In the middle of its street . . . was the tree of life.
- Revelation 22:2
In 1943, Nazi soldiers herded the citizens of Khatyn into a barn, piled hay around it, and
set it on fire, killing all 149 people inside. After the war, Khatyn, in the former Soviet
Union, was chosen as the site for a memorial to the more than 600 villages across Belarus
that shared a similar fate.
It's a somber place to visit. You're greeted by a 4-story-high statue of a man who had
been in the woods during the Khatyn massacre. He is holding the limp, charred body of his
son. You see foundations where the homes once stood. From each of them rises a chimney
with a plaque inscribed with the names of the people who died.
At one end of Khatyn is a "tree of life." This black iron tree contains more
than 400 "leaves," and on each one is the name of a destroyed village that was
rebuilt after the war. They represent the resilience and hope of the people of Belarus.
In Genesis 2, we read about the tree of life in Eden. Adam and Eve lost access to it when
they disobeyed God. But Jesus, the "last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45-47), made it
available to us again. In the new heaven and new earth, there will be yet another
"tree of life" (Revelation 22:2).
We move from spiritual death to spiritual life when we trust in Jesus. It's a hope beyond
compare!
-DCE
The tree of life once lost to man
Will be restored in God's great plan,
The tree of Calvary is the way
To enter that eternal day!
-Hess
Calvary's cross is the only bridge to eternal life.