The Cross Of Christ

Lesson Fourteen - The Crucifixion Tree

TEXT: "And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree...." Acts 13:29 (KJV)

    The traditional crucifixion scene depicts three Roman crosses: Messiah in the middle and a criminal on either side. However, nowhere does Scripture state there were three Roman crosses. God's design in the death of Messiah is so unique so to point man to the only true Messiah. As God designed prophetic pictures and patterns to reveal Messiah to us, He also gave His word for man to understand their meaning and spiritual significance. Deep study of Scripture, with the Spirit of Truth to bring understanding, reveals God's beautiful and precise plan for all humanity.

        Knowing who are Creator is and what our Messiah-Saviour has done for us is a solid foundation of truth, not blind faith. Total trust in God comes from knowing who He is and what He has done for us. The  greater our understanding, the greater our trust will be and the closer our personal relationship with Him will be. This is not about a legalistic view of what happened on Calvary. We merely seek to strive to gain a deeper understanding of the prophetic fulfillment of the crucifixion. There are three elements of the prophetic fulfillment of the work of Christ we wish to look at in this study lesson - the actual crucifixion site, the timing of the crucifixion and the means of redemption.

       To look at the work of Yeshua through Hebraic/Messianic eyes is to reveal a picture of glory and hope for all mankind and see the Truth about our Lord's finished work on the Cross. In those terms - this is most important to grasp for sure.

The New Covenant And The Tree

    The traditional concept of three Roman crosses is not supported by Scripture. Certain versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NIV, translate the following scriptures referring to a crucifixion "TREE."

Acts 5:30
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

Acts 10:39
And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

Acts 13:29
And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulcher.

Galatians 3:13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
 

    The Greek word xulou is translated "tree" in each of the above passages. The Greek word refers to a living tree, not a Roman cross. Even as Yeshua (JESUS) was going to His crucifixion, He made a direct reference to this act being carried out "when the tree is green," which means in the Greek, "full of sap," such a tree is clearly living.

Luke 23:31
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

        One will certainly ask, "what about the 'cross' Simon had to carry for Yeshua to the crucifixion site?" In actuality this beam was not a Roman cross but rather a cross bar that was nailed to the crucifixoin tree. It was to this plank of wood that Yeshua was nailed at the wrists. The traditional depiction, showing nails through the hands, is a physical impossiblity because the weight of the body would cause the nails to tear through the hands. The crossbar was then nailed to the tree, and finally, nails were drivien through the ankles into the tree trunks.

    Other translations where it is translated "cross," is actually translated "upright pole," or "stake." It refers to a crossbar.

Luke 23:26
And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross (crossbar), that he might bear it after Jesus.

    The height of the tree trunk to which Yeshua was crucified can be estimated from the length of the hyssop branch, upon which a sponge soaked in sour wine was offered. As the reed was most likely three feet in length, the height of the tree trunk was probably seven to nine feet. Another interesting passage which leads to another aspect of the crucifixion is found in John 19:31:

John 19:31
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

        Notice the word, "bodies," plural whereas the word, "cross," is singluar. The word "cross" here is "stauros," translated "cross," which refers to the tree with three attached crossbars.

    Scripture indicates that the two criminals were cruficied to Yeshua's right and left. However, no where does it state they were on separate crosses. Suddently the picture is cleaer to us: Yeshua and the two men were crucified on the same tree! One man was crucified on His right side, and the other man was crucified on His left side. The symbolic picture represented by this arrangement is truly significant and will dealt with later in this journal.

    In such close proximity, it was possible for these men to speak to each other, in spite of their great agony. Now we can clearly visulaize how the soldiers broke the legs of the condemned men; first by going to one criminal, then to the other criminal, and lastly to Yeshua, as they walked around the tree.

    You are asking I'm sure, "WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?" Because it's yet another issue where the Gentile church has taken something very Jewish and turned it into something Catholic and wrong! The stigma of a cross was used in past history by Constantine and Hitler both to advance ungodly agendas against the Jewish race. Hitler espeically used the cross symbol to justify his demonic and treacherous murdering six million Jewish people. As a result it's that much ahrder today to witness to a jewish person about Christ.

    Believing Yeshua was crucified on a tree is not the requirement for salvation, Faith in the WORK he accomplished IS. This is just one of those food for though journals givne to help you understand a little more about the crucifixion and how it may actually have occured.

    In relation to the death of Christ, Rabbi Paul says in Galatians, "cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." This is a direct reference to Deuteronomy 21:22-23:

Deut. 21:22-23
And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: [23] His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Galatians 3:13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

    A controversy existed among the rabbi Pharisees to whether this passage refers to a man being hanged on a tree before, or after, death. The rabbinic interpretation was based upon humane considerations and called for a quick death by strangulation, followed by hanging. Accoridng to Rabbinc tradition in the Temple Scroll (Column 64) those found guilty of certain capital offenses were killed by hanging on a tree:

If a man informs against his people, and delivers up his people to a foreign nation, and does harm to his people, you shall hang him on a tree and he shall die...And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death, and has defected into the midst of the nations, and has cursed his people and the children of Israel, you shall hang him also on the tree, and he shall die.

    Accroding to the Sages, only blasphemers and idolaters were to be hanged on a tree, though they were abided by the more humane act of hanging after death. However the TEmple Scroll shows that hanging could be used as the method of execution. Crucifixion, as a form of hanging, was also practiced later in Israel's history. According to Josephus, the Hasmonean king, Alexander Jannaeus, crucified 800 rebellious Pharisees in the first century B.C.E. WIth this understanding, it becomes clear what the Jewish leaders meant when they told Pliate that they had a law and by that law He must die.

John 19:7
The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
 

    Pilate washed his hands of the whole affair because he knew Yeshua was innocent of any charge. He then turned the matter over to the religious leaders and stated, "See to it yourselves." (Matthew 27:24). Their response indicates they understood Pilate's action according to their own Jewish law, whereby Pilate absolved himself of any responsibility for the murder of an innocent man (Deut. 21:1-9). In this way, Yeshua fulfilled prophecy according to the Jewish law, not Roman law.

Deut. 21:1-9
If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: [2] Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: [3] And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; [4] And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley: [5] And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: [6] And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: [7] And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. [8] Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them. [9] So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

Matthew 5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Matthew 26:54
But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

    Melito, the eiminent Bishop of Sardis during the second century, referred to the tree as the instrument of cruficixion: "Just as from a tree came sin, so also from a tree comes salvation." Apparently, early Christians were aware of the fact that Yeshua was crucified on a tree. It is also a matter of historical record that before 326 C.E. the cross did not exist as a Christian symbol, but was derived in many circles from paganism.

    The overwhelming evidence in support of the tree, rather than the cross, open the door to making a profound connection between the crucifixion tree and the Tree of Life. The Greek word, "xulou," was used to refer to the crucifixion tree. In contrast, the Greek word, "dendron," which refers to a living tree primarily known for its fruit, was never used in this way. The same Greek word used for "cross," in the New Covenant account of Messiah's death, is used to refer to the Tree of Life in the book of Revelation!:

Rev. 2:7
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev. 22:2
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Rev. 22:14
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Rev. 22:19
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
 

    It is an unmistakable link both symbolically and prophetically between the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden and the crucifixion tree on the Mount of Olives. Yeshua was the ultimate sin sacrifice. The sin of man separates him from a spiritual relationship with the Heavenly Father. God made provision for reestablishing that spiritual relationship through blood sacrifice because the penalty for sin is death and life is in the blood:

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Leviticus 17:11
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.