Customer Reviews

A Life of Jesus

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Shusaku Endo, in his own words a "solitary novelist in the Orient", has given us a singular gift in "A Life of Jesus." This novelist employed his talent to put a soundtrack and lighting to the gospels, complete with the dimensions of smell, taste, and touch. While I feel he used the word 'emaciated' one too many times in reference to Jesus, the point he makes is clear; Jesus was not what anyone expected a Messiah to be.

Endo takes a good portion of the book to explore the POV's of the disciples. His is the first account I have seen that presents a compassionate portrait of Judas Iscariot, a man who, in the end, hated himself to death. Toward the end of the book, Endo hammered the perplexing question of what changed the cowardly disciples, who had abandoned Jesus to his fate...the conclusion Endo reached did indeed resonate with this particular reader, though I could not help feel a bit of restless frustration with the end...his conclusions about the 'electrifying change' he saw in the disciples not once suggested the beginning of the book of Acts, where a once denying Peter is now empowered to not only hold forth, but to do so boldly.

The point Endo labors is more about the power of resurrection...he says "Regarding other miracles in the life of Jesus, the Gospel record is soft, compared to the resurrection." Indeed, it was fascinating to get inside the brains of Endo's disciples--the word 'resurrection' has new meaning for me.

I greatly admired this work, am still thinking about it, and had the feeling it ended too soon. In Endo's own words, because I cannot say it better, "Regarding those who deserted him, those who betrayed him, not a word of resentment came to his lips...he prayed for nothing but their salvation. That's the whole life of Jesus. It stands out clean and simple, like a single Chinese ideograph brushed on a blank sheet of paper. It was so clean and simple that no one could make sense of it, and not one could produce its like."

I would have never discovered this book had it not been tucked away in a box of books given to us by an elderly friend...Endo wrote this book in the 70s and it deserves to be revived in connection with the recent interest in "the Historical Jesus".

Endo provides a speculative historical account of the life of Jesus based on the New Testament. His attention to Scriptural detail is remarkable and he provides many compelling interpretations of the words of Jesus and the events of the gospels. His goal in writing this account was to explain Christianity to a Japanese culture that views a fathers as stern and judgemental figures. Hence, his challenge is to re-define God the Father as a loving and compassionate figure in contrast to the God often portrayed in the Old Testament. His thesis, in my own words, is that Jesus came not to tell everybody that He is God, but rather to tell us who God is. At a time in history when Jesus' countrymen were looking for a violent revolutionary to lead them from Roman occupation, Jesus was rejected as weak and ineffective. Only in dying with dignity and showing faith and forgiveness in his dying words were his followeres able to understand that his message was indeed revolutionary.

He is careful to distinguish "fact" from truth" and hence "A Life of Jesus" is convincing and historically plausible as well as faith inspiring. He never asks the reader to place blind faith in unprovable accounts of miraculous events. Nonetheless, he ends with his account of the resurrection which argues that the transformation in Jesus disciples after the crucifixion is as miraculous as the corporal resurrection of Jesus from the dead, regardless of whether or not such a resurrection is historically factual.

If this book were more well known, Endo would undoubtedly be attacked by evangelical conservatives for suggesting that acceptance of the factuality of the New Testament is not a prerequisite for faith. In fact, he doesn't even touch on the birth narratives because of the historical speciousness. His account may not convince skeptics to run out and join a church, but they may reconsider their notions of the meaning of Jesus and the nature of the Divine.

This is a life of Jesus as told through the eyes of a Japenese man. It is without doubt the most sensitive account of the life of Jesus. The influence of Japanese culture and their concepts of God being understanding goes a long way to help the reader see Jesus in all His humanity and divinity at the same time. By reading this book you learn what being Catholic is all supposed to be about. This reader wants to read other works by Shusaku Endo

This book is the life of Jesus, told in a way that will help today's individuals understand the political and religious climate back then. Using a writing style very similar to "The Perfect Storm", Endo write a beautiful story, interuppting it often to explain the history of a certain people, or explain the politics of the day, so that the reader can better understand what is occuring.

