Beneath the Tamarisk Tree – A Review

The Story

Let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).

Beneath the Tamarisk Tree begins with Dismas waking up in paradise. Rob Seabrook uses all our senses to pull us right there, describing the sights, sounds, smells and feeling of everything Dismas experiences. Some of the imagery is stunning and the picture he paints with words certainly feels like paradise! I felt myself relaxing into the story immediately. At first, Dismas is met by an angel, then later by Jesus, whom he recognises from the cross, and the Holy Spirit (who can manifest in various ways, but at first is a little girl).

Dismas is immediately confused, not understanding why he is there. He asks this very thing of Jesus – why he is there, when he has done nothing to deserve it? Jesus replies that no one has. This is a lovely set up for a story about Dismas learning the truths of the gospel – that it is all because of Jesus , and nothing to do with us, that any of us are saved.

Trust. Nothing more.

Through the story, Rob proceeds to explore the idea that the thief on the cross had nothing more than the most basic trust that Jesus was somehow different – he was sinless. Other than the insults hurled at Jesus by the bystanders and the words of Jesus on the cross, he knew nothing. How can that transfer into faith enough to enter paradise? In the church, we normally require some sort of formal process, some evidence of being born again. Peter implores the crowd in Acts to Repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of their sins (Acts 2:38).

In fact, the author chooses to include baptism for Dismas in paradise itself. As he is recalling his past, how his father was no father to him, Jesus says they would like to adopt him and be his Father now. But something is required first:

“Baptism is a rite of adoption. It is a way of showing us that you want to be part of our family. A way of leaving your old life behind…”

Rob Seabrook, Beneath the Tamarisk Tree.

We begin to get glimpses of what that old life might have been as Dismas feels fear at never having been in water before. But as doubts flash through his mind, the Holy Spirit stands alongside him “with so much compassion and understanding his fears melted.” It felt a little strange to include baptism in heaven, but I must admit, it was a lovely picture of Dismas entering his new family and of the comforter’s care. 

Dismas tells his story.

After this, Jesus gives Dismas more time to tell his story. Not that Jesus doesn’t know it, but telling the story is part of the healing and redemptive process. Glimpses of paradise are interwoven with flashbacks of Dismas’ childhood in Jerusalem, where he was cruelty treated and became a runaway living on the streets and doing everything he could to survive.

I actually enjoyed the flashback sections more than the heaven sections. The author acknowledges that some will prefer to let their own imaginations take them ‘to heaven’. I think I’m one of those people. I would probably have preferred the story to be 75% flashback and 25% heaven rather than 50/50. But I don’t think this will be the same for everyone. As previously mentioned, there is some really beautiful imagery here, drawing from the well of scripture and Rob’s imagination. It feels authentic and will be a blessing to many, I have no doubt.

Back to Jerusalem…

The flashback sections, then, give us glimpses of life in 1st century Jerusalem from a very different perspective than we usually get. Seeing the street child’s point of view we get the grub, grime and gritty reality of a sinful and tragic world where children are both victims and criminals. We see Dismas’ heart hardening as he grows older and particularly as he loses the only person he ever opened his heart to.

We see the hypocrisy of people who lived near these children “The poor were forgotten on the Sabbath,” jumped out at me, and with the young Dismas, we visit the temple area, trying to scrounge coins outside the Roman soldier’s jurisdiction, coins they then couldn’t even spend without suspicion. We see festival times from their perspective too:

“Outside the temple gates…[pilgrims] would mutter about the importance of giving to widows and orphans…the only time in the city when [the street children] were actually needed.”

Rob Seabrook, Beneath the Tamarisk Tree

As Dismas considers the actions of his old family, we are told that “Anger and rage became his closest companions, haunting and tormenting every moment of his life.” This reminded me of my Kayin convincing himself of other people’s opinions (that weren’t necessarily true) and this leading to overwhelming bitterness. This is something we can all fall prey to – going over in our minds words and actions from our past, holding onto them and magnifying them beyond what they originally were.

…interspersed with…

When we revisit Dismas in heaven, we see a physical and spiritual transformation taking place as Jesus guides him gently through the story, patiently listening and occasionally answering questions.

