2Co 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
Acts 5:30 – “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree [zulon].”
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.
Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.
It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrims's second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a punishing offense; people were fined for hanging decorations.
In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family, Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable—not only in Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast American Society. The Christmas tree had arrived.
By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. It was noted that Europeans used small trees about four feet in height, while Americans liked their Christmas trees to reach from floor to ceiling.
The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.
One person described Him this way
“He was born in an obscure village. The child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. And then became an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn’t go to college. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.”
Another person observed:
Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40 BUT Jesus for only 3 1/2 years. Yet His influence infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined years of the teachings from all the world’s greatest philosophers.
Jesus painted no pictures yet some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci obtained their inspiration from Him.
Jesus wrote no poetry, but Dante, Milton and scores of the greatest poets were inspired by Him.
Jesus composed no music. Still Hadyn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the music they composed in His praise.
Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race.
All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and the kings that ever reigned have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.
Acts 13:29 – “Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree [zulon] and laid Him in a tomb.”
1 Peter 2:24 – “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”
In the OT, the Messiah is viewed prophetically in terms that relate to a tree.
This morning I want to talk about the real Christmas tree – the tree we should not forget about during Christmas. In fact, we might even call it The First Christmas Tree.
It wasn’t standing in a palace or in a country cottage, or at the mall of the capital city – but on a hilltop just outside the huge walled ancient city of Jerusalem. It wasn’t a green pine tree, nor did it have short or long needles. In fact it was kind of bare, with two branches stretching out both sides of its trunk. It didn’t have balls and bells and tinsel, but it was decorated with a quickly made decoration on the top of it – a piece of dull, brown, ragged parchment with a few words scrawled on it in three languages with a saying written on it: “Jesus, King of the Jews.” There were no colorful, blinking lights; in fact, there was no light at all for several hours because even the sun refused to shine on it that day.
But the tree did display a Gift that was fastened to it by three giant nails. The Gift was a body of a naked man. And He was decorated on His hands, face, brow and feet with ribbons of crimson blood. And the Gift was signed “To: Mankind From: God with love”.
It was an expensive Gift; one that only God could afford to give – the Gift was His only begotten Son.
A beloved friend of this Son of God recorded the Christmas message that was behind this Gift – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
A Cousin called this Son of God “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”
A close friend, who had denied His friendship three times looked back at this first Christmas Tree and Christmas Gift and wrote “Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, by Whose stripes we are healed.”
There has never been a Christmas tree since that has displayed such a priceless Gift as did this tree on the hilltop of Golgotha. And no Giver has paid such a high price as the One who spared not even His only Son, but freely gave Him up for us all. (Ro. 8:32)
And why such a Gift? So that we could have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, and a life that is dead to sin and alive to righteousness.
At this time of the year, in homes all across America, you will find a Christmas tree with a least a few presents underneath. Some would say that believers should have nothing to do with Christmas trees because of their pagan origin.
(1) He is portrayed as a shoot or branch which would grow out of the cut down stump of the hours of David. Isaiah 11:1 – “There shall come forth a Rod [shoot] from the stem [trunk] of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
(2) He is also seen as “the Branch of the Lord,” as “the Righteous Branch,” & as “God’s Servant, the Branch” whom God would raise up on the human scene to give righteousness and life to the nation, and to all who would believe in Him.
- God decorated Calvry’s cross with a man (His son)
- He was strung out on the cross which was a tree
The cross was a tree
It had been cut down and re-located in a hole on mt. Calvary.
- He became cursed for us in our place.
- He paid the price for us, for our own sins.
we still need light to become a tree.
- He had more than enough light!
- "the light of the whole world"
- "the light of the Gentiles"
- Jn 1:5 "A light that shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not".
- Jn 8:12 "I am the light of the world, he that followeth me, shall have light."
- Jn 12:46 "I am come, a light unto the world."
- 1 Peter 2:9 "Into His marvelous light".
, I know what the gift was underneath the tree".
"it was his blood, shed for us, as he hang there on the tree. It collected on the ground."
- REmember: "by his stripes ye are healed" Psalms 129:3 (David’s song is prophesying) of - future events on Mount calvaryThe plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows."
David said, in this song about calvary
- Psalms 119:3 "Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me".
Wicked spirits could not turn him out.
- "the light of the whole earth".
- even as a tiny babe
- while wrapped in swaddling clothes
- lying helpless defenseless in a manger
- Herod had every male child killed
- the age of 2 and under
- still he failed to turn "the light" out
When Christ was a man, preaching
- they tried throwing "the light"
- over a cliff, and he disappeared from among them.
"Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin".
- God’s Christmas tree was finished.
- furnished by His love.
in WWI the Prince of Wales was invited to inspect and visit a hospital on the outskirts of London. He was told there were 36 severely wounded men he should visit. He graciously accepted the invitation. Upon arrival the hospital staff took him to the main ward; he shook hands with some, spoke encouraging words to others, and sympathized with them all.
Then looking around, he said, “I thought there were 36, but I’ve only seen 30 men.” It was explained to him that six of the very worst cases were in a special ward, not usually visited.
The Prince said “I must see them.” So they took him to these bruised, maimed, and physically wrecked men. He visited with them, and thanked them for their sacrifice for the country. But then he said “There are only 5 men here, where is the other man?” they told him that the poor man was so mutilated that he was kept in a room alone and that it would be wiser not to see him.
But the Prince insisted, “I must see him.” So they took the Prince of Wales into a room where he saw an unforgettable sight. There lay what remained of a brave soldier. He was blind, deaf, legless, armless, and disfigured, almost beyond recognition as a man.
The Prince stood silent and touched beyond belief. He then stooped down, kissed the veteran’s scarred brow, and with a break in his voice explained to the group who surrounded “Wounded for Me, Wounded for Me.”
That’s what Jesus was born into to this world for – for the purpose of dying and redeeming the whole world, to
