Palm Sunday – The tale of the two trees

Today was Palm Sunday where Christians commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem where he enters the city on a donkey.  There was the usual distribution of palm leaves before the service to the congregation, mimicking the celebrating people who lay down their cloaks and small branches of trees in front of Jesus.

During the service, there was the introduction of this new part in the liturgy that I have neither seen before in the usual church services, nor could I remember its invocation during previous periods of Lent.

It went, “It is truly meet, right, and salutary, that we should at all times and and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God: Who on the tree of the cross didst give salvation unto mankind that, whence death arose, thence Life also might rise again; and that he who by a tree once overcame might likewise by a tree be overcome, through Christ, our Lord; through whom with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Thy glorious name, evermore praising Thee and saying”

The point of confusion was the part about who this he who by a tree once overcame and who likewise by a tree be overcome was. The instinctive conception was that this he was referred to Jesus. But it seemed weird that Jesus would be overcome.

The Pastor decided to clear up the confusion before dismissing the congregation. He said that “he” here, refers to Satan. The tree by which he overcame was the tree of the forbidden fruits in the garden of Eden. And the tree by which he would be overcome is the cross on which Jesus died for humanity’s sins. Now, that made sense, although I thought it was unnecessary introduction of ambiguity into liturgy. A friend I talked with after church had conveniently misread the part in reverse, so that in effect, it was about Jesus being overcome by the cross since he died on it, but who in the end overcome with the cross because he effectively redeemed humanity from sin. A suitable alternative preface to be used for the liturgy I thought.