CHAPTER 2
THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
One day as I was soaking up some sun through my leaves I noticed a man walking up the trail below which lead to the top of the Mount of Olives. The trail He was walking up passed right by me so I watched Him as He grew nearer and nearer. He seemed to be talking to someone, but I did not see anyone with Him.
He looked no different than any other man I had seen before, but I soon felt that there was something different about this man. The closer He came, the more I sensed there was something special about Him.
I didn’t know who this man was, but I felt something was happening inside me. Every part of me from my deepest roots to the tips of my longest branches felt a strange, but wonderful sensation. The closer He came, the more my branches seemed to bow down in honor to Him. I did not understand what was happening, but I knew that this man’s presence was giving me a peaceful warm feeling inside.
He walked up under the shade of my branches, which seemed to be bowing down to Him even more. Then He kneeled down in front of one of the rocks which lay beneath my shade. He folded His hands in front of Him and lifted up His eyes toward Heaven and began to pray to the Creator.
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard Him say, “Father in Heaven I thank you that your mercy endures forever, and that you love me YOUR ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.” “Am I hearing things?” I thought. “This man is calling God His Father-– -no man has ever called God his Father! “Who is this man? Why did He call God His Father?” I wondered. I didn’t know God had any sons.
I couldn’t understand how a man could call God his Father. I had heard other men who had visited the mountain say that all me were sinners by nature and that God’s nature was contrary to sinners. Yet, this man called God his Father. “How could God have a Son who was a sinner?” I thought. I was very confused.
After a couple of hours had passed by the man finished praying, lifted Himself back up off His knees, and walked back down the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain I saw a large crowd of people who seemed to be anxiously waiting for Him to return.
I watched intently as I witnessed Him healing people and casting out demons among the people in the crowd below. He performed wonderous miracles and signs among the people. After a while the crowd dispersed, and I saw this man leave the area with twelve other men.
The things I had seen, heard and felt puzzled me. For days I thought about what had transpired the day I first saw Him praying by the rock underneath my branches. “Was God really His Father?” I questioned. I wondered and pondered what it was that made me feel the way I did when He passed my way, and how I felt when I heard Him pray to God.
As the days went by, I wondered if and when I would encounter this amazing and unique one of a kind man again. Then one day as I was preparing for my morning sun bath, I started feeling that same peaceful and loving sensation I had felt a few days earlier. I became so excited I started to forget about the bitterness I had toward mankind. All I could feel was great anticipation and expectation that I may be seeing Him again.
I looked down the trail, and there He was, walking up the mountain again. As He came closer great billows of peace and love filled my branches and they bowed down in honor to Him. My leaves felt a great sensation as a soft wind blew gently among them. My branches swayed in the gentle wind of the Spirit which seemed to emanate from His awesome presence. I could hardly contain myself this time as my leaves and branches seemed to bow down lower and lower as He drew closer and closer to me.
I couldn’t explain it, but one thing I did know was that whenever He came around love would flow through my leaves and branches as a gentle wind blew upon me. It reminded me of the feelings I had before I became bitter when all the trees on the mountain would cry out in praise to their Creator. I had heard them singing out to Him since then, but I could not feel anything but a deadness within me.
As He drew nearer, again He approached the rock which rested nearby and He kneeled down and prayed. This time He lifted up His eyes toward Heaven and said: “FATHER I THANK YOU THAT YOUR SPIRIT IS UPON ME BECAUSE YOU HAVE ANNOINTED ME TO PREACH GOOD TIDING TO THE MEEK; AND THAT YOU HAVE SENT ME TO BIND UP THE BROKEN HEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, AND TO OPEN THE PRISONS OF THOSE WHO ARE BOUND. TO APPOINT UNTO THEM THAT MOURN IN ZION, TO GIVE THEM BEAUTY FOR ASHES, THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING, THE GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS, THAT THEY MAY BE CALLED---TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS---THE PLANTING OF THE LORD, THAT YOU MAY BE GLORIFIED.”
