As another decade came to a close, I was blessed in so many ways by friends and family. There were numerous dinners and a couple of game nights, gifts and cards and my favorite candies. I was even whisked away to a beautiful resort on a beach a couple of hours away for a weekend with my besties. There they showered me with love and the present of their presence, but I have to say, the most precious gift I received was this communion set, carved out of the wood of an olive tree from Bethlehem. A couple of years ago I started a routine of daily communion and no, contrary to what some may think, it does not get old or become commonplace. It is a daily reminder of a love so great that this human mind cannot even begin to comprehend it. It’s a time worship and praise, prayers and petitions, but mostly gratitude. And there are always tears, for I am literally, eternally grateful for what Jesus has done for me.

Today I celebrated communion with these new items, and found it to be massively profound to raise a cup that was made from a tree grown in Bethlehem. The tears were sweeter, having come from a deeper place. The connection was stronger, holding in my hand this thing that had once lived where Jesus lived. And I thought about the tree that died so that I could partake in intimate fellowship with the Father. That tree reminded me of Jesus, and so I set out to find more about it.

The olive was one of the most highly valued and useful trees in the ancient Near East, being an essential source for food, lamp oil, medicine, anointing oil, oil for sacrifices, and wood for making furniture. Today you can find some of the oldest olive trees in the world still thriving in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. There are some there that are estimated to be 1000 years old and still producing fruit, according to the Encyclopedia Judaica. It goes on to say that the olive tree is considered  “an evergreen, and the righteous who take refuge in the protection of God are compared to it.”

When Noah releases a dove from the ark, it returned with an olive branch in its mouth which indicated that new life had begun to spring forth. It was a new beginning for man and symbol of reconciliation with God. Peace was here. Since that time, the olive branch has been a symbol of peace to the world, and you probably have heard the expression, “extending an olive branch” as a desire for peace or reconciliation with another person.

The Hebrew word for “olive tree” is es shemen, which literally means ‘tree of oil.”

The oil from an olive tree was used as a base for the mixture of spices that made up anointing oil, thus representing the Holy Spirit. The process to obtain that oil requires beating and crushing so that the oil can be poured out.  Jesus himself was beaten and crushed as he went to the cross, which resulted in the Holy Spirit being poured out for his Church after he ascended. Interesting, is it not, that the garden where Jesus’ excruciating prayer took place is called Gethsemane, which means “olive press.”

In Romans 11, Paul likens God’s chosen to cultivated olive trees, being pruned and nurtured in order for it to produce more luscious and abundant fruit. In contrast, those trees living in the wild were incapable of producing good fruit because they grew with no guidance and their roots were weak. But when a wild olive tree is grafted into the root of a cultivated one, it begins to flourish and bear good fruit, receiving life-sustaining nourishment. Paul reminds the Gentiles not to boast, because “you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you.”

Isaiah tell us chapter 11 that “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.” Jesus Christ is the root of Jesse—the root of the cultivated olive tree.

And oh, how glorious it is to be grafted in.