OUR DAILY BREAD : THE TREE OF LOVE

[cimi]

SATURDAY APRIL 4


THE TREE OF LOVE

READ:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
1 Peter 2:24
[Jesus] bore our
sins in His own
body on the
tree.
______________________________________________________________________________________
The corkscrew willow tree stood vigil over our backyard for more than 20 years. It shaded all four of our children as they played in the yard, and it provided shelter for the neighborhood squirrels. But when springtime came and the tree didn't awaken from its winter slumber, it was time to bring it down.

Every day for a week I worked on that tree__first to fell it and then to chop two decades of growth into manageable pieces. It gave me a lot of time to think about trees.

I thought about the first tree__the one on which hung the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve just couldn't resist (GEN 3:6). God used that tree to test their loyalty and trust. Then there's the tree in Psalm 1 that reminds us of the fruitfulness of godly living. And in Proverbs 3:18, wisdom is personified as a tree of life.

But it is a transplanted tree that is most important__the crude cross of Calvary that was hewn from a sturdy tree. There our Savior hung between heaven ad earth to bear every sin of every generation on His shoulders. It stands above all trees as a symbol of love, sacrifice, and salvation.

At Calvary, God's only Son suffered a horrible death on a cross. That's the tree of life for us.

**Father, on this day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we're grateful
for the cross and for Your Son who gave His life so that we might have life.
Thank You. _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

**********************************Today's Bible Reading __ Matthew 27:27-35*****************************
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the
Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around
Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on
Him. 29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns they
put it on His head, and a reed on His right hand. And they
bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail
King of the Jews!" 30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed
and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked
Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him,
and led Him away to be crucified.

32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon
by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. 33 and when
they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place
of a Skull, 34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to
drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. 35 Then
they crucified him, and divided his garments, casting lots,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet:

"They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing
they cast lots."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The "garrison" of Roman troops mentioned in verse 27 is a detail that adds
to our understanding of the events surrounding Christ's death. Mark's account of
the same event translates the word as cohort (15:16). Garrison or cohort was
a Roman military term that described a company of soldiers
consisting of at least 200 and perhaps as many as 600 men. The
same Greek word is used in John 18:3 when a "detachment of
troops" comes to arrest Jesus in the garden. Imagine, possibly
hundreds of men were sent to arrest Jesus and hundreds gathered
around Him when He was tormented.