; the greed of the eye, since it is not satisfied with material things, just as hell is not satisfied with lost souls, as it is said: "the eye and hell never say we don't want", the second; carnal pleasures together with gluttony so much that "their god is their belly" (Philippians 3:18-19), and the third; the pride of life, that is, the vain boasting that comes from a superficial materialistic shine and "occult" knowledge, but which is essentially mental darkness, ignorance, weakness, mortal misery, but everyone at the end of the day (of life) suffers what suffered even the first creatures Adam and Eve, who after biting the forbidden fruit lost not only the earthly paradise, but also lost their reason ; "how they changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen". (Romans 1-25)

Just as Adam and Eve were not allowed to partake of the fruit of the tree of life to become like God, all wise and immortal, so these heathen people who idolize trees will not be allowed to know God, because; "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths but do not speak, they have eyes but do not see, they have ears but they do not hear, they have noses but they do not smell, they have hands but they do not touch, they have feet but they do not walk ; with their mouths they do not utter a sound. Like them are those who do them, all those who trust them" (Psalm 115:4-8).

The wrath of God descends upon them and as a multitude they are condemned to remain in darkness and perish in their materialistic animal passions, because: "since they did not call it proper to know God, God gave them over to a perverted mind, to do things unseemly, being full of all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, murder, strife, deceit, meanness, deceivers, slanderers, enemies of God, abusive, proud, boasters, plotters of mischief, disobedient to parents, unreasonable, unfaithful, without natural love, disagreeable, merciless. But they, though they have known the decree of God, according to whom those who do such things deserve death, not only do them, but also approve of those who do them." (Romans 1 ;28-31)

But what is the Tree of Life?

In the Bible outside of Genesis, the term "tree of life" also appears in Proverbs (3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4) and Revelation (2:7; 22:2,14,19).

In that tree was the power of immortality for human nature from God and the tree of life has given man the gift to distinguish what is eternal from what is transitory.

To obey God's commandments meant to eat from the tree of life, from God's grace, the opposite of breaking the commandment, ie eating from the forbidden tree, meant to be separated from God and his life-giving will and become spiritually mortal even physically, as unfortunately happened and continues to happen in human time and space.

But even though Eden was closed to people, the tree of life was not lost, the tree is immortal, it is again among people, among us, but the people of the world do not see it as a tree of life because it seems not beautiful, even paradoxical. even for some it is scary.

Today the Tree of life is the cross of Christ, because since the Son and Word of God became a man from the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, born in Bethlehem of Judea and for our salvation at the age of 33, was voluntarily crucified in Jerusalem, on the tree of a tree to atone for people's sins, the cross automatically becomes the tree of life and its fruit that gives immortality is Christ himself, who says "I am bread and life" (John 6-35).

Therefore, the Catholic, Apostolic, Orthodox Church hymns with theology about the cross of Christ: "Come, people, seeing paradoxical miracles, let us pray to the power of the cross, that a tree in heaven brought forth death as a shoot, while this one blossomed into life, having God sinless nailed to the cross, we, all the nations, reap incorruption and cry: Glory to you who through the cross eradicated death and freed us."

Many people, even so-called heterodox Christians, may be scandalized by the cross and its symbolism as the tree of life, because they still see the cross as an instrument of torture and have removed the cross from their worship life, hence the Christmas tree that was appeared in the 16th century by the Protestant Martin Luther, it is no coincidence that it does not have the cross of Christ above it.

For Orthodox Christians, even though before Christ the cross was a tool of torture by the pagans, such as the Phoenicians, the Romans, it is no longer like that, on the contrary, since then, when God, our Lord Jesus, was stuck on the Cross and died for the salvation of the world. Christ, this instrument of punishment became the instrument of salvation. "...It is no longer a measure of punishment, but a trophy of our salvation," says a troparion of the Orthodox Church.

The object of shame became the glory of the Church. The symbol of the curse became "the ransom of the ancient curse". The tree of suffering and death became a "sign of joy" and "treasure bearer of life", as Saint Chrysostom (Gojarti) wrote, this great father of the Apostolic Church in the 4th century: "This accursed and disgusting symbol of punishment heavier, it has now become dear and expensive. You see it everywhere: at the Holy Table, at the ordinations of priests, at the Divine Liturgy; in the houses, in the markets, in the deserts and on the streets; in seas, in ships, and in islands; in beds and clothes; at weddings, at feasts, at gold and silver dishes; in the ornaments and the frescoes... So expensive was made for all this wonderful gift, this indescribable grace".

The Orthodox Church does not honor the Cross itself, as a mere figure, detached from the crucified Lord. That would be idolatry indeed. But he honors it as the symbol of the great sacrifice of Christ, from which grace, sanctification and salvation of man flow. He accepts and prays to him as the sign of the Son of man (Matth. 24:30), who has received, as we said, in a mystical and inconceivable way, His grace and power.

The hymnology of the Orthodox Church is very theological when it praises the cross as a means of salvation: "Your cross, O Lord, even though it looks like wood in essence, is clothed with divine power; although it is visible in the world, spiritually it works the miracle of our salvation…”.

