From Paradise Trees to Christmas Trees

Where do Christmas trees come from? Or, since we know they come from the forest (or farm), a better question might be: Why do we decorate our homes with evergreen trees (or replicas of them) in the days leading up to Christmas?

There are lots of stops on the historical train ride of myths and facts that make up the origin story of the Christmas tree. Much of the speculation--including the myth about Martin Luther setting up the first one--has no basis in fact. We know that Romans brought tree branches into their homes in the wintertime. It's also clear that folks in northern Europe were decorating trees when Christian missionaries arrived there in the early centuries of the first millennium. But the clear historical link between decorated evergreen trees and the celebration of Christmas is difficult to pin down.

So let me add a bit to the myth-making by sharing one possible answer: the paradise tree. In medieval Europe most people did not learn about the Bible from reading it. Even if someone was among the small elite group of literate folks, books were expensive and rare. People instead learned about the main stories of the scriptures through miracle plays that enacted the major parts of the story. These plays, often performed on December 24th, began with the first chapters of Genesis, starting with Adam and Eve and their unfortunate encounter with the serpent and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The performing troupe would bring along a real tree, decorated with fruit, as a prop for the actors. Later in the play, as the history of salvation proceeded through the time of Moses and the prophets, the tree would take on other functions until the plot reached the life of Jesus. At the end of the performance, the tree's fruit of temptation would be replaced by Communion wafers, and the people would be invited to celebrate the sacrament.

Apparently the miracle plays on Christmas Eve became a big deal. Everyone would turn out for these events, including less reputable people who trafficked in the vices that emerge when crowds gather. Thanks to these nefarious elements, the plays were eventually banned, but many people held on to the tradition of decorating paradise trees by bringing them into their homes. (Maybe that was even a subversive act, done on the down-low, out of sight of the authorities.) Their ornaments were based on the tree's decorations from the plays -- round balls were like fruit, and cookies resembled wafers.

Is any of that true? It's nearly impossible to know for sure. But it's a great idea to link Christmas with the Garden of Eden. God sent the Son, who was Jesus the Christ, to save us from the effects of the fall. Human beings entered into sin through an encounter with a tree, and Jesus freed us from sin by hanging on a tree. The church used to celebrate the "birthday" of Adam and Eve on Christmas Eve, just a day before the birthday of the "second Adam." Our two human ancestors were created by God, but Jesus--the uncreated God who was there when creation was spoken into existence--was born by a woman so that the plotlines of our own sin-filled stories could be reversed. Thanks to this work of God, we can forever enjoy the fruit of new trees, which will always be in season in the age to come (Revelation 22). At that time, completely freed from the consequences of sin and death, we can always eat the fruit of the Tree of Life in the presence of the ascended Christ.