Jesus the Son of Man
Kahlil Gibran
A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook
Title: Jesus the Son of Man (1928)
Author: Kahlil Gibran
eBook No.: 0301451.txt
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Language: English
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Date first posted: October 2003
Date most recently updated: October 2003
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A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook
Title: Jesus the Son of Man (1928)
Author: Kahlil Gibran
HIS WORDS AND HIS DEEDS AS TOLD AND RECORDED BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIM
[THE ILLUSTRATIONS IN THIS VOLUME ARE REPRODUCED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY
THE AUTHOR--Not reproduced in this eBook.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
JAMES THE SON OF ZEBEDEE
On the Kingdoms of the World
ANNA THE MOTHER OF MARY
On the Birth of Jesus
ASSAPH CALLED THE ORATOR OF TYRE
On the Speech of Jesus
MARY MAGDALEN
On Meeting Jesus for the First Time
PHILEMON A GREEK APOTHECARY
On Jesus the Master Physician
SIMON WHO WAS CALLED PETER
When He and His Brother were Called
CAIAPHAS
The High Priest
JOANNA THE WIFE OF HEROD'S STEWARD
On Children
RAFCA
The Bride of Cana
A PERSIAN PHILOSOPHER IN DAMASCUS
Of Ancient Gods and New
DAVID ONE OF HIS FOLLOWERS
Jesus the Practical
LUKE
On Hypocrites
MATTHEW
The Sermon on the Mount
JOHN THE SON OF ZEBEDEE
On the Various Appellations of Jesus
A YOUNG PRIEST OF CAPERNAUM
Of Jesus the Magician
A RICH LEVI IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF NAZARETH
Jesus the Good Carpenter
A SHEPHERD IN SOUTH LEBANON
A Parable
JOHN THE BAPTIST
He Speaks in Prison to His Disciples
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHAEA
On the Primal Jims of Jesus
NATHANIEL
Jesus was not Meek
SABA OF ANTIOCH
On Saul of Tarsus
SALOME TO A WOMAN FRIEND
A Desire Unfulfilled
RACHAEL A WOMAN DISCIPLE
On Jesus the Vision and the Man
CLEOPAS OF BETHROUNE
On the Law and the Prophets
NAAMAN OF THE GADARENES
On the Death of Stephen
THOMAS
On the Forefathers of His Doubts
ELMADAM THE LOGICIAN
Jesus the Outcast
ONE OF THE MARYS
On His Sadness and His Smile
RUMANOUS A GREEK POET
Jesus the Poet
LEVI A DISCIPLE
On Those who would Confound Jesus
A WIDOW 114 GALILEE
Jesus the Cruel
JUDAS THE COUSIN OF JESUS
On the Death of John the Baptist
THE MAN FROM THE DESERT
On the Money-changers
PETER
On the Morrow of His Followers
MELACHI OF BABYLON, AN ASTRONOMER
The Miracles of Jesus
A PHILOSOPHER
On Wonder and Beauty
URIAH AN OLD MAN OF NAZARETH
He was a Stranger in our Midst
NICODEMUS THE POET
On Fools and Jugglers
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHAEA
The Two Streams in Jesus' Heart
GEORGUS OF BEIRUT
On Strangers
MARY MAGDALEN
His Mouth was like the Heart of a Pomegranate
JOTHAM OF NAZARETH TO A ROMAN
On Living and Being
EPHRAIM OF JERICHO
The Other Wedding-Feast
BARCA A MERCHANT OF TYRE
On Buying and Selling
PHUMIAH THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF SIDON
An Invocation
BENJAMIN THE SCRIBE
Let the Dead Bury Their Dead
ZACCHAEUS
On the Fate of Jesus
JONATHAN
Among the Water-lilies
HANNAH OF BETHSAIDA
She Speaks of her Father's Sister
MANASSEH
On the Speech and Gesture of Jesus
JEPHTHA OF CAESAREA
A Man Weary of Jesus
JOHN THE BELOVED DISCIPLE
On Jesus the Word
MANNUS THE POMPEIIAN, TO A GREEK
On the Semitic Deity
PONTIUS PILATUS
Of Eastern Rites and Cults
BARTHOLOMEW IN EPHESUS
On Slaves and Outcasts
MATTHEW
On Jesus by a Prison Wall
ANDREW
On Prostitutes
A RICH MAN
On Possessions
JOHN AT PATMOS
Jesus the Gracious
PETER
On the Neighbor
A COBBLER IN JERUSALEM
A Neutral
SUSANNAH OF NAZARETH
Of the Youth and Manhood of Jesus
JOSEPH SURNAMED JUSTUS
Jesus the Wayfarer
PHILIP
And When He Died All Mankind Died
BIRBARAH OF YAMMOUNI
On Jesus the Impatient
PILATE'S WIFE TO A ROMAN LADY
A MAN OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM
Of Judas
SARKIS AN OLD GREEK SHEPHERD, CALLED THE MADMAN
Jesus and Pan
ANNAS THE HIGH PRIEST
On Jesus the Rabble
A WOMAN, ONE OF MARY'S NEIGHBORS
A Lamentation
AHAZ THE PORTLY
The Keeper of the Inn
