Even though we call it a Christmas tree, for most in our nation it goes up for most of us during the Advent Season, or even before Thanksgiving. There are a lot of different legends about the origin of using a tree at Christmas. Medieval German Paradise Plays would use a fir tree decorated with apples to represent the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Later other ornaments were hung upon them, such as paper flowers and gilded nuts. In England branches or whole trees were forced into bloom indoors for Christmas. From these beginnings the use of a tree at Christmas was established. Most Christmas trees are EVERGREENS, again symbolizing eternal life.
In Germany, the Christmas tree would not be brought into the house until Christmas Eve, and then decorated and lit the next day.
There is an unsubstantiated story that on one Christmas Eve Martin Luther wandered outdoors and became enraptured with the beauty of the starry sky. Its brilliance and beauty led him to reflect on the glory of the first Christmas Eve as seen in Bethlehem. Wishing to share with his wife and children the enchantment he had felt, he cut an evergreen from the forest, glistening with snow, and took it home. He placed candles on it to represent the stars he had seen. The use of a candle-lighted tree spread to all Europe, and then America came to regard it as the standard Christmas decoration.
There is an old carol that points us to the Christmas Tree.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!
How lovely are your branches!
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!
How lovely are your branches!
They’re green when summer days are bright;
They’re green when winter snow is white.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!
How lovely are your branches!
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blatter!
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blatter!
Du gršnst nich nur zur Sommerzeit,
Nein, auch in Winter wenn es schneit.
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blatter!
One of my favorite illustrations about the Christmas Tree came from Johnny Hart in his B.C. comic strip. I’ve included it with this devotion as a reminder that the tree is pointing us to the cross of Jesus Christ and what He did for all people there.
