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The Olive Trees of Palestine
Let’s single out that phrase: “oil, to make him glad…” For starters, it is not a reference to black gold or Texas tea, the kind of oil that fuels our cars and our wars. It refers to the fruit of the olive tree. The gifts of the earth culminate in the grain, the wine, and the oil. The people of the land would stream to Jerusalem during the three agricultural feasts: spring, summer, and fall. In spring the first fruits of the grain are harvested; it is the feast of Passover and unleavened bread; In summer comes the grain harvest and the feast of Weeks; Then, in autumn, the “great feast” of Tabernacles: the grape and olive harvest. The Christian Church has its roots in this agricultural tradition: Passover becomes Easter; Weeks is Pentecost (a week of weeks or 50 days); Tabernacles, the Sacraments of initiation: baptism, confirmation and the eucharist. The grain, the wine and the oil are used in these Christian sacraments as symbols of God’s vitality and healing power at work among us. In baptism, after coming out of the water and being clothed with a white garment, the neophyte is anointed with chrism: an aromatic version of olive oil consecrated during the week leading up to Easter. Then the neophyte is led to the banquet table where the bread and wine are consecrated and shared. The oil of athletes-in-training (catechumens) is used before baptism, just as the chrism is used after baptism. The second anointing is the source of the word “christening.” The newly-baptized are anointed as kings and priests are anointed to show they share the dignity of Christ. Kings and priests have been anointed with chrism throughout Christian history. As have the sick, another Jewish custom taken over by Christians (James 5:13-15). It is good to recall this long tradition to begin a reflection on the olive tree in the Mediterranean world, especially in Palestine. In Jotham’s fable of the trees (Judges 9:8-15) we see the hierarchy of the trees, beginning with the most sacred: “So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us’. But the olive tree answered them ‘Must I give up my rich oil, whereby men and gods are honored, and go and wave over the trees?’” The fig tree and the vine then ask similar questions to show that their fruit is sacred to men and gods. They have no time or energy to waste merely ruling over others.
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