BARABBAS
The Last Words of Jesus
CLAUDIUS A ROMAN SENTINEL
Jesus the Stoic
JAMES THE BROTHER OF THE LORD
The Last Supper
SIMON THE CYRENE
He who Carried the Cross
CYBOREA
The Mother of Judas
THE WOMAN OF BYBLOS
A Lamentation
MARY MAGDALEN (THIRTY YEARS LATER)
On the Resurrection of the Spirit
A MAN FROM LEBANON
Nineteen Centuries Afterward
JESUS THE SON OF MAN
JAMES THE SON OF ZEBEDEE
UPON A DAY IN THE SPRING OF THE YEAR Jesus stood in
the market-place of
Jerusalem and He spoke to the multitudes of the kingdom of heaven.
And He accused the scribes and the Pharisees of setting snares and
digging pitfalls in the path of those who long after the kingdom; and He
denounced them.
Now amongst the crowd was a company of men who defended the Pharisees and
the scribes, and they sought to lay hands upon Jesus and upon us also.
But He avoided them and turned aside from them, and walked towards the
north gate of the city.
And He said to us, "My hour has not yet come. Many are the things I have
still to say unto you, and many are the deeds I shall yet perform ere I
deliver myself up to the world."
Then He said, and there was joy and laughter in His voice, "Let us go
into the North Country and meet the spring. Come with me to the hills,
for winter is past and the snows of Lebanon are descending to the valleys
to sing with the brooks.
"The fields and the vineyards have banished sleep and are awake to greet
the sun with their green figs and tender grapes."
And He walked before us and we followed Him, that day and the next.
And upon the afternoon of the third day we reached the summit of Mount
Hermon, and there He stood looking down upon the cities of the plains.
And His face shone like molten gold, and He outstretched His arms and He
said to us, "Behold the earth in her green raiment, and see how the
streams have hemmed the edges of her garments with silver.
"In truth the earth is fair and all that is upon her is fair.
"But there is a kingdom beyond all that you behold, and therein I shall
rule. And if it is your choice, and if it is indeed your desire, you too
shall come and rule with me.
"My face and your faces shall not be masked; our hand shall hold neither
sword nor sceptre, and our subjects shall love us in peace and shall not
be in fear of us."
Thus spoke Jesus, and unto all the kingdoms of the earth I was blinded,
and unto all the cities of walls and towers; and it was in my heart to
follow the Master to His kingdom.
Then just at that moment Judas of Iscariot stepped forth. And he walked
close up to Jesus, and spoke and said, "Behold, the kingdoms of the world
are vast, and behold the cities of David and Solomon shall prevail
against the Romans. If you will be the king of the Jews we shall stand
beside you with sword and shield and we shall overcome the alien."
But when Jesus heard this He turned upon Judas, and His face was filled
with wrath. And He spoke in a voice terrible as the thunder of the sky
and He said, "Get you behind me, Satan. Think you that I came down the
years to rule an ant-hill for a day?
"My throne is a throne beyond your vision. Shall he whose wings encircle
the earth seek shelter in a nest abandoned and forgotten?
"Shall the living be honored and exalted by the wearer of shrouds?
"My kingdom is not of this earth, and my seat is not builded upon the
skulls of your ancestors.
"If you seek aught save the kingdom of the spirit then it were better for
you to leave me here, and go down to the caves of your dead, where the
crowned heads of yore hold court in their tombs and may still be
bestowing honors upon the bones of your forefathers.
"Dare you tempt me with a crown of dross, when my forehead seeks the
Pleiades, or else your thorns?
"Were it not for a dream dreamed by a forgotten race I would not suffer
your sun to rise upon my patience, nor your moon to throw my shadow
across your path.
"Were it not for a mother's desire I would have stripped me of the
swaddling-clothes and escaped back to space.
"And were it not for sorrow in all of you I would not have stayed to
weep.
"Who are you and what are you, Judas Iscariot? And why do you tempt me?
