Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (Christ the Lord) | Anne Rice

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (Christ the Lord) | Anne Rice | Challenging

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	Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (Christ the Lord) Anne Rice Knopf, 2008 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 67 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Christ Grows into Public Ministry in Powerful "Road to Cana"

In his seminal book, "Life of Christ," beloved Catholic broadcaster/evangelist Fulton Sheen describes the wedding at Cana as "a rehearsal for Golgotha" and Christ's Crucifixion. "There is a striking parallel between His Father's bidding Him to His public death and His mother's bidding Him to His public life," he writes. "Obedience triumphed in both cases; at Cana, the water was changed into wine; at Calvary, the wine was changed into blood."

Anne Rice builds her magisterial Christian novel around three seminal Gospel events: Jesus' first miracle of turning water to wine at Cana, His temptation by Satan in the desert, and His baptism at the Jordan. Each precedes Christ's ministry (it gives nothing away to say the book ends with Jesus and His apostles starting their commission) and points to what He will do and who He was (is): each marks where His fully divine and human natures met, battled, and triumphed.

Staying fully within Gospel tradition, "Road to Cana" builds an historically accurate, compelling narrative to follow 2006's "Out of Egypt." Here, Jesus (again called Yeshua, "the sinless") stands amid family and village strife as fellow Nazoreans want to rebel against Roman occupation. He must also deal with an increasingly dry season (Rice vividly portrays parched lands and sky quelled by cold baths and swallows of water) which His prayers end to family amazement.

Most powerfully throughout the book, Jesus transforms His love for the town's most beautiful single woman, Avigail. His humanity yearns in dreams for married life's closeness and physical affection (not to mention quelling concerns over not being married at his age). But as He realizes and accepts His mission, His love for her becomes as brother to sister. Her offer of physical closeness (arising from pain and needing acceptance) becomes His counteroffer of spiritual comfort after a painful family rejection. His financial and spiritual support of her marriage, with colorful celebration and surprising conclusion, becomes the start of His obedience not only to His mother (who attended Cana and to whom Rice's gives warm, witty repartee to Her Son) but to His Father in Heaven. Within this fictional subtext, Rice gives a powerful, overlooked example of a sacrifice Christ made for humanity.

It adds all the more Gothic drama to His desert battle with the self-described "Helel Ben-Shahar" (the one Christ called "The Lie" and "Lord of the Flies"). Rice includes each Scriptural word they exchanged, but Jesus' describing His mission and battle plan to defeat Satan should be a template for ministers and rouse joy in faith-filled readers.

"The Road to Cana," carries Ms. Rice's hallmarks from her new career phase: meticulous accuracy, balance between Christ's roles as family member, friend, arbiter, perceived political hero, real spiritual hero and finally, lone figure between His heavenly Father and the world He came to save. The book ends where that journey began, and "Road to Cana" builds a compelling narrative linking each of those signposts. Highly entertaining, inspirational, and recommended.

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Challenging

Anne Rice has written a book full of paradox. It is simultaneously challenging and comforting, orthodox and questioning, historically accurate and fictional, lean and richly told. Like the Pope's book, Jesus of Nazareth, this novel amounts to Anne Rice's personal search for the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Rice is a Catholic, and this review is written as a Catholic review. It should go without saying however that all Christians and all people would benefit from reading Rice's latest, and perhaps best, work.

The book is both orthodox and questioning. In the opening few chapters Rice raises the question of homosexuality. Yet, Rice artfully deals with the issue, which arises when two boys are stoned to death in Nazareth without a trial because of the suspicion of sodomy. Jesus can not stop the stoning, neither can the Rabbi of the village who tried valiantly while demanding the witnesses be brought forward. Jesus is prevented from intervening by his elder brother James, but He is aghast at the mob "justice." The question as to the boy's guilt is not truly settled until Satan tempts Jesus in the dessert. However Jesus (Yeshua) offers the reader no easy answers. In fact, immediately following this ordeal, we are introduced to the character Avigail, whom Yeshua loves. When Jesus is struggling with this human conjugal love (remarkably sinless and free of lust) the Scripture verses that Christ ponders are those same verses John Paul II considered when writing the Theology of the Body. "Man and woman He created them; it is not good for man to be alone; for this reason a man will leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife." It is as if Rice is challenging the reader to deal with the Scriptural and moral evidence and to draw their own conclusions or reexamine already held beliefs.

