John 18:1-27; Genesis
2:8-17
In the Name of the Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Rivers and trees factor prominently in
the Holy Scriptures. The Garden of Eden was the source of four rivers: The
Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. Likewise, amongst the many
trees of the Garden, two are named in particular: The Tree of Life, and the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The LORD visited Abraham under the Oaks
of Mamre, and God spoke with Moses from a burning bush. The LORD baptized His
people in the Flood, in the Red Sea, and in the Jordan River as they passed
through it into the Promised Land of Canaan. The olive tree was a symbol of
Israel, and many significant events in the Old Testament and in our Lord Jesus’
life and ministry occurred on the Mount of Olives. Jesus Himself was baptized
in the Jordan River. And, in the Revelation, the River of the Water of Life is
described as flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, and that River is
flanked on both sides by the Tree of Life bearing its twelve kinds of fruit
every month, its leaves are for the healing of the nations.
Indeed, one of the first, personal
images we are provided of our God and LORD in the Scriptures is that our God is
a Gardener. He plants gardens and trees and He tends them and waters them. He
provides seed for the sower and bread for the eater. And, He placed the man He
created in the midst of the Garden to tend it and to care for it, even as he
sustained his life by eating of its fruit. The man was given to eat the fruit
of all the trees of the Garden save one, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil. The LORD commanded Adam not to eat of it lest he die.
But, why this command? This question has
been the source of endless theological speculation, some of which has been less
than helpful and beneficial. Nevertheless, it seems clear that God did not
desire human beings to be automatons, serving Him because they had no other
choice. Rather, God desired that His creatures would love, serve, and obey Him
freely, therefore He attached His Word of prohibition to the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil so that Adam would have a choice: He could choose to
rebel against his Creator if he pleased. To serve the LORD freely is part of
what it means to be created in His image, an image Adam lost when he rebelled
and plunged all humanity into sin and death and separation from God. For, as
Jesus taught, He who is not with Him is against Him.
However, do not conclude that the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was an evil tree or bad in any way. It was
not, but it was the good creation of our Holy and Righteous God. Most likely it
looked very much like other trees in the Garden. Its fruit was a delight for
the eyes. The only reason the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge brought death was
because God said so, because He attached His Word to the tree and its fruit,
and so its fruit brought death just as the Word of God said it would. Likewise
did the fruit of the Tree of Life give life, because the Word of God said it
would. For, the Word of God is performative and creative, it brings into being
what it says. It was the Word of Creation that brought forth something from
nothing, saying, “Let there be…,” and there was. Likewise, Holy Baptism is what
the Word of the LORD says it is, a lavish washing away of sins, renewal, and
regeneration. And, Holy Absolution really and truly forgives your sins as the
Word of the LORD is spoken, “I forgive you all your sins, in the Name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And, when the Word of the LORD
is spoken over the bread and wine of the Supper, they are what God’s Word says
they are, Jesus’ real and true body and blood, in, with, and under the bread
and wine, for the forgiveness of your sins, the strengthening of your faith,
and the equipping and sending of you for good works in service of your neighbor
to the glory of God.
But, Adam chose the word of the devil
over the Word of God. He chose knowledge that wasn’t given to him, which was truly
nothing but the knowledge that he was no longer holy, that he no longer shared
the mind and will of God, that he who was created for life with God had chosen
for himself death apart from God. And so, it was in a garden on the Mount of
Olives that Judas betrayed Jesus and handed Him over into the hands of those
who desired to kill Him. Jesus had been baptized in the Jordan River where His
Father declared Him to be His beloved Son with whom He is well pleased. Then
the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Jesus overcame Him by standing firm in the Word of God. Having crossed the
Brook Kidron, Jesus prayed in the garden that His Father might spare Him the
cup of His wrath against our sin, but He also prayed that His Father’s will,
and not His own, would be done. And, so, Jesus would go to the Tree of the
Cross, to die for the sins of Adam, and you his children, sin that began from
eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of
Eden.
In His baptism, however, Jesus
sanctified all waters, making them “a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a
washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit.” Jesus is the source of the River
of Life that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb in the Revelation, for
Jesus’ baptism was for you, and for me, and for all humankind, that we might be
baptized into Him, die to our sin, and be raised to new life in Him that cannot
die. As Jesus taught the Samaritan woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks of this
water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give
him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in
him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The waters of Eden, the
Flood, the Red Sea, and the Jordan each prefigure Jesus. The water that flowed
with blood from Jesus’ side on the cross was poured out for you. And, the water
of the River of Life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb in Revelation
is an image of the superabundant grace and glory that is yet to be fully seen,
but which will be revealed when Jesus comes again in glory on the Last Day.
Likewise, the Tree of Life in the Garden prefigured the Tree of the Cross upon
which Jesus would lay down His life for all mankind, for, though the cross was
the instrument of Jesus’ death, through His death He defeated the devil and won
the victory over him, and He was raised from death, the firstfruits of those
who fall asleep and die in Him. The Tree of Life in the Revelation is an image of
the superabundant grace and glory and life that is yet to be fully realized,
but which will be revealed when Jesus comes again in glory on the Last Day and
the dead are raised.
Truly, the LORD utilized many rivers and
trees to show us His providential care and love. Jesus Christ is the
fulfillment of them all, the Water of Life and the True Tree of Life with every
good.
In
the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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