Endo is very careful to point out the difference from what is fact and what is his personal belief, and often provides multiple points of view when his personal beliefs are concerned.

All in all this is an outstanding book that allows people to better understand what the life of Jesus was really like. Whether or not you believe that he was the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth really did exist, and he did live an extrodinary life.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in the subject.

As a Bible Major, I often find myself challenged to find good material that is both personable and yet scholarly when dealing with the life of Jesus. Endo Shusako San's portrayal is one which approaches Jesus in a manner worthy of several reads. In "Life" Endo discusses Jesus on a level which both biblical scholars and the lay person or even non-Christian can appreciate and on each level there is great integrity as well as success: a near impossible task!

Also, having lived in Japan for half a year, finding love with a Japanese woman, and having plans of living there in one year, this book helps us step out of the otherwise American/Westernized picture of Jesus which the community of biblical scholars - who are mainly white and upper-middle class men - has developed.

If you are ready for a vividly real, honest, and (most likely) accurate examination of Jesus' life, pick up a copy today!

What is it that we truly know about Jesus? What can we glean through reading of the scripture about the man who today commands the following of millions of Christians? Physically, we do not have much to go by although many depictions have throughout history sought to bring to life the image of Jesus. Yet from a political and social perspective, we know a lot. Galilee during Jesus' time would have been part of a territory that extended slightly east of the river Jordan ruled as it was by the Jewish King Herod Antipas.

Herod had strong allegiances with the governing hand of Rome and was therefore looked at with much scorn by many Jews at the time, concerned as they were with what they perceived as the `Romanization' of the Jewish tradition. This resentment also extended towards the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem who were seen as having given up the Jewish culture to appease the Roman occupation. So it was that the poor and the suffering maintained their hope in the coming of their messiah- the liberator who would free them from this foreign rule. For these same people, Jesus became their hope.

Initially Jesus did indeed fit the role of a messianic liberator. After a brief time in the wilderness as a follower of John the Baptist he returned with his own group of followers to Galilee where he began to round up his disciples. In contrast to John's proclamation on the wrath of God, Jesus' message was a joyous one mingling as he did with the sick, the poor and the needy. He strictly followed the law but took a courageous stance when it came to helping those who had been condemned by the religious elite.

We see in the Bible how Jesus was a man filled with loving compassion ready to take, "the grief of all the people in the world" on his shoulders (p.51). And yet the ultimate search of many of these people was not for his acts of love but rather for his `signs and wonders'. People wanted miracles that would cure them from their disease, not just acts of kindness. With his ever increasing following, Jesus had the formidable task of trying to affirm a God of love to a people for whom sickness and suffering were commonplace.

For the Jewish authorities back in Jerusalem, Jesus' increasing popularity would have been a source of tremendous concern. The continuing altercations between Jesus and the `spies'- the men sent by the Sanhedrin to investigate his teachings- reveal just how much he had already drawn attention to himself. He had angered the Sanhedrin by healing the sick on the Sabbath. In their eyes he was therefore a blasphemer. Moreover his appeal to the populous as their much-wanted nationalist liberator created shock waves of fear in the hearts of those eager to keep a stable relationship with Rome. Alas Jesus never sought to become a political renegade. Indeed his only claim was to be a man totally intent on showing God's love.

Those embittered with nationalistic fervor would have been disappointed with the `Sermon on the Mount'. Again, Jesus' message of love on this occasion would have dampened the hopes of even his disciples who were rooting for him as their political messiah. Jesus' return to his home town of Nazareth and the cold reception from his very own family would only have added to the sense of isolation that he and his disciples must have already been feeling. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is heard as saying how he the Son of Man had, "no place to lay his head", even in his home town (Luke 9 vs 58). Those who stayed with him followed him on a lonely wondering into the southern regions of Galilee where he finally spoke of the impending end to his earthly life. His death, or more appropriately his slaughter, would be the way through which he would take the pain of human suffering upon himself. For the disciples, they were to carry on in the mission of spreading God's love long after he had died.

