trees

A Christmas tree is so pretty when all lit up. Here's a few things I've shamelessly raided from other websites about Christmas trees:

Tree worship can be traced back to the ancient world. Evergreens and wreaths have been used as symbols of life and rebirth from ancient times.

Bringing greenery into your home during the dark of winter symbolized life in the midst of death.

The Romans decorated their homes with evergreens during the Kalends in January. The Germans brought living trees into their homes during the feast of Yule.

It is believed that the Christmas tree originated in the Paradise Tree which was used in medieval plays about Adam and Eve, and that it symbolized the Garden of Eden. During the 15th Century Germans began to put the tree up on December 24th.



Trees that remain green in the winter have been symbolic of life in the midst of death, and of rebirth, in many cultures.

The Christian folk-religious custom of erecting and adorning evergreen trees in the middle of winter was borrowed directly from existing practice, regardless of whether the custom had pagan roots. Some of the existing meaning has been carried over into Christian culture, together with these practices. On the other hand, trees appear with symbolic meaning throughout the Bible: and the Christmas tree alludes to and builds upon this biblical symbolism.

The Christmas tree symbolizes, in part, the promised "Branch", the Messiah, who must be the "Root of Jesse", the descendant prefigured by Jesse's royal son, David.

The tree symbolizes the human geneaology of Jesus and especially his tie to David's royal line through Solomon, which had been perplexingly cut off by God from ever inheriting the throne, after Jeconiah.

This connection to the cut-off line is symbolized by the cut-down tree, and is indirectly a symbol of the Son of God