"The Unknown Tree"

"The Unknown Tree"

By: Susanna Zeigler

My life began more than two thousand years ago near the city of Jerusalem. There was nothing special about me; I was just one of the many millions of trees growing in Jerusalem and in the world for that matter. My goal in life was to grow up and be big and strong like all the other trees around me. And maybe if I grew straight enough someone might choose me to make a beautiful piece of furniture or build a nice house. I had no lofty goals for my life; I just knew I wanted to be useful, even if it meant standing here my whole life making the world a beautiful place.

At thirty years of age I was every bit the tree I had wanted to be. I was very tall and strong. The winds and storms never brought fear to my heart. My life was going good and I was enjoying it to the fullest. Then one day some Roman slaves came and cut me down. I heard them say I would make a good one. Good for what I did not know, and I did not like this uncertainty. For once, fear was put into my heart. I was taken to a carpenter's shop where he cut part of me off and then nailed that part across my chest. Suddenly I knew my destiny; I was going to be used to hang a criminal that I did not know.

Having lived all my life in Rome, I knew about trees being used for crosses and that was not any trees desire to be in life. When I realized my fate, I was sick. I had never wanted to be a cross. I wanted to be used for something beautiful! I knew there was nothing I could do to change this situation, so I closed my eyes and wept.

After the carpenter had made me into a cross the slaves then took me to Pilate's Hall where the criminal's trial was taking place. As they propped me up against a wall, I caught sight of the criminal I was to hold. Instantly, I became alarmed at whom I saw. It couldn't be, this was no criminal I knew that man. I was standing there on the hill the day he taught the crowd to be merciful, and to be peacemakers. I was standing there the day he healed the blind man and made the lame to walk again. What did these people think calling him a criminal and condemning him to death? My heart was sick I wanted so bad to do something, but I was just a tree. I could not yell out and stop this nonsense; all I could do was lean against the wall and weep.
After the trial was over, I was taken to the innocent man and thrown onto his shoulder. I cringed as my weight hit his beaten and bruised body. I knew he had no strength to carry me, but there was nothing I could do about it.

As we stumbled along the dusty road to Golgotha, the Roman soldiers continued to beat him with a whip. With every blow of the whip, we were both sent hurtling to the ground. I became very angry with these soldiers; couldn't they see the weakened condition of this man and that they were only slowing our progress by continuing to knock him down?
Finally, the soldiers got another man to carry me. I was very relieved because I knew I was adding more burden to Him than He could handle. Our journey picked up pace after this; but it was still a long, hard, and tiring walk. I was in no hurry because I did not want to do this, so the longer it took the better. The whole journey to Golgotha, my heart was breaking more and more. Every time I caught sight of Him, I wanted to scream. His body was a bloody mess, His face and body was ripped to shreds from the beatings he had received at the whipping post. His one eye looked like it had been blinded from the crown of thorns they had placed on his head. I spent the rest of the journey weeping for this man who had never done a wrong thing in his life.

When we got to Golgotha the soldiers did not let up on their torture to the man. They took me from Simon and laid me on the ground. My stomach started churning, because I knew what was next. They took Him and pushed him toward me. It was all he could do to crawl to me and lay his body down. I did everything I knew to make this as easy for Him as possible. From the first time I had seen this Man, I knew he was special and today made me realize that I loved Him. I knew I could not help us both escape from all this, so I figured I would do my best to make Him comfortable.

I could not stop the cruelty of the soldiers. They took His arms and stretched them so hard they popped out of their sockets and then preceded to pound spikes into his hands and right into me. Then they put his feet together and pounded another spike into both of us. They didn't stop there. They took me with my precious burden and pulled me up and over and dropped us to the ground both of our faces hitting the rocks below. And they bent the spikes so they would not come out. Then the fatal moment came! They lifted us back up and we were plunged into the ground.
My life as a tree would never be the same. I had never wanted to be a cross but since I had become one and I knew the man I was holding, my goal was to be the best cross I could be. I never knew that from that day forward the symbol of my life would be the saving place for millions of people. You see the man that I held that day over two thousand years ago was Jesus Christ. Yes, He was innocent but his death was planned long before today. The Jewish people may have convinced Pilate to have Jesus put to death, and the Romans may have been terribly cruel, but this had all been planned long before today. Why? Because man needed a Redeemer, a Savior and there was no other one to fill that position other than Jesus Christ himself. The reason He came to earth was to die an innocent death such as he did so that all people of all races could receive forgiveness from sin and have life eternal.
If you want to know this Man who gave his life for you, then come to me and I will show you the way to Him. The only way to Jesus Christ is through the Cross!

But praise God - He Lives!!