We are the fruit that grows from the branch, which extends from the trunk of the tree, which is rooted in the soil that it grows out of, which is all Christ.
If we want to understand the purpose of a tree (because every tree has a purpose), we have to first look at where the tree comes from. It comes from a seed. For the tree to become a tree, that seed has to fall from above. It comes from above, from heaven, it falls, lands in the earth, and then grows and matures into a tree.
The blueprints for everything that tree will become are contained in the seed. The seed becomes everything that God designed it to do.
Once we understand that, we will see that all trees have a purpose, most notably the Tree of Life at the center of Eden’s garden. We will discover that same tree at the center of the new Jerusalem, where Jesus sets up his throne, which is put there for us to sit under on the Last Day in the shade of the resurrection to eternal life.
Everything points us to Jesus, for as the apostle Paul writes: “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:1:16).
John says almost the same thing in his Gospel: “He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him [b]not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind” (John 1:2-4).
What Paul and John are saying is that life has always been about Jesus. It’s always been about his death and resurrection. It’s always been about the seed coming from heaven, falling to the ground, dying, and out of death, a great tree erupts out of the earth that contains enough life for everyone and everything.
That is what the parable of the sower is about. It is about the seed, who is Jesus, and the sower, who is the Father. The parable is about how the Son must fall from heaven to the ground. He must fall into the ground and die so that he can then put down roots and grow, and provide life for the whole universe — not just for us as Christians, “little Christs,” little seedlings, little trees, but the life that is given to every tree and every blade of grass, every flower and every bush, every fish and every bird, everything that walks, and flies, and swims, and scuttles across the earth, everything that shines and sparkles, everything that flows and juts, everything that floats, and scrapes, and soars. Everything receives its life from this one seed that falls from heaven to the ground and dies, and rises up into heaven again, and gives birth to everything that we call “real life.” That is the fruit of this seed, who is Jesus — the Tree of Life.
But, there’s even more than that! When we step back and look at the big, big picture, taking in as much as we can comprehend, the parable of the sower is a painting displayed on an infinite canvas, upon which Jesus illustrates the meaning of everything. He’s teaching us how to see the truth, that, for example, reality isn’t heliocentric.
The sun is not the center of the universe, according to the Bible. It’s also not geocentric. The Earth is not the center of the universe, according to the Bible. In the Bible, the universe is dentro-centric. That is, the tree at the center of Eden’s garden, the same tree that is at the center of the New Jerusalem, is the center of everything. The Tree of Life is the root of all reality. The Tree of Life, Jesus, is the life of everything that is real and true, beautiful and mysterious, wonderful and worthy of worship.
So when we’re with Jesus, in his Church, participating in the worship of him, walking with him in our lives, we are connected like fruit that hangs from the branches of a tree. We are connected to what’s real and true, beautiful and mysterious, wonderful and worthy of worship.
So we don’t have to worry anymore about how life is going to turn out for us. We don’t have to worry about trying to stay on the right path. We don’t have to worry about what kind of seed we might be. We don’t have to worry about whether we’re sowing seeds on good ground or not. None of that applies to us. That’s God’s work, not ours.
We are the fruit that grows from the branch, which extends from the trunk of the tree, which is rooted in the soil that it grows out of, which is all Christ. He holds us in his unbreakable grip, so that no matter what happens to us, no matter how often we question our choices, the meaning of life, or even where our lives are headed, our lives are good lives because they grow out of the Tree of Life, and he is a good tree; this Jesus who created us for himself to enjoy, and for us to enjoy him in return, because that, in a nutshell, is the whole point of life.
