“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Galatians 3:13 (NLT)
Before fancy, imported plastic conifers were all the rage, Christmas preparations at home always included a large Casuarina Christmas tree. Growing up, I would wait eagerly for the Christmas week so that we could head out to the ‘instant’ pavement shops on street corners where they were sold. We would haggle for a good bargain and then head home with the biggest and bushiest tree we could find. We had to wait until just a few days before Christmas day to get the tree, and this was because the dry humid weather of the South would wither out the pines within just a couple of days.
As we offloaded the Christmas tree from the auto-rickshaw, our neighbours and their kids would gather around to peer and giggle, as they looked in awe at it. Soon, all our little playmates would come home to help decorate the tree. Blowing balloons and sticking cotton on the branches we hung up our cardboard, and paper ornaments, intermittently stepping back to admire our creation. This curious-looking conifer was the most ‘beautiful’ sight we had ever seen, and we simply loved whiffing the ‘smell of Christmas.’
Despite the debatable origins of the Christmas tree tradition, the tree of Calvary is the one ‘tree,’ which has a purpose and beauty that remains undebatable. Its beauty was not because of the ornaments that were hung there, but because of the One who was hung on it – Jesus, the Son of God. Christ took upon Himself the curse of all mankind. Our sins and our failures were nailed with Him on Calvary’s tree, and because He was cursed, we are now blessed. He was born for us, He died for us, and He is coming back for us. All He wants of us is for us to live for Him.
Dear Father, help me to look beyond the excitement of the twinkling lights and Christmas trees. Please help me to gaze at the beauty of Calvary. Amen.
– Rebekah Vijayan