Today, the cross prevails in the entire life of Christian believers, in the entire life of the Orthodox Church; in all its performance as the house of God. The cross is a means of sacrifice, salvation, joy, sanctification and grace. Christians believe that there is nothing good from God that comes to man and even to angels without the sign of the cross, because the Cross is the breadth, length, height and depth in infinity of God in cosmic creation both in heaven and on earth, therefore the Orthodox Church again he sings with meaning: "The Cross, the preserver of the whole world; The Cross, the beauty of the Church; The Cross, the power of kings; The Cross, the support of believers; the Cross, the glory of angels and the plague of demons".

The pagans who in their primitive ignorance seek to worship trees to this day and without godly knowledge, do not want to hear and even hate the cross, the sign of the Son of man, (Matthew 24-30), have a kind of justification because they know so much, so they do, but as those so-called "Christians" it seems wrong to them and they don't put the sign of the cross on a brelli tree, when they want to dedicate it to Christmas , ie Christ, as the Tree of life.

They justify themselves and say that the cross is not necessary, because the tree and the star are enough, but we know that symbols express a doctrine.

Who will say that the star is a symbol of Christ, but who can say that a fir tree without a cross is a Christian symbol, and even more so, how does it iconographically tell us that Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea?

Maybe those Protestants with the fir tree are trying to show that Christ was born under a tree in winter?

It is not true that Christ was born as a man in the winter, not even in the month of December, but according to the Gospel testimonies, he could have been born in the spring, that is, March-April, because the shepherds were outside with their flocks when they were announced by the angel: Today in the city of David a Savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2-11)

Christmas as a festive day was decided on December 25 by the Apostolic Church in the 4th century, to balance the holiday of the Sun (deus sol invictus) that was celebrated by the Roman Empire, because the calendar day of Christmas is not important for the Church, but the natural event that must let all people under the sun celebrate it.

As far as we know from the evangelists, Christ was not born under a tree but in a stable, and was placed by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the animal manger because there was no other place cleaner for the circumstances of the moment. (Luke 2-16)

So what does a fir tree have to do with Christmas?

No one can say, theologically, historically, that the fir tree has an authentic connection with Christmas, but we know that the tree was placed by the Protestants as a counterpoint to the iconographic tradition, and the improvisation of the manger where Christ was born, a tradition since the first centuries of Apostolic Church.

If we are fixated on placing a fir tree as a symbol of the tree of life, this solution is also not correct, because even though the tree of life or the world tree and its image are found in almost all mythologies of the world and this is related according to tradition popular with the palm or the fir tree, it is not biblical, because we are not told in the Bible that the fir tree is the tree of life, this was the superstition of the Scandinavian pagans who looked at green trees all year round as immortal, symbols of eternity, or fertility.

In the Bible, in the book of Genesis about the garden of Eden, not even a single tree is mentioned, except for the fig tree, (Genesis 3-7), therefore Luther took the fir tree as a symbol from pagan mythology and this is not at all Biblical for us to be so determined that it must be used as a symbol for Christmas.

Indeed, the Apostolic Church has taken pagan holidays and symbols and Christianized them by giving you the name and symbol of Christ, the cross, so if you are going to paint a green tree with the image of a tree of life, the cross must be placed, because only the cross is the tree of life and the sign of Christ, as the Lord of life.

You must know that only demons, heretics, atheists, hypocrites, victims and collaborators of the devil are afraid of the cross, who knowingly and unknowingly are enemies of the cross: "of which I told you many times, even now while crying I tell you , they are the enemies of the Cross of Christ, whose end is destruction" (Phil. 3:18).

Saint John of Kronstadt writes: "The cross is an icon of the crucified Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, even the sign of the Cross, even just its shadow, causes terror to the demons, because it is the sign of Christ, because it is the shelter of the Crucified. Therefore, it is enough to immerse the Cross in water to sanctify it. After that, the water becomes healing and drives away the demons."

Precisely for this reason, the cross and only the cross is a saving sign, a life-giving sign, a sanctifying sign, a "victorious weapon" (Saint Sophron of Jerusalem), "protector from evil" (Saint Gregory of Nyssa), "capital of all good". (Saint Joan Gojarti)

Friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are free to choose, as the pre-created had the opportunity to choose, or to obey God and eat from the fruit of the tree of life, which today are the Mysteries of the Church and especially the Divine Communion (Body and Blood of Christ) just as Christ commands "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6-54), or to rebel and be tempted by the tree of temptation, the forbidden fruit, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, to eat and drink because tomorrow we will die.

We cannot eat from both trees at the same time because Christ says: "He who is not with me is against me." Whoever does not gather with me scatters" (Matthew 12:30)

Eve and Adam were deprived of the tree of life because they chose the tree of temptation, because it seemed desirable to make them happy, but they lied with disastrous consequences until today, because the wages of sin is death.

Be careful, you can make a beautiful tree with lights, shiny, with gifts but without a cross, even say this is the tree of life and I will eat from its fruits and live, you are being lied to by the devil, don't forget where there is a cross is not life but death and it is not the tree of life but the tree of temptation that whoever eats its fruit will surely die (spiritually). (Genesis 2:16-17)

Although for many the cross of Christ does not seem like the tree of life because it reminds you of death, and it seems scandalous and foolish, we Orthodox Christians continue with love and truth: "we preach Christ crucified, a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks , but to those who are called, whether Jews or Greeks, we preach Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God; (1 Corinthians 1 23-24)

And together with Paul, the Apostle of the nations, we say: "As for me, far be it from me to boast about anything else, except for the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians. 6:14)./ CNA