The cross of Jesus Christ is one of the most peculiar symbols in the history of world religions. It was used to execute Jesus, the God-Man, and yet is held-up by Christians as a symbol of hope.
The instrument that led to his death is now turned on its head and has become a source of life, the "tree of life" that is spoken about in the book of Revelation:
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)
Tree of Life
St. Theodore the Studite provides a beautiful commentary on this symbolism in a homily written in the 9th century:
How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return.
He continues by contrasting the tree that Jesus hung on between the tree in the Garden of Eden:
A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom’s pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness.
The cross, no longer a symbol of death, is a symbol of life, "By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven."
The Easter season is a great time of the year to meditate on how we are given life through the cross and how we should always return to it for spiritual sustenance.
The gates of Heaven were opened to us through this "tree," a tree that no longer stands for death, but stands for our eternal salvation.