I was astonished at the words He had spoken. I had never heard such words before. I then wondered what this all meant, and why He was praying in such a manner. He was still calling God His Father and this time He claimed that God’s Spirit was upon Him.
This time He even said something about “trees.” He called them, “TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.” “Could He have been talking about me?” I questioned. Could God be that interested in trees? I then remembered that my father told me once that trees were symbolic of man, and that wood represented man in the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. I surmised that He must have been talking about men and not trees like me and my family.
A few days passed and I saw Him climbing the mountain again. The same feelings I had experienced before were rising within me, yet this time I was filled with mixed emotions. If He was the Son of God, why was He coming to pray beneath my shade? After all, I am just a lowly tree who had many of my fruit bearing branches broken off.
I was one of the worst sinners of all the trees on the mountain. My deep rooted bitterness had made me look ugly and my trunk and branches had become gnarled and dry. My branches didn’t produce fruit anymore, and even the ground around me had become hard and dry. I had refused to let the water which fell from heaven enter my roots which God had planted in the ground beneath me.
“Why did He choose me to pray under?” I questioned. “The tree standing in the spot next to me provided much more shade and was much stronger and more beautiful than I,” I thought. I had rejected the wisdom of my father and had become bitter against all the people who had hurt me, cut on me and broken off my branches. Now after seeing this man I was feeling sorry for the way I had treated others and how I had rejected the counsel of my father.
I hoped He didn’t know what a bitter tree I had become, but I had a hard time trying to disguise the mixed emotions I was feeling. Somehow I knew all He had to do was look at the condition I was in and see that I was good for nothing anymore except to be cut up and placed in the fire to be burned. I was just as dead as many others who had been cut down and burned in the fire. Yes, I still had a few leaves left on me, but they two were slowly drying up like the rest of me.
Nevertheless, I was somewhat thrilled and excited to see Him again. This time the man who called God His father brought twelve men with Him. I had seen Him with these men on several occasions at the foot of the mountain. I heard Him call them His Disciples. I didn’t understand what a Disciple was, but I was hoping I would soon find out.
As they came closer, I forgot about all the negative emotions and feelings of failure and sorrow I was experiencing. My heart was racing again and the feelings of love and peace were returning. “Maybe I could become a Disciple one day?” I hoped. That way I could follow Him wherever He went and I could always feel that peace and joy I experienced whenever He was near. Then I remembered I was just a dying tree who was stuck in the ground I was standing on.
The man who called God His Father and the Disciples all knelt down and prayed under my branches for a while. Then they all listened as He taught them many things about His Father. They finished with a prayer then they all travelled back down the mountain to the valley below.
I still wondered why He would stop under such an ugly tree like me when there were so many other trees on the mountain who were much more beautiful and vibrant than I was. “Why me?” I questioned. Sometimes I would dream that He would look at me and see me as a beautiful tree, full of life and grace. However, those were only fleeting moments because shame and discouragement would always rise up within me. Especially, after He had left and gone back down the mountain.
I would remember all the scars on my torso, the broken branches and the withering leaves. My roots had all but dried up. When He wasn’t there, all I felt was the same deadness I had experienced since I had become bitter and rejected the counsel of my father.
Even though I loved being in His presence, I felt so unworthy to have Him rest under my branches. I would look again and again at my scars and hoped He couldn’t see them. I couldn’t help but feel ashamed at times when He was near. He brought so many different emotions to the surface in me.
Sometimes I would watch Him for hours as He preached and prayed for people in the valley below. Thousands of people would come to hear Him teach about God and the Prophets of Old. I thought to myself: “They must surely feel that same love and peace that I feel when I am in His presence.”
Sometimes I could hear the sound of His voice echoing from the valley below telling the people about the Love of God. Once I heard Him say that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Begotten Son, and whoever believed in Him would receive Everlasting Life. I really didn’t understand much of what He was talking about though.
I am sure that if I could have heard everything He said I might have understood more of what He was saying at that time. You know I even began wondering back then if God could really be His Father. But, I restrained myself from getting too radical about God. After all, all I had to do was look at myself and see I was not worthy to be someone God could love.