03-27-22 “What is the purpose of a tree?”

Scripture    Mark 11:12-25
What is the purpose of a tree?”
We just had a bunch of trees cut down at Put-in-Bay (video maybe)

Purpose of a tree: (help erosion, provide oxygen, shade, home for birds and other animals, fashioned for human homes, tables, chairs, shelves, etc.) Maple – Syrup, Apple, Lemon, etc.

Biblically speaking – trees are associated with many Bible characters:
Noah received the olive branch (see Genesis 8:11).
Abraham sat under the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1).
Moses stood barefoot in front of the burning bush (Exodus 3:2–5).
Joseph appears to be an exception, but Genesis says that Joseph simply is a tree.
Zacchaeus climbed the sycamore fig (Luke 19:1-4).
The blind man saw people as if they were trees walking (Mark 8:24).
The disciples gathered on the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39).
The apostle Paul asserted that if we have gone for a walk in the woods we are without excuse for knowing God (Romans 1:20). Paul also wrote that Christians are like branches grafted in.
 
          Trees serve as tangible resources but also as objects to teach us about life:
VIDEO “Purpose in a tree”  (After video – RAISE SCREEN – till song at end)
 
Gen 2:9 And 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.
 
1)    The Tree of life
2)    The tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil
 
3)    The tree which gave the wood to sacrifice Isaac
 
4)    The fig Tree (withered)
Mark 11:12-25
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.
          15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"
          18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
          19 When evening came, they went out of the city.
          20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!" "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
 
          The religious Jews are the fig tree – LEAVES WITH NO FRUIT!
You will know them by their fruit – Matt 7:18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Gal 3:10-13  All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."  Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
 
5)    Olive Trees in the garden of Gethsemane
6)    The tree that became the cross
7)    The Tree of life in heaven
Rev 22:1-3  Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse.
 
          The cross on earth became the tree of life in heaven. Heaven guarded the way to the tree of life on earth; now heaven came to earth in Christ to die here on a tree to make a way for us to receive the tree of eternal life in heaven.