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CHRIST THE LORD: THE ROAD TO CANA
Anne Rice
Knopf
Fiction
ISBN: 9781400043521
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Anne Rice, best known for her gothic horror novels that primarily feature vampires and other lost souls, embarks on her second fictional portrayal of Yeshua (Jesus) in CHRIST THE LORD: THE ROAD TO CANA. She deftly blends both imagined dialogue and situations with actual New Testament writings to piece together a period of Yeshua’s youth and young adulthood not depicted in the Gospels.
The first installment of the series, CHRIST THE LORD: OUT OF EGYPT, focused on Yeshua as a child and ended with him as an eight-year-old unsure of his destiny. With this second novel, we start out with a mature Yeshua in his early 30s who is much closer to realizing his destiny and purpose. However, this does not come easily and involves several tumultuous events that lead him to his own self-realization.
At the start of the book, Yeshua and his people are in Nazareth and growing ever-concerned over the Roman leadership that has recently instilled a new leader to govern their territory, Pontius Pilate. Yeshua doesn’t feel any need to join the growing masses in defiance against Roman rule, for he is too preoccupied with his own internal struggles. He witnesses a brutal stoning of two young villagers in Nazareth that he feels helpless to stop, and is receiving much pressure from his own family --- particularly his brother, James --- to choose a mate and marry. What makes this pressure even stronger is the presence of Avigail, a neighbor who has obvious feelings for Yeshua. Yeshua adores Avigail but knows that, like the Prophet Jeremiah, he will never marry. More and more, he finds himself seeking the solace of the olive grove --- the place he loves most.
Yeshua knows he has abilities and can perform unexplained “miracles.” He is now well aware of the prophecies about the Messiah but still has doubts. An incident in which Yeshua is alone with Avigail in the olive grove leads to speculation amongst the villagers that something less than innocent has occurred. Particularly concerned is Shemayah, Avigail’s father, who feels she has been shamed and all but disowns her.
Yeshua makes a trek to Cana to visit with Hannamel, Avigail’s cousin and famous judge and scribe, making it clear that he did not in any way dishonor Avigail and has no intentions of marrying her. Hannamel already has his own suitor picked out for Avigail --- Reuben --- and with Yeshua’s help they vow to bring these two together.
Later on in the novel, word spreads throughout the village that a man named John is performing mass baptisms at the River Jordan. Could this be Yeshua’s long-lost cousin? A group from Nazareth and surrounding villages journey to the River Jordan, and Yeshua discovers that it is indeed his cousin, John. Yeshua submits to being baptized in the Jordan by John, and this act awakens and spurs him to confront his destiny. As it turns out, this involves Yeshua journeying into the wilderness and dealing with his own inner demons as well as facing the infamous temptation posed by Satan.
Rice now takes us comfortably into familiar Gospel territory as she describes the temptation trials Yeshua faces from Satan. Having passed this test, he emerges to rejoin his villagers to find that his earth-bound father, Joseph, has died during his time in the wilderness. He also is informed of the upcoming nuptials in Cana for Avigail and Reuben at the home of Hannamel. It is at this time that Yeshua’s disciples begin to form in response to the realization of his destiny. At the wedding we witness one of his most famous miracles --- the turning of water into wine --- thus anointing him as the Chosen One.
The brevity of THE ROAD TO CANA --- 235 pages --- provides for nice pacing, and the fictional style of known and unknown passages in Yeshua’s life makes for an intriguing read. Personally I would have liked for Rice to have moved slower with this series and spent some time on Yeshua’s teen years. The leap from an eight-year-old boy in OUT OF EGYPT to a man in his early 30s here is a bit extreme. Nevertheless, Rice has boldly stepped into territory that most people are familiar with and achieved another novel that goes to great lengths to humanize Yeshua while at the same time documenting his rise to realizing his own destiny as the Chosen One.
--- Reviewed by Ray Palen
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