Just Curious

Jesus the Son of Man by Kahlil Gibran, poet laureate of Lebanon

Why is the life and morals of a Jewish carpenter who lived in a bygone epoch fascinates us so much? I do not know. 

Jesus was a Man of great contradictions. He was a Man whose Words invoke imaginations. Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese poet and essayist captured perfectly the nuance of Jesus of Nazareth’s being in Jesus The Son of Man, published in 1928.

It is a collection of fragments of memories, told by characters whom in their lives bore witness to Jesus’ life and death. Among these were the rugged John the Baptist, the hot-tempered yet kind hearted Simon Peter, the otherworldly John the Evangelist, the dutiful scribe Matthew, the authoritarian Annas and Caiaphas, the opportunistic Pilate and his long mournful wife, the dazzling yet sorrowful Salome, the ever  enchanting Mary Magdalene, a number of Jesus’ contemporaries from the cobbler on the street to owners of vineyards and keepers of inns, and of course Judas, called the Iscariot, who “also betrayed the Lord.”

The most intriguing fragments involve Mary Magdalene, who’s relationship with Christ was indeed complicated. She seems to have a genuine affection for Him, yet fully aware of His holiness, she dared not reveal her love for him. This is clearly shown in the fragment On Meeting Jesus for the First Time, where:
 
It was in the month of June I saw Him for the first time…The rhythm of His step was different from other men’s; and the movement of His body was like naught I had seen before…
It was in the month of August that I saw Him again, through my window. He was sitting in the shadow of the cpress tree across my garden, and He was as still as if He had been carved out of stone, like the statues in Antioch…
And I gazed at Him, and my soul quivered within me, for He was beautiful…Then I clothed myself with raiment of Damascus, and I left my house and walked towards Him. Was it my aloneness, or was it His fragrance, that drew me to Him? Was it a hunger in my eyes that desired comeliness, or was it His beauty that sought the light of my eyes? Even now I do not know.
… I said, “Will you not have wine and bread with me?”
And He said, “Yes, Miriam, but not now.”
Not now, not now, He said. And the voice of the sea was in those two words, and the voice of the wind and the trees. And when He said them unto me, life spoke to death.
For mind you, my friend, I was dead. I was a woman who had divorced her soul…
But when His dawn-eyes looked into my eyes all the stars of my night faded away, and I became Miriam, only Miriam, a woman lost to the earth she had known, and finding herself in new places.
…And I said, “I beg you to come into my house.”…Then He looked at me, and the noontide of His eyes was upon me, and He said, “You have many lovers, and I alone love you. Other men love themselves in your nearness, I love you in yourself. Other men see a beauty in you that shall fade away sooner than their own years. But I see in you a beauty that shall not fade away, and in the autumn of your days that beauty shall not be afraid to gave at itself in the mirror, and it shall not be offended. I alone love the unseen in you.”

Most other characters, especially ones like Matthew, whose lives form the bulk of Christian Scriptures, were given more orthodox treatment. For instance, in Matthew’s recollection of the Sermon on the Mount, Gibran basically re-present the entire Sermon without altering it, except it is now presented in verse, instead of prose.

A second character that I found interesting was that of Salome. In a letter to her friend, Salome wrote about how she was haunted by the memories of John the Baptist, that holy yet obstinate man who was slain by Herod, and how she had met the Spirit of Christ, that eternal logos, within her very own soul.

A last character that was re-created was Judas Iscariot. Here he was not the “thief” demonized in the Scriptures, but a patriotic Zealot, who sought to revive his nation Israel. In the opening chapter, On the Kingdom of the World, Judas told Jesus, “Behold, the kingdoms of the world are vast, and behold the cities of David and Solomon shall prevail against the Romans. If you will be the king of the Jews we shall stand beside you with sword and shield and we shall overcome the alien.” To this Jesus replied, “My throne is a throne beyond your vision. Shall He whose wings encircle the Earth seek shelter in a nest abandoned and forgotten? My kingdom is not of this earth, and my seat is not builded upon the skulls of your ancestors.”

After he had betrayed his Master, he confided to his friend, with his hands trembling “like dry wigs in the wind,” and his “clothes…as wet as if he had stepped out of a river.” that “when first He called us to Him He promised us a kingdom mighty and vast, and in our faith…I followed His steps willingly…But I found it was not a kingdom that Jesus sought, nor was it from the Romans He would have us free. His Kingdom was but the kingdom of the heart. I heard Him talk of love and charity and forgiveness, and the wayside women listened gladly, but my heart grew bitter and I was hardened.”

And I was hardened…is this not the root of many ills in our world: that we have hardened ourselves and our hearts and souls and minds? 

 

posted by James Chang @ 11:12 PM