(Yes, I did make this meme specifically for this post)
So yesterday the lectionary readings were based around the fall in the garden of Eden, which reminded me of an excellent quote from Nietzsche, the great(?) German atheist, who ridiculed Christians, saying in his work Twilight of the Idols,
"however much Jewish scholars protested, the Old Testament was supposed to speak of Christ and only of Christ, and especially of his Cross; wherever a piece of wood, a rod, a ladder, a twig, a tree, a willow, a staff is mentioned, it is supposed to be a prophetic allusion to the wood of the Cross; even the erection of the one-horned beast and the brazen serpent, even Moses spreading his arms in prayer, even the spits on which the Passover lamb was roasted all allusions to the Cross and as it were preludes to it!"
What he's trying to say is that the Jews understand the Old Testament better than the Christians do, and while this is patently ridiculous, as clearly seen when comparing many rabbinic interpretations when compared to the wisdom of the apostles (who, may I remind you, were Jewish) given to them by the Holy Ghost, but the statement itself simply opens up a rabbit hole, and I want to give an analysis of a bunch of biblical scenes where trees/wood/staves/etc. were involved and show how they point to Christ crucified.
Starting with the passage from the day, we see the tree of life. This is one of the oldest anaolgies here, since Genesis is simply such a popular book. So first, we must remember that Christ calls Himself the "true vine" which we are all grafted into so that we may bear fruit, and in the same book, he calls Himself "the...Life" and says that His flesh is life-giving food. In this way, we see the cross as the tree upon which hangs the fruit that grants immortality to all men, which we also feast on in the sacrament of Holy Communion. This is why St. Ignatius called the Supper the "elixir of immortality," a common theme in many mythologies like with Ambrosia for the Greeks or the apples of Idunn for the Norse, because in it, we partake in the fulfillment of all mythology and prophecy which gives us eternal life in the unity of our flesh with that of our Lord's.
Another excellent one which I will skip over is the serpent hanging on the pole, which our Lord wonderfully reveals to us in John 3:14-15, but the skeptic's example of Moses' outstretched arms is certainly relevant as well. The scene is found in Exodus 17:8-16, but to recap, the Amalekites (who were giants, see this related post) attacked Israel as they were at the mountain of God, and during the battle, Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up on a nearby hill. Whenever Moses' arms were outstretched, the Israelites started winning, but when his arms tired and he dropped them, they would start to lose. Once Moses' arms grew so heavy he couldn't hold them any longer, Aaron and Hur held up his arms and Israel prevailed over the wicked giant clan. In this way, we see Moses' outstretched arms as a type for Christ's, which were outstretched on the cross, and in this is the victory for the Church, the new and glorious Israel. This is also why the symbol for blessing in the liturgy often involves the outstretching of one's hands, because through the priest, our Lord gives us His grace. But that's not even the end of it! In the Hebrew, the names Aaron and Hur are insignificant, but if we look at the Septuagint, their names are Ααρών and Ωρ respectively. Did you catch that? Their names begin with Α and Ω, the Greek letters alpha and omega! (I swear I originally read this in Chrysostom, but I can't find the source anywhere) So when we see Moses' arms outstretched and held up by the alpha and omega, we are pointed forward to Christ, the true alpha and omega, who outstretches His own arms, regardless of the pain, so that we may be saved.
A neat point that I had never thought of was that the (presumed, since it isn't mandated) wooden spit used for roasting (which was required) of the passover lamb points to the wooden cross on which Christ suffered the fires of hell, also mirrored in the deaths of the martyrs by burning at the stake. What's more, if you look at the mishnas (some 2nd-temple Jewish sacred texts), the stakes were required to be made of pomegranate wood specifically. This is fascinating, because some have theorized that the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, as well as possibly the tree of life's fruit, was a pomegranate, as is also seen in the later Greek story of Persephone in the underworld. In this way, we see the lamb as suffering on the tree which man was punished for partaking in, just as Christ was punished on our behalf, and yet that same tree is used as the new tree of live which gives salvation to all mankind.
Now, the only other one Nietzsche referenced was the creation of a one-horned idol, but I'm not sure what he was referring to and couldn't find anything on it, so I'll just move on to ones that he left out, starting with the various staves. The first one is in the story of Judah and Tamar, where Judah, who is the son from which Christ is eventually born, gives Tamar his signet ring, cord, and staff as a pledge to return with blessings for the woman. Later, being accused (rightfully, to be fair) of infidelity, she then invokes these same gifts in order to save her life from being burned alive. In this way, we see the gift of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14 say this clearly), but most notably for our purposes, the cross as an oath from Christ Himself promising His return and saving us from the fires of hell.
The staff of his father Israel, seen later, is also significant. When he moved to the land of Goshen, he made Joseph swear not to bury him in Egypt but in the cave of Machpelah with Abraham and Sarah, and the text says, "And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his staff.' (Gen 47:31). St. Paul (yeah, I said what I said) picked this up in the epistle to the Hebrews when he says, "'By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.' (Heb 11:21) Why would St. Paul say this? What does this have to do with anything? Well, this is an image of the Christian life, where we walk with the cross as our support and revere the cross of Christ as the place of our salvation and the place from which we go on to bless others.
The staff of Moses is also significant for some of the specific miracles it involves. It turning into a serpent that eats the other serpents of Pharaoh signifies the fact that Christ defeated death by His death on the wooden cross, and his turning the Nile to blood signifies Christ's blood and water flowing from His side. Also, we see that these numerous miracles, all often done with the raising of Moses' staff, were done in judgement to the gods of the Egyptians (Ex 12:12), and this parallel's Christ's defeat of the demons by His death on the cross. It's also significant that this raising of the staff was involved with the crossing of the red sea, because it is only by the cross of Christ that grace is imparted to us in baptism (1 Cor 10:1-2). The final scene with Moses, which may be my favorite, is at the waters of Meribah. So after the crossing of the red sea, the Israelites came upon a place to drink water called Marah, but the water was bitter and undrinkable, but after Moses prayed, the Lord showed him a log that he threw into the water which made it sweet and drinkable. And in this, we see the watery grave which we are all bound for, but Christ's cross sanctifies the bitter waters and makes them sweet and good to drink.
So with all this, let us continue in this Lenten season to ponder the cross of Christ, which is the world's salvation. Amen.
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