Devotions of the Holy Rood: The Tree of Life

Dr. Matthew David Wiseman
Mar 7, 2022
3 min read

Leader: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

I: The Tree of Life

All: We praise Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, and we bless Thee; for by Thy Cross and Resurrection Thou hast redeemed the World. Amen.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

First Lesson: Genesis 2:7-10

And the LORD God molded the man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into him the life-breath, and man was a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, eastward. And there He set the man which he molded. And The LORD God grew from the ground every tree that is pleasant to see and good to eat; and the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden; and also the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became the headwaters of four rivers. Reader: The word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.

Psalm: Psalm 1

Refrain

Leader: Lord, I surrender my will to you.

All: Crucify my will and give me Christ.

Happy is he who:

Walks not in the counsel of the evil,

Nor in the road of sinners stands,

Nor in the house of mockers bides;

But in the Law of the LORD is his desire,

And His law recites day and night.

So he will be like a tree planted on the bank of streams of water,

Which gives its fruit forth in its time,

And its leaves do not wither

And all it produces succeeds.

Not so the evil:

But like the husk

Which the wind drives

So they will not stand up, those evil, in the court of law,

Nor sinners in the assembly of the upright.

Because the LORD knows the road of the upright,

And the road of the evil he rubs out.

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Second Lesson: Revelation 22:1-5

And he showed me a pure river of living water, brilliant as crystal, flowing out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. It was in the middle of the square, and on this side and that of the river is the Tree of Life, making twelve fruits, every month yielding its own fruit, and the tree’s leaves are for the healing of the peoples. And no curse will there be anymore, and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and His servants will serve Him, and they will see His face, and His Name will be between their eyes. And night will not exist there, and they will need no lamp nor the sun’s light, for the Lord God gives them light, and they will reign unto the eternity of eternities. Reader: The word of the Lord. All: Thanks be to God.

Reflection

Leader: The Tree of our salvation is present from the foundation of the world. The image of the Tree of Life in the Cross is not a historical accident of ancient Rome, but a fact of Creation, placed in the world when God began to make it. Placed opposite the tree of our death, a signpost to the renewal of our life after our espousal of death. And it is present again in the New Creation as the sanctification of our wounds.

Silence

Collect

Leader: Let us pray. God and creator of all, who laid the foundations of the world and prepared the means of grace for us from the beginning, grant that we may eat the fruit of that Holy Tree and be healed by its leaves, and so have eternal life in your presence, through him who is for us the Tree of Life, your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ.

All: Amen.

All: Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, Forever and ever. Amen.