The Jesse Tree

Every year I try to make the Season of Christmas more about Christ. With our society steeped in the secular symbolism of the Season of Giving, it’s much like wading through mud to find the celebration of Jesus’ coming as an infant. I could say, All I want for Christmas is my baby Jesus.

So this year, our family is doing a Jesse Tree. The purpose of a Jesse Tree is to tell the story of God in the Old Testament and His covenant with his people to send the Savior. It’s also a great way to review the stories of mankind’s greatest failures and how our God’s love, patience and grace has always saved us.

Using a small table-top Christmas Tree, bare branches planted in a pot, or even a space on the wall to tape the ornaments, a Jesse Tree can become part of the daily routine this Advent.

As I studied different blogs and websites that explained the Jesse Tree, I saw that many of the symbols needed for the tree was already had in our abundant collection of Christmas Ornaments: star, white dove, apple, lamb, trumpets, etc. I set those aside for the Jesse Tree. On top of building the Jesse Tree and collecting or making ornaments, my other goal is to do this without spending extra money. I need to be careful with my budget, so there will be no extra fluff for us – unless it can be found in the basement or among the kids toys. For the symbols we don’t already have, I am going to get a little creative . Last year at Hobby Lobby, I purchased a box of 12 clear, glass ornaments for us to decorate. Using those and several white, glass ornaments, we are going to paint the symbols onto the glass. Other ornaments will be made from last year’s Christmas cards we received – many of them have Christian paintings of the Nativity, the wise men or the Star of Bethlehem. A little snip here, a hole punch there, a ribbon to top it off and ta-da! An ornament is made!

We will also be bending the guidelines a little. There are many ornaments that we already have that I think will fit just fine as symbols to go along with the scripture readings. For example, an ornament of the world seems an appropriate ornament for the Creation reading. Or a photograph of one of the children’s baptism would be a very appropriate ornament for the reading about John the Baptist.

Day 1:
Sunday, First Day of Advent
Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Isaiah 11:1-10
Symbol – The Tree

Together, figure out what your tree will be. Will it be a small Christmas tree? A pot of branches? Will you spray paint the branches silver to make them extra pretty? Will it be a construction paper tree tapped to your dining room wall? What about using the dining room chandelier? Prepare your tree and let me know what you did.