Some may find this part of the book challenging as they have become Catholics because of the Church's teachings on sex and sexuality. Catholics who rejoice in the Church's teachings on sex and sexuality and attempt to live them report that they find these teachings glorious, life-giving, and liberating. Rice perhaps disagrees, but she is so humble that she raises the question and refuses to put her own biases into Yeshua's heart or mouth. This level of restraint is remarkable, and shows a mature Catholic artist dealing in a non-scandalous way with the teaching authority of her Church. The result is two or three challenging but humble chapters that encourage the reader to think. By even raising the issue of homosexuality in this way, Rice has opened herself to criticism as someone who has an agenda. The criticism from some will be pointed and perhaps angry, and this will be understandable. However, her restraint and honesty deserve praise. It is because of this restraint and honesty that many thinking Catholics who love the Church's teachings and consider themselves orthodox may well find themselves as comforted as they are challenged by Rice's book. Rice, it seems, is a liberal when it comes to the moral teachings of the Church; but she is a liberal with a decidedly open mind and heart. This is a rarity among progressives in the Church who are increasingly bitter, angry, and hateful towards their fellow Catholics who embrace what the Church teaches. Furthermore, when it comes to creedal Christianity, Rice is uncompromisingly orthodox and refuses to fall into the modernist traps of denying Christ's divinity, His historical reality, or the reality of His real and literal bodily resurrection. This uncompromising faith is what makes her a Christian, and she is a brave one at that.

The role of women is also addressed, as Avigail is victim of an attempted rape early in the book. The role of women, their place in the world, and their role as followers of Jesus are issues that are raised and dealt with in a sensitive manner. Remarkably, the raising of these two politically correct shibboleths in the very beginning of the text does not detract from the authenticity of the novel, and neither episode is overly modernistic and therefore distracting. This is a result of Rice's restraint and artistic competence.

It is also due the fact that Rice is relentless in her pursuit of historical accuracy. In her first book Rice demonstrated a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of first century Israel, and that same knowledge informs her characters, informs their actions, and informs their motives. An especially rich character in this regard is Jason, who is ends up being the "rich man" of the Gospel who goes away sad when Jesus asks him to give up everything he has to follow him. I will not give away anything of this character. He is so richly painted that it would ruin an important part of the book.

The entire book is richly told for that matter. We see the sights, smell the smells, and feel the feelings of first century Israel. However, despite the richness, the book is incredible short, under 200 pages, and the prose is leaner than anything I have ever read by Rice before. To this reader, this book feels more like Hemmingway than many of Rice's past books, especially the lush vampire novels of my youth.

Any person who loves the writing of Anne Rice and has found her journey home to the faith of her fathers interesting and heartening will benefit from this book. Everyone, regardless of faith and regardless of perspective, should give this book a chance. It is great literature; perhaps the best Rice has ever written. Whether the subject matter makes it impossible to be recognized as such remains to be seen.

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A Beautiful, Heart-Warming Book!

Like most here have said, the second-half of the book was clearly the most interesting. When news came to the village that John the Baptist had come out of the wilderness and was fulfilling the Prophecy, I actually began to shake, anticipating Yeshua's trip to the river. It's the kind of shake you get when you're a little too cold, but nothing I could do would stop the shaking! Finally, when he was baptised and began his journey into the wilderness, I calmed down. His conversations with Satan were phenominal! What an imagination to build that from the scriptures!

My favorite line from the entire book came at the onset of his journey into the desert: "Well, now I knew just what it meant to be the man who knew he was God." I had to stop reading for a while to recover from that line, then read it over and over again!

I also enjoyed Him telling James: "I am weary of you, by brother... in my heart, I'm weary."

The last page of the book is sheer genius and made my heart swell with Happiness!

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A book to be shared

I bought both books by Anne Rice in the Christ the Lord series. Both are excellent. I found them scripturally correct as much as possible - remembering that they are fiction. I will share them with friends. They present interesting ideas and made me feel that Jesus was more human than I had really thought about. The Divine makes it hard to see the human. These books helped strengthen my faith - besides being good reads.

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana

This is a beautifully done continuation of Anne's "Christ the Lord" series. Her characterizations are brilliant, her story-line faithful to the Scriptures, and her theology superb. I loved the first book, "Out of Egypt", and this one was even more satisfying.

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