Shusaku Endo's account of the moments surrounding the last supper is poignant. Contrary to the popular image of this scene with the twelve disciples sitting in seclusion with Jesus, Endo believes that others in the crowd would also have heard his declaration of the passion and his death. His `doctrine of love' would have underscored his intentions and those listening would probably have been confused and disappointed. Endo paints a picture of Judas Iscariot, the betraying disciple, storming out of the room together with vast crowds and making his way to the palace of the high priest to denounce his leader.

But it was Jesus' death on the cross that signaled the moment of victory. Standing alone while his disciples slept in the garden of Gethsemane on the eastern side of Jerusalem, we read in the Gospels how he was in so much anguish that he sweated blood while crying out to God. Yet he faced the ensuing arrest by the temple guard with little resistance even though his disciple Peter fought valiantly to intervene. Peter's subsequent denial of Jesus and Judas' later realization that he himself had, "betrayed innocent blood", stand as testimony to how much Jesus was alone as he faced the judgment of the high priest Caiaphas.

Endo's account of the unease that followed in both the Jewish and Roman camps as he appeared in front of both Pilate and Herod underscores just how much his subsequent death on the cross served to fulfill the political needs of both sides - a death of convenience designed to preserve political peace. And yet as convenient as it was, the violent and bloody nature of the crucifixion meant that only Jesus came out victorious, declaring to those who had rejected him the immensity of the love of God.

While Endo readily admits that the Gospel accounts differ in several key points, he is firm in his beliefs regarding the truth of who Jesus was and how he died. What is clear is the extent of God's love as demonstrated through the agonizing death of His only son. Today we are all witnesses to that love and just like Endo we all have the opportunity to tell His story.

Endo's "take" on Jesus is unlike most western accounts. I have found it insightful and, insofar as I am a Catholic priest, expect that, while I don't agree with the author totally, his approach will translate itself into future sermon material.

A good book, especially towards the end when Endo helps us understand what the life of Jesus means for him. Throughout his book Endo comments on various scholarly interpretations of the life of Jesus.

Apparently Shusaku Endo wrote "A Life of Jesus" in an attempt to better communicate the Christian faith to his countrymen. In his view the Japanese have not embraced Christianity because of the highly judgmental "paternal" aspects found in the Bible. As a remedy to that he tries to paint a picture of Jesus Christ the man, a simple character that unconditionally loved all whom he encountered. For the most part he succeeds and presents a comprehensive narrative that vividly describes the world Jesus lived in.

It's unforunate then that he should spend so much time trying to downplay the supernatural aspects of Jesus' life and Christianity in general. In conclusion he states that "the human condition is not to be curcumscribed by tangible facts" - yet for much of the book he tries on a number of admitedly speculative theories in an effort to rationalize events recounted in the synoptic texts. Considering that many Japanese people are comfortable with Buddhist concepts such as transmigration or Shinto ideas concerning ancestors and spirit worship it's hard to imagine that they would need pages and pages of exposition to arrive at the simple message "love your neighbour as you love yourself". Western critics are quick to point out that the Japanese are not religious simply because they don't practice in a fashion comparable to those in the West. While this may be true their acceptance of a supernatural realm cannot be argued. Why then does Endo spend so much time on this issue?

It almost seems as if he's trying to rationalize his own faith and gets sidetracked with his intended goal. Issues like the virgin birth, stating that Jesus was John the Baptist's "disciple", the feeding of 5000, the account of Lazarus and countless other literal interpretations do little to serve his ultimate goal. The most baffling apology of all is Endo's account of the resurrection which states that the disciples merely concocted this story out of guilt for selling out Jesus to the Sandhedrin. Again he further dilutes his message to embolden his narrative.

Harsh criticism aside, this book is very well written and paints a unique picture of the man Jesus Christ. If nothing else it's thought provoking and well paced. Considering the miniscule impact it seems to have had on Japanese society, Endo would probably consider this work a failure. On the whole though it's another voice and another opinion. If Japan is to ever embrace Christianity they'll likely need more Endos delivering impassioned pleas such as that found in "A Life of Jesus".

This book gave us a chance to understand and learn more about Jesus and what he means to a person from a different culture. Loved the book!
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