Article 6 - Second Series - January 23rd, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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One Thing, Jesus Christ.
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Article 6 - Second Series - January 23rd, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Article:
The Bible is often written in code. It can be called “Biblical code.” This means that an image, a line, a word can give us a book’s worth of information. 

Here’s an example from today’s Gospel, “Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man.” Tax collectors are never highly regarded in the Bible. The fact that Zacchaeus is a “chief tax collector” implies that he’s really on the wrong path. Even worse, he’s a wealthy man which means that he has been on the wrong path for quite some time. Zacchaeus might be you, he might be me. Maybe we’ve been on the wrong path for a little while now. Maybe we are due to climb a tree and get a better look at Christ. 

Remember Biblical code, that a word or an image can give a book’s worth of information? Notice in today’s Gospel that there is the image of a sycamore tree. Trees are very significant in the Biblical narrative. Decoding this image might help us to see something very spiritual at play. We will soon see the spiritual journey of sinner, seeker, and saint. We will soon see our story. 

Where else in the Bible do we see a tree?

Genesis, chapter 3 we see the fall of Adam and Eve. They’ve grasped for the fruit and have made determining good and evil their prerogative. They’ve made themselves out to be gods. We know that they then cover themselves with fig leaves. Yet, there’s another line in this chapter. Adam and Eve hide among the trees of the garden. Interestingly, there’s the image of a tree.

Adam and Eve present us with what we can call stage #1 of the spiritual journey: hiding behind the tree to avoid God. It means a lack of transparency, lack of honesty, and a refusal to encounter truth itself. It’s a great temptation for all of us to hide behind a tree in our self-created comfort zones. This tree could be sports, a hobby, alcohol, money, a career, or anything for that matter. It’s simply that which we hide behind in order to avoid being vulnerable before the Lord. It’s the path of the sinner to avoid reality. 

Then, we have stage #2 from today’s Gospel. Zacchaeus is a seeker. He is moving from sinner to seeker. Unlike Adam and Eve, Zacchaeus climbs the tree in order to see Christ rather than to avoid God. Maybe that’s you, maybe that’s me today. We are looking for something and we are open to what we might see. Our self-created comfort zones, our hiding behind trees, hasn’t ever filled us up. We want more. Therefore, we are stepping out from behind the tree and starting to climb it to find something better. This is stage #2 of the spiritual journey: climbing the tree to search for God. It’s the path of the seeker to approach reality. 

Most powerfully, the Biblical narrative presents us with a third image of a tree. Jesus Christ hangs from a tree. He is crucified. Unlike Adam and Eve who covered themselves in fig leaves, Jesus is naked. This means that He is completely vulnerable and transparent. He doesn’t grasp for anything but rather pours Himself out. He doesn’t make up excuses but rather prays for His enemies. The crucifixion presents us with mission and purpose - His hour has come. This is stage #3 of the spiritual journey: to sacrifice for others and to forget about the self. It’s the path of sainthood to enter into the depths of reality. 

Remember Biblical code from earlier? A word, an image, a phrase can give us a book’s worth of information. Which stage are you currently in? Stage #1 of a sinner still hiding behind a tree? Stage #2 of a seeker climbing the tree in order to look for something? Or stage #3 of a saint who has a mission and sacrifices for others?

If you are anything like me, you find it rather difficult to identify which stage applies to you. I know for me, one moment I am pouring myself out for others in stage #3 and then my fallen humanity kicks in. I sin and it’s back to stage #1. Then, I climb the tree of stage #2 and try to get out of myself and seek the Lord again. In fact, I’ve gone through this cycle thousands of times. 

Here’s the hope: notice the Gospel’s way of telling the Zacchaeus story. The Gospel says, “Jesus looked up and said, Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” It wasn’t Zacchaeus who found Jesus but rather Jesus who found Him. We call this grace. 

It is Jesus who finds us. It is Jesus who guides us to stage #3 of sainthood. It is Jesus who helps us transform from sinner to seeker to saint.

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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.