Christ the Lord by Anne Rice
"Christ the Lord" by Anne Rice explores the early years of Jesus Christ, starting from the age of seven. The narrative delves into Jesus' life in Alexandria, Egypt, where he grapples with his identity and unique abilities while interacting with family and friends. One of the pivotal moments includes an incident where Jesus unintentionally strikes a playmate dead but later resurrects him, which sets off a series of events leading the family back to their homeland. As they return to Nazareth, the story weaves in the harsh realities of the time, including the impact of war and oppression from Roman soldiers.
Throughout the novel, themes of self-discovery and spiritual growth are prominent, as Jesus learns about his Jewish heritage, engages in religious education, and comes to terms with his divine nature. Family dynamics play a critical role, particularly the guidance from his mother, Mary, and his stepfather, Joseph, who emphasize the importance of self-control and humility in using his gifts. Rice portrays a nuanced view of Jesus, revealing both his humanity and divinity, ultimately highlighting his journey toward understanding his place in the world and the weight of his divine purpose.
Christ the Lord by Anne Rice
First published: New York: Knopf, 2005
Genre(s): Novel
Subgenre(s): Biblical fiction; historical fiction (first century)
Core issue(s): Catholics and Catholicism; Gospels; Jesus Christ; self-knowledge
Principal characters
Jesus Mary , Jesus’ motherJoseph , Jesus’ stepfatherJames , Jesus’ stepbrotherElizabeth , mother of John the BaptistSalome , cousin and beloved friendCleopas , Mary’s bother, Jesus’ uncleOld Sarah , a relative
Overview
In Christ the Lord, Anne Rice presents a narrative of Jesus Christ’s youngest years, beginning at age seven. The opening scene is familiar to those who have read any of the infancy narratives. In this story, Jesus strikes a playmate dead and returns him to life, at Salome’s urging. The resurrected boy’s parents want Jesus and his family to leave Alexandria, Egypt. However, the Teacher comes to his defense, saying Jesus and his brother James are his best students at the House of Study.
Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph, decides that it is time for the family to return to the Holy Land, in part because Herod, who had been a threat to Jesus, is dead. The Teacher and another minor character, Philo, try to persuade Joseph to let Jesus stay and continue his studies, but Joseph is firm. The family will stay together and go to Nazareth, where more relatives await. Soon Jesus’ family is on a boat, leaving Egypt forever. Throughout this period, little Jesus has far more questions than answers about who he is and why he is different. What happened in Bethlehem? Why did the family leave for Egypt?
The journey homeward includes a visit to the temple in Jerusalem. The family’s joy and awe soon turn to horror, however, as soldiers massacre worshipers, putting a brutal end to Passover festivities. Elizabeth tells of the foreordained birth of her son John the Baptist and his father’s death at the hands of soldiers and insists her son will be raised by the Essenes. Jesus is struck by the way the solemn John keeps staring at him.
Elizabeth and John remain behind and the family continue on their trek. They pass through unsettled regions and see the effect of war, rebellion, and Roman reprisals on villages. They also fall victim to bandits, who say the money they demand is going to the resistance effort against the Roman Empire. The family reaches Nazareth to find it seemingly abandoned. Fearing soldiers, the townspeople have hidden in tunnels. Soldiers do appear and want to take one of the family members back to Rome in reprisal against the Jewish rebellion in the area. The family’s relative Old Sarah emerges and defuses the situation, offering the soldiers food and drink. The rest of the extended family emerges from hiding. Soon Jesus and his half brother James are exploring the countryside. While getting used to the homeland he has never known, Jesus is also coming to terms with some of his unique abilities and accepting that he cannot simply wield the power of life and death by whim. Joseph reminds him of the need to remain hidden, and that means keeping his talents hidden as well.
On the Sabbath, Old Sarah insists that the family go to the synagogue. While in Egypt, Joseph and the others had become accustomed to worshiping at home. There is a tense moment at the door of the synagogue when the rabbi hesitates to let Jesus enter, claiming not to know him. Mary’s brother Cleopas mediates, presenting the rabbi with a gift from Egypt, and all go in to worship. Soon Jesus and James are favorite pupils of the rabbi. Jesus learns about Jewish faith and traditions from his family. He also seeks out religious education and discussion not only at the synagogue but also later at the temple, as the family returns for the annual holy days, which were shattered by violence the previous year.
