The Dogwood Tree

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have come to the amen corner of Holy Week.
Beginning today, things start getting intense. It is Holy Thursday.
On this day the Son of God hosted his apostles
and what is known as the Last Supper, where he
blessed the bread and the wine, washed the feet of
those who would betray him, agonize over his fate through
prayer to his father, and then get arrested. This is

(00:23):
the day before mortal man seized the Son of God,
tortured him, beat him senseless, stripped him naked, nailed him
to a tree, and let him die slowly. Took six hours.
That was two thousand years ago. Christians believe it happened,
and in rising from the dead, Jesus brought to his
followers and believers the most generous gift forgiveness of sin

(00:45):
and an everlasting life. On Christmas we are born, but
on Easter we are born again. It is the greatest
story ever told, as are some of the other legends
of this most profound event in human history. If you believe,
like the story of the Dogwood Tree, first heard by
these ears years ago by America's purest voice, Paul Harvey,

(01:07):
this element of Easter speaks not to the day itself,
but the experience of the crucifixion and how Christ's death
and resurrection means you must believe to see, and when
we do, the power of God's grace and redemption reaches
every living thing. Far as I know, what you are
about to hear is not fact, but its legend runs

(01:30):
deep in the hearts and remains part of the foundation
of faith for Christians the world over. Don't look forward
in the Bible, you won't find it there. All of
those who have told it and retold it, none has
ever signed his or her name to it. But generations
have kept this story alive only because it seemed deserving
of living. Just very interesting, and regardless of where you

(01:52):
may go, from the Holy Land to the American Heartland,
it is told the same. Seems hard to believe that
sore by someone at some time may take advantage and
expand it succumb to exaggeration, But no. Some true believers
tell it as fact, some tell it as a fairy tale.
But the generations who continue to share it do give

(02:15):
it some credibility. It is the legend of the Dogwood Tree.
It is said that at the time of Christ's crucifixion,
the dogwood was a very large tree, big as an oak.
The dogwood was so even textured and firm and strong
that it was chosen as the timber for the cross.
That it was to be used for such a cruel
purpose greatly distressed the tree, and Jesus sensed this. So

(02:40):
Christ forgave the repentant dogwood tree for its unfortunate fate.
And even as he was nailed upon it, he sensed
the painful remorse of the dogwood tree. In gentle pity
for sorrow and suffering of every living thing, Jesus whispered
to the tree, because of your share of my suffering,
never again shall the dog dogwood tree grow large enough

(03:02):
and strong enough to be put to such a purpose
as this. There on the cross, he said, henceforth the
dogwood shall be slender and bent and twisted, and that
forever it be left unmolested by the tools of men.
And the blossoms shall be in the form of a cross,
two long petals and two short In the center of

(03:23):
each petal there will be a nail print, brown with
rust stained with red. In the center of the flower
will be a crown of thorns. And all who pass
and see the dogwood tree will remember me. And so
it came to be