“Rest was important in heaven to allow souls to adjust…His mind needed retraining. It has been his habit to built an impenetrable, protective barrier around himself, which needed to be torn down.”

Rob Seabrook, Beneath the Tamarisk Tree

A harrowing highlight.

By far the most poignant part of the book for me, which I really connected with, was the description of Jesus’ scourging by the Roman soldiers. Dismas sees this from his prison cell. It is extremely emotive and harrowingly brutal, like a written version of The Passion of the Christ. This is a scene that will remain in my imagination for a long time, and I mean that in a positive way – I’m not sure if you can ever dwell on our precious Saviour’s sacrifice too much. The author certainly showed the capability of his writing through this scene. And, I don’t want to give too much away regarding the plot, but there is a powerful picture at the end where Jesus quite literally takes Dismas’ punishment, “The Jew has taken enough for them both today.”

The Theology

The author points out in his introduction that this book is ultimately an act of worship, to bring glory to God. For me, he certainly achieves that in his writing, and I hope it will be achieved in the reading. He also says this is not a theological or academic work but fiction, acknowledging that one size does not fit all when discussing the subject of heaven. Even so, with my theologian, rather than writer hat on, I can’t help but offer a few thoughts about the theology. Mostly because there is so much crammed into this little book (which I find rather exciting!)

Time

There is a sense of timelessness throughout the heaven narrative. For example, at one point Jesus talks about having gone back to earth to speak to his disciples. The reader thinks, When did that happen? Dismas has only been here a few hours!

Then you realise, as the narrative moves on and end-times imagery begins to feature, that this was all intentional! There are no days mentioned, just a progression of moments, some where Dismas is alone, some where Jesus, the Spirit or angels are with him. This all confirmed for me that the author was trying to give the impression of “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3:8) It certainly makes you think!

Election

One theme drawn out towards the end is that Dismas was chosen specifically for a special task – being the man that Jesus would hang with on the cross, being the ‘other’ in heaven whom was crucified, being the one to whom Jesus would utter those important words, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” All the suffering Dismas went through was necessary to get him to that task. 

I had to stop and think at this line: “Father accepted you into his Kingdom at the moment you were born.” I wasn’t sure it fitted my theology. Don’t we have to make that commitment to Jesus before we enter the kingdom (Ephesians 2:1-6, Colossians 1:13-14)? But I think the author was getting at the idea of election. Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah’s pre-birth commissioning could be likened to Dismas’ election to the task chosen for him.

Resurrection

Although the transformation is quite beautiful, it seemed strange that Dismas’ body and soul were healed gradually rather than “in the twinkling of an eye,” (1 Corinthians 15:52). But we are presumably discussing heaven here, of which the Bible says very little, and not the final resurrection when there will be instant transformation followed by a new heavens and a new earth. The distinctions are sometimes hard to get our little brains around! Needless to say, whatever one’s opinion of the afterlife, it shall all be irrelevant when Jesus comes again. All we shall care about then is gazing at our wonderful Saviour!

And more

The author explores many other theological ideas, such as free will, rebirth, forgiveness and unconditional love. The forgiveness narrative was quite beautiful. The new name given to Dismas was a nice picture as well. And what came across really strongly was the presence of Jesus (and the Holy Spirit) changing Dismas’ reality.

The Writing

In terms of writing, of which I’ve said little, the narrative voice moves at quite a slow pace, particularly in the heaven sections. This certainly fits the subject matter, so is not necessarily a criticism. However, it felt slightly challenged at times. The voice was very passive throughout, there was some repetition that could have been edited out and I would have enjoyed less ‘telling us what Dismas thought’ and more demonstration of his thought through the storyline. But it is very difficult to do that when you are predominantly in someone’s memories.

If you love a book that you can take your time over and think deeply about (particularly if you’re a fan of Biblical Fiction), you will probably love this one. 

This would make a great Lent/Easter read. As we approach the season of lent, the story will inform you heart and mind of what it was like to walk those Jerusalem streets. It will help you follow Jesus to the cross and appreciate just how much he went through for you.