The origin of the custom of setting up a Christmas tree is usually associated with Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation who lived in Germany. The legend is that Martin Luther saw ice sparkling on a tree in the forest under a beautiful, starlit sky and was so moved that he wanted to create the same effect with candles. He saw the tree and the lights as being an expression of the stars shining on Earth and a reminder that the Father sent Jesus to be the Light of the World.
The custom of the Christmas tree may have come, however, from the “Paradise Tree,” which was part of a play about Adam and Eve held in medieval Germany. The “Paradise Tree” was an evergreen decorated with apples. Evergreen trees are special as they don’t lose their leaves in autumn. The sap which gives life is always flowing in them.
The first Christmas trees in America were set up by German soldiers who were hired by the British to fight against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. The custom of setting up a tree, however, did not become established until the 1800’s. Early trees in America were often decorated with strings of popcorn and cranberries and homemade cookies. Another way of looking at the Christmas tree is to see it as a foretelling of the cross. In Scripture it refers to Jesus being hung on a tree when he was crucified.
A Christmas tree at Christmas
everywhere is found.
In homes and stores around the world
Christmas trees abound.
At Christmas we should stop and think
just what the tree does mean,
And why a Christmas tree
is a type of evergreen.
While other trees drop their leaves,
appearing old and dead,
Each and every evergreen
their needles do not shed.
In the dead of winter
they are able still to thrive;
This serves as a reminder
that in Christ we stay alive.
Through a snowy forest
Martin Luther walked one night.
The stars were shining down from high;
the forest sparkled bright.
It reminded Luther of God’s love
and everythings he’s done,
In sending to the earth to us
his one and only Son.
The vision of those sparkling stars
on that winter night,
Served as a reminder
Christ turns darkness into light.
It is said through Luther’s vision
a custom came to be,
Of hanging lighted candles
upon a Christmas tree.
The tree can also symbolize
the cross on which Christ hung.
By dying on that wooden cross,
the Father’s will was done.
He died so that the Father
would forgive us all our sin.
And even when rejected,
his love it has no end.
So as you decorate a tree,
and hang an ornament up high,
Remember Jesus loves you
and that’s why he came to die.
He brings us everlasting life
so we can live with him.
Heaven is our destiny,
through Christ we enter in.
And like the bright lights hanging
upon a Christmas tree,
The light of Jesus in us
we’ll reflect so others see.
To give off light we, too,
must be plugged in to a source.
It is Jesus living in us
that keeps us on his course.
So when you gaze upon the lights
and the tree so evergreen,
Remember to connect to Christ,
so through you he’ll be seen.
His love flowing in you
causes you to grow and thrive
And like a verdant evergreen
in Christ you stay alive.