On the Day of Atonement, Joseph and Mary come to the realization that their family’s experience parallels the larger story of Israel, whose people were exiled to Egypt and then returned to the Holy Land. Economically, Jesus’ family does well in the year following their return from Egypt. Their carpentry skills are sought after as families seek to rebuild their homes after the war’s destruction. Joseph and company also refurbish the synagogue.
Questions continue to plague Jesus about his origins. Family members drop hints, but Joseph has forbidden Jesus to ask questions. James finally reveals that angels attended Jesus’ birth and that he was called the Son of God. Soon, Mary tells Jesus her part of the story, from the Annunciation to the animals in the stable keeping the family warm on the night Jesus was born. She relates Jesus’ early miracles and tells him again to keep his power within himself, to use his divine gifts only when God calls upon him to do so. God sent Jesus into the world as a child so that he might grow in wisdom, Mary tells her son.
The final secret is the Slaughter of the Innocents. Jesus goes to the temple alone and seeks out the oldest teacher he can find. He asks this man what happened to the Christ child and is told that the baby was killed soon after his birth, along with all other children in Bethlehem under the age of two. Jesus is upset by this information but recovers. He realizes that all things live and all die. For now, his role is to be alive.
Christian Themes
The primary theme of Christ the Lord is Jesus Christ’s growing self-awareness during his early youth. Through interactions with family and friends and by watching events unfold around him, Jesus becomes aware of his Jewishness. Jesus’ uncle Cleopas is a frustrated scholar, always telling stories and teaching Jesus what he can of the faith. In fact, education is a strong part of Jesus’ upbringing. He seeks out knowledge, particularly religious knowledge, wherever it is to be found. Time is marked by Jewish festivals, such as Passover. Distance and place have a Jewish theme throughout this work. Jesus’ foster father Joseph even notes that the family’s journey from Egypt to the Holy Land parallels, on a small scale, the journey made by the Jewish people centuries earlier.
Jesus’ awareness of his deity grows significantly during the year of his life this novel covers. When the narrative opens, his power over life and death has just been displayed, to the horror of neighbors. At a cousin’s prompting, he is able to right a wrong by bringing the boy he has accidentally killed back to life. Foreshadowing the nature miracles of the canonical Gospels, such as walking on water, the child Jesus at one point makes it snow. With his growing self-awareness comes self-control and a turning of his will over to God. Several times Jesus is tempted or asked to provide divine intervention, such as healing a stricken family member. Over time, he gains the wisdom and self-discipline needed to control and manage his divine gifts. Rice shows the Christ child’s humanity along with his growing sense of divinity. Some of his most traumatizing moments come when he realizes the impact, even destruction, that his entrance into the human world has caused, particularly in the Slaughter of the Innocents.
Sources for Further Study
Booklist 102, no. 5 (November 1, 2005): 5.
Boyd, Gregory A. Cynic Sage or Son of God? Wheaton, Ill.: Bridgepoint/Victor, 1995. In an effort to refute the portrait of Jesus offered by John Dominic Crossan, Boyd summarizes and counters Jesus Seminar arguments about Christ.
Crossan, John Dominic. Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. A member of the controversial Jesus Seminar, Crossan portrays Jesus as a social rebel and revolutionary, but a starkly human one, whose birth was natural and whose resurrection was, at best, a metaphor.
Entertainment Weekly, November 4, 2005, pp. 32-34.
Fredrikson, Paula. From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1988. Examines the historical and cultural background behind images of Christ as depicted in the Gospels and letters of Paul.
Kirkus Reviews 73, no. 19 (October 1, 2005): 1050.
Library Journal 130, no. 18 (November 1, 2005): 70.
The New York Times 155 (November 3, 2005): E1-E9.
Newsweek 146, no. 18 (October 31, 2005): 54-55.
People 64, no. 20 (November 14, 2005): 52.
Publishers Weekly 252, no. 40 (October 10, 2005): 38.
School Library Journal 51, no. 12 (December, 2005): 178-180.
Wharton, Gary C. Jesus, the Authorized Biography: The Eyewitness Accounts by Those Who Personally Knew Him. Green Forest, Ark.: New Leaf Press, 2005. Brings together in narrative form the various accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry as found in the Gospels and Epistles.
Wright, N. T. The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999. An accessible distillation of Anglican theologian Wright’s work on searching for the historical Jesus while remaining within theological orthodoxy.