The Tree of Life
By: Daniel Adams
Luke 24:30-31 (AMP) 30 And it occurred that as He reclined at table with them, He took [a loaf of] bread and praised [God] and gave thanks and asked a blessing, and then broke it and was giving it to them 31 When their eyes were [instantly] opened and they [clearly] recognized Him, and He vanished (departed invisibly).
After Jesus resurrected he partook of the holy Communion with the two disciples at the village of Emmaus. Imagine what an honor this must have been to break bread with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The early church honored communion so much that they partook in communion every week. The book of Acts tells us that the disciples “came together to break bread” on “the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7). If it was this important to the early church, then it should be important to us today as well.
When God made Adam and Eve, He placed two trees in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God wanted their spiritual eyes to be opened by the Tree of Life, but instead, they partook of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and their eyes were opened to see their inadequacy and nakedness. Their eyes were opened to see their failures and shortcomings, their lack and their inadequacies, their sin and their shame. This separated them from God.
When our Lord Jesus came, he restored all that was lost in that garden. I believe when He broke bread for the two disciples, He was letting them eat from the Tree of Life, the tree that God had wanted man to eat from originally. Jesus is the Tree of Life, and when we partake of His broken body, we are partaking of the Tree of Life.
The moment the two disciples took the bread, their eyes were opened, and they knew the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul also prayed that our eyes may be opened, that we may see Jesus as He is, and that we may truly have a revelation of how much He loves us.
It's impossible to partake of the life of Christ without being infused and energized with the resurrection life of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Today we can rejoice because that same resurrection life flows into our bodies every time we partake of the Lord’s Supper by faith.
After Adam and Eve sinned, their hearts became cold with fear, and they hid when they heard the voice of God in the garden. But as the resurrected Christ walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, their hearts burned with the fire of God's, and they wanted to stay longer in His presence.
Jesus Christ has restored our relationship with God which was broken and lost when Adam and Eve fell. He removed the guilt and shame by paying the price of our sins with His own blood on the cross. Whatever challenges come our way, we can have the confidence that He is for us, and if He is for us, who can be against us?
Confession: As a child of God, Jesus has paid the price for my sins and made a way for me to have eternal life. Today I receive the life of Christ by faith. I am being energized by the Holy Spirit today in the mighty name of Jesus!
