The wood of shame ….. the wood of life

At this time of the year, we prepare ourselves to experience the Lord’s sufferings through the journey of the church with Him hour by hour, from the time He enters Jerusalem until the time of His crucifixion on the cross, His death and burial in the tomb. It is the declaration of the Father’s Love to the whole world” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” ( John 3:16). Then we rejoice, defeating death and rising with His resurrection.
The Cross was the purpose of the Lord’s first coming and His incarnation, He made that clear in His speech to the Father” Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour” ( John 12:27). It was clear to Him and He has proclaimed to everyone that” when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die” ( John 12:32-33). Thus we see the tree of the cross as a means to salvation before the Lord, tolerating its torment and shame for His love for us” For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” ( Hebrews 12:2).
Let us follow together what concerns the Cross from meanings and symbols, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Carrying the symbols of damnation and life together. The Cross is a tree, and the tree is related to the ground, mud and water, noticing that” The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” ( Genesis 2:9). Here we find the tree of life beside the tree of shame and death, and between both God has given man a free will. And as long as there’s free will, then we are free to choose, being warned of damnation and death, this manifests God’s everlasting love and goodness” but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” ( Genesis 2:17). But Adam and Eve chose the curse and death when they ate from the tree of disobedience.
But the grace of our good Savior, the second Adam, has deigned, giving Himself up, taking the image of a servant, to recompense for our disobedience, as the Lamb of God, obeying until death, the death of the Cross. And whew, when we saw Him, being the Tree of Life, hanged on the the tree of damnation, crucified with nails that penetrated His Holy body and bones. And His pure blood, quenching its dryness, Turning it into the tree of blessings, redemption and freedom from death. Didn’t the Book say in the Song of Songs” Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste. Let him lead me to the banquet hall ( His Holy blood), and let his banner ( the Cross ) over me be love” ( Song of Solomon 2:3-4).
It is not strange to find the multitudes with children welcoming theLord as He enters into Jerusalem holding branches of palm trees and shouting and saying Hosanna which means who saved us, as by spiritual inspiration referring to Christ the Savior, that through His crucifixion on the tree of damnation will bring peace, salvation and life. Perhaps they cut off the branches of the olive trees that were scattered on the Mount of Olives, to proclaim unknowingly that the crucifixion of Christ would be our peace” But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds
we are healed” ( Isaiah 53:5), ” For he himself is our peace” ( Ephesians 2:14). Peace be to the Cross through which we have salvation, redemption and peace.
+ The wood of redemption:
When God decided to flood the evil world, He commanded Noah the righteous to build an arc of wood and to coat it with black tar from inside and out. And although the arc was all black and dark from all sides; only those who entered it survived the inevitable flood, similarly we see the wood of the Cross and the Crucified” He grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” ( Isaiah 53:2-3). And as Noah’s generation had mocked him while he was building the arc for one hundred years, until the flood came and destroyed them all, so is the Cross, to those who refuse salvation and redemption” For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…. but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” ( 1 Corinthians 1:18-25).
+ The crossing rod:
The rod in Mose’s hands was an instrument of salvation for the people of Israel, and Mose used it to strike pharaoh and all the land of Egypt, and by it also was the great exodus from the land of slavery and the crossing of the Red Sea to enter into the Promised Land. By it Moses struck the rock in the wilderness, from which water went out to quench their thirst, similarly the Lord Jesus, striking death on the Cross, pierced in his side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water for forgiveness and eternal fullness” By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. ( Isaiah 53:8). Also, the rod of Aaron, which had blossomed, being preserved in the Ark of Covenant that was carried by the priests and the Levites until they crossed the Jordan river and entered the Land of Canaan, and it remained in the ark at all times as a symbol and a sign of the priesthood of Christ – to Whom is all the glory – according to the order of Melchizedek by the bread of His broken body on the Cross, and the wine of His blood shed on wood. Through the Cross we crossed from death to life, from darkness to the light of the Father, from satan’s bondage to the glorious freedom of the children of God, having the peace of our God. Through the wood of the Cross, we crossed from the Divine wrath that was placed on the Person of our Beloved instead of us” Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his
hand” ( Isaiah 53:10). And we received God’s acceptance and satisfaction in Jesus Christ, Who was beaten by the rod of the Cross, for this we cry out as the sons of God with Saint Paul the Apostle saying” May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” ( Galatians 6:14).