The tree of life?

[Lowly_Servant]

Just a thought…

The Tree of Life = the cross?
The fruit on the Tree of Life = Jesus (Eucharist)?

Could the fruit on the tree of life be the Eucharist?

Jhn 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
Jhn 6:48 I am the bread of life.
Jhn 6:49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
Jhn 6:50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die.
Jhn 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Jhn 6:52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jhn 6:53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; Jhn 6:54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Jhn 6:55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Jhn 6:56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
Jhn 6:57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.
Jhn 6:58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.”

Luk 1:42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

 

[AgnosTheist]

The tree of life was supposedly located in the garden of eden.

 

[Lowly_Servant]

The tree of life was supposedly located in the garden of eden.

Thank you. I understand that, but I was trying to draw a parallel.

 

[Cari]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the cross Jesus was crucified on was made from the wood of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I don’t know if theological scholars have weighed in on this one, but it’s another interesting dimension to your theory.

 

[beckycmarie]

The tree of life was supposedly located in the garden of eden.

I thought that was the tree of knowledge.

Cari that is an interesting theory about the tree of knowledge and wood of the cross. Sounds like something Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich would have said, but I don’t know that for sure. I remember reading that she said the cross was placed in the ground over the spot where Adam was buried.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Just a thought…

The Tree of Life = the cross?
The fruit on the Tree of Life = Jesus (Eucharist)?

Could the fruit on the tree of life be the Eucharist?

Lowly Servant, you’re actually right on target.

Mary is known as the “New Eve,” because by Mary’s obedience in giving the world its Savior, she helped undo the evil done by Eve’s disobedience. Here is a 15th century book illustration (“Mary and Eve under the Tree of the Fall,” attributed to B. Furthmeyr, dated 1481) showing exactly the parallel you are making.

In this picture, you see Eve feeding the forbidden fruit of the tree to the followers of Satan, while Mary feeds the Fruit of the Tree of the Cross (her Son, Jesus, in the Eucharist) to the followers of Christ.

http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/images2/neweve1.jpg

 

[PhilotheaZ]

Just a thought…

The Tree of Life = the cross?
The fruit on the Tree of Life = Jesus (Eucharist)?

Could the fruit on the tree of life be the Eucharist?

Lowly Servant, you’re actually right on target.

Mary is known as the “New Eve,” because by Mary’s obedience in giving the world its Savior (Jesus, the New Adam), she helped undo the evil done by Eve’s disobedience. There have been many comparisons made between the tree in the Garden of Eden and the Tree of the Cross. On this web page campus.udayton.edu/mary//meditations/neweve.html (the image was too large to paste here) is a 15th century book illustration (“Mary and Eve under the Tree of the Fall,” attributed to B. Furthmeyr, dated 1481) showing exactly the parallel you are making.

In this picture, you see Eve feeding the forbidden fruit of the tree to the followers of Satan, while Mary feeds the Fruit of the Tree of the Cross (her Son, Jesus, in the Eucharist) to the followers of Christ.

 

[Muzhik]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the cross Jesus was crucified on was made from the wood of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I don’t know if theological scholars have weighed in on this one, but it’s another interesting dimension to your theory.

That comes from one of the apocryphal writings that didn’t make it into scripture. The tree of knowledge of good and evil grew from one tree into a forest. It was the wood of this forest that was used by Noah to make the ark. It had the property of still being “alive” after being cut and sawed, so the planks would grow together after being nailed together, making the ark very sound. After the ark landed, the wood continued to plant roots and grow into a new forest. A Roman expedition came across the forest. They had never seen wood like this before and cut some of the wood to take back with them, along with some very old nails they found in some of the trees. They stopped in Jerusalem on their way back to Rome, arriving just at the Jewish feast of Passover. There was to be an unscheduled execution, and there was no wood to make a proper cross, so the local garrison used the wood that the expedition brought back, along with the nails, to execute this rabbi that was causing so much trouble.

Also, the tree of life was also part of the Garden of Eden; however, Adam and Eve were not forbidden to eat that fruit until after they had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

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[fhansen]

I think a case could be made that God, Himself, is the Tree of Life since Adam & Eve were banned from eating of it and He is the source of our life whose grace and presence we were cut off from at the fall. Then, in Revelation 2:7, we’re told, “…to him who overcomes is granted the right to eat of the Tree of Life” and this could be Jesus, the Lord and God of all, who won us the right again to eat of the Tree of Life, Himself, by partaking in His body and blood.