Readers
of the New Testament are familiar with St. Paul’s description of Christ as the
“Second Adam.” It is an example of the frequent Apostolic use of an allegoric
reading of the Old Testament (I am using “allegory” in its broadest sense –
including typology and other forms). Christ Himself had stated that He was the
meaning of the Old Testament (John 5:39). Within the Gospels Christ identifies
His own death and resurrection with the Prophet Jonah’s journey in the belly of
the fish. He likens His crucifixion to the serpent raised on a staff by which
Moses healed the people of Israel. Without the allegorical use of the Old
Testament – much of the material in the gospels and the rest of the New
Testament would be unintelligible.
Orthodox
Christians are very accustomed to this manner of handling Scripture – the
hymnography (largely written during the Patristic period) of the Church’s
liturgical life is utterly permeated by such a use of allegory. The connections
between New Testament and Old – between dogma and the allegory of Scriptural
imagery is found in almost every verse offered within a service. Those who are
not familiar with the Eastern liturgical life are unaware of this rich
Christian heritage and of its deep doctrinal piety and significance.
In the
Feast of the Holy Cross, the hymnography at one point makes the statement, “The
Tree heals the Tree.” It is one of the marvelous commentaries on the life of
grace and its relationship to the human predicament. It refers to the
relationship between the Cross of Christ and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil. The latter was the source of the fruit that Adam and Eve consumed
that was the source of their fall from grace. The “Tree that heals” is none
other than the Cross of Christ.
I am
struck particularly by this treatment of Biblical imagery. The meditation does
not say that the Cross destroys the tree whose fruit, along with our
disobedience, brought the human tragedy. The Tree heals the Tree. In the same
manner, the Kingdom of God does not destroy creation – it makes it whole.
There is
a tendency within our lives to view failure and disasters (whether
self-inflicted or otherwise) as deep tragedies that derail our lives and the
world around us. Our heart becomes confused when the thought of “if only” takes
up residence. But the Tree heals the Tree. In God, nothing is wasted.
It is the
spiritual habit of the Church’s liturgical life to see the story of Christ in
everything. Every story involving wood or a tree seems to find its way into the
hymnography of the Cross. The same is true for many other images. I believe
this way of reading Scripture is also a key to the Christian life. Our hearts
are such that they generally do not see the Kingdom of God – we see only the
tree and our disobedience. But Christ Himself became sin that we might become
the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). He took our life upon Himself that He
might bestow His own life upon us. Thus Christ has entered all things that He
might make all things new. Nothing is wasted.
An
article by Fr. Stephen Freeman
Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2017/09/14/tree-heals-tree/
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