ANDREW MAYES is worried that we have over-emphasised the more comforting images for Jesus (such as shepherd and servant), resulting in a faith that is tame and predictable, instead of risky, outrageous, and passionate.
Accordingly, he examines Jesus as builder, hermit, rebel, mystic, poet, dancer, jester, iconoclast, and pilgrim, bringing two personal perspectives to bear.
The first is a deep knowledge of the Holy Land, particularly from his time as Course Director at St George’s College, Jerusalem. He drew on this extensively in his Lent course, Roads of Hurt and Hope (Books, 19 January 2024), and uses it to good effect in this book, alongside close reading of the Gospels, with useful reference to background literature.
He is also an Anglican priest and a Franciscan. In each chapter, he exemplifies the image of Christ which he is exploring from the life of St Francis, whom Dante called “another Christ”, before applying the outcome to Christian discipleship. It is an original way to extend his case.
Occasionally, there is some special pleading. The long-established fact that the word traditionally translated “carpenter” could also mean builder or mason Mayes links with a huge building project that was taking place at Sefforis, not far from Nazareth, during Jesus’s early years. He concludes that Jesus must have worked there as a versatile construction worker, and “no doubt” was disturbed by the oppressive working conditions. It might explain why Jesus talked more about stone than wood.
Similarly, the chapter on Jesus the jester. It is not unusual to say that much of his humour must have been edited out of the tradition. To say that, “when Jesus first uttered [his] words, they would often be greeted by howls of laughter,” is a bigger assumption.
But, generally, Mayes is effective in bringing to life neglected images. Following Jesus the dancer, “We are not giving [people] yet another job to do in church. . . We are inviting them to dance to the music of the Spirit.” As poet, Jesus “does not instruct so much as evoke and provoke”.
The pilgrim Jesus, so often portrayed on the move, is associated with dramatic recent archaeological discoveries at the Pool of Siloam, which set the healing of the blind man in a context of pilgrimage. (We are also reminded that when Jesus “came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptised”, it was not just an inner journey, but a hundred-mile trek).
Another Christ is effective in helping rebalance our picture of Jesus, with the help of St Francis. To avoid over-compensation, Mayes’s next book might rediscover the power of those familiar images that he holds at arm’s length.
The Revd Philip Welsh is a retired priest in the diocese of London.
Another Christ: Rediscovering Jesus, Francis, and discipleship today
Andrew D. Mayes
Resource Publications £20
(979-8-3852-2738-9)
Church Times Bookshop £18
