Why is a tree (the Tree of Life) the symbol chosen to represent our Savior Jesus Christ? Why not a rock? Or a sun? Or a shepherd? Or a lamb? All of these are names used to refer to the Savior, and yet a tree is the symbol God uses in this vision. And not an evergreen tree, but a fruit-bearing deciduous tree. Why?

Deciduous trees cleanse the earth. Through the pores on their leaves, they absorb harmful pollution and CO2, a process called scrubbing. Then the trees harness the sun’s power to convert the harmful CO2 they’ve just absorbed into life-giving oxygen, available unconditionally to every living thing on the planet. This process called “photosynthesis” is a Greek word that literally means “to put together with the help of light”. Deciduous trees also go dormant for a season, and then come back to life.

Keep all that in mind as you think of the Atonement. Christ took upon himself the sins and ailments of the entire existence of the world, absorbing them, which caused Him “the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore.” (D&C 19:18) Then, prayerfully calling upon the power of the Almighty God, he converted the pains and suffering of the world into the Infinite Atonement, life-giving “oxygen” for our eternal life, the chance for our garments to be scrubbed and “purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.” (Alma 5:21)

What Jesus Christ did in Gesthemane and on the cross was a literal and spiritual photosynthesis, “to put together with the help of light”. There could not be a more perfect analogy and symbol than a leafy tree (the Tree of Life) for Christ, His Atonement, and the ultimate expression of God’s love.

I hope this resonates with you as much as it did with me.