"Have you in truth weighed me in the scale and found me one to lead
legions of pygmies, and to direct chariots of the shapeless against an
enemy that encamps only in your hatred and marches nowhere but in your
fear?
"Too many are the worms that crawl about my feet, and I will give them no
battle. I am weary of the jest, and weary of pitying the creepers who
deem me coward because I will not move among their guarded walls and
towers.
"Pity it is that I must needs pity to the very end. Would that I could
turn my steps towards a larger world where larger men dwell. But how
shall I?
"Your priest and your emperor would have my blood. They shall be
satisfied ere I go hence. I would not change the course of the law. And I
would not govern folly.
"Let ignorance reproduce itself until it is weary of its own off spring.
"Let the blind lead the blind to the pitfall.
"And let the dead bury the dead till the earth be choked with its own
bitter fruit.
"My kingdom is not of, the earth. My kingdom shall be where two or three
of you shall meet in love, and in wonder at the loveliness of life, and
in good cheer, and in remembrance of me."
Then of a sudden He turned to Judas, and He said, "Get you behind me,
man. Your kingdoms shall never be in my kingdom."
And now it was twilight, and He turned to us and said, "Let us go down.
The night is upon us. Let us walk in light while the light is with us."
Then He went down from the hills and we followed Him. And Judas followed
afar off.
And when we reached the lowland it was night.
And Thomas, the son of Diophanes, said unto Him, "Master, it is dark now,
and we can no longer see the way. If it is in your will, lead us to the
lights of yonder village where we may find meat and shelter."
And Jesus answered Thomas, and He said, "I have led you to the heights
when you were hungry, and I have brought you down to the plains with a
greater hunger. But I cannot stay with you this night. I would be alone."
Then Simon Peter stepped forth, and said:
"Master, suffer us not to go alone in the dark. Grant that we may stay
with you even here on this byway. The night and the shadows of the night
will not linger, and the morning shall soon find us if you will but stay
with us."
And Jesus answered, "This night the foxes shall have their holes, and the
birds of the air their nests, but the Son of Man has not where on earth
to lay His head. And indeed I would now be alone. Should you desire me
you will find me again by the lake where I found you."
Then we walked away from Him with heavy hearts, for it was not in our
will to leave Him.
Many times did we stop and turn our faces towards Him, and we saw Him in
lonely majesty, moving westward.
The only man among us who did not turn to behold Him in His aloneness was
Judas Iscariot.
And from that day Judas became sullen and distant. And methought there
was danger in the sockets of his eyes.
ANNA THE MOTHER OF MARY
JESUS THE SON OF MY DAUGHTER, WAS BORN here in Nazareth in the month of
January. And the night that Jesus was born we were visited by men from
the East. They were Persians who came to Esdrael
on with the caravans of
the Midianites on their way to Egypt. And because they did not find rooms
at the inn they sought shelter in our house.
And I welcomed them and I said, "My daughter has given birth to a son
this night. Surely you will forgive me if I do not serve you as it
behooves a hostess."
Then they thanked me for giving them shelter. And after they had supped
they said to me: "We would see the new-born."
Now the Son of Mary was beautiful to behold, and she too was comely.
And when the Persians beheld Mary and her babe, they took gold and silver
from their bags, and myrrh and frankincense, and laid them all at the
feet of the child.
Then they fell down and prayed in a strange tongue which we did not
understand.
And when I led them to the bedchamber prepared for them they walked as if
they were in awe at what they had seen.
When morning was come they left us and followed the road to Egypt.
But at parting they spoke to me and said: "The child is but a day old,
yet we have seen the light of our God in His eyes and the smile of our
God upon His mouth.
"We bid you protect Him that He may protect you all."
And so saying, they mounted their camels and we saw them no more.
Now Mary seemed not so much joyous in her first-born, as full of wonder
and surprise.
She would look long upon her babe, and then turn her face to the window
and gaze far away into the sky as if she saw visions.
And there were valleys between her heart and mine.
And the child grew in body and spirit, and He was different from other
children. He was aloof and hard to govern, and I could not lay my hand
upon Him.
But He was beloved by everyone in Nazareth, and in my heart I knew why.
Oftentimes He would take away our food to give to the passerby. And He
would give other children the sweetmeat I had given Him, before He had
tasted it with His own mouth.
He would climb the trees of my orchard to get the fruits, but never to
eat them Himself.
And He would race with other boys, and sometimes, because He was swifter
of foot, He would delay so that they might pass the stake ere He should
reach it.
And sometimes when I led Him to His bed He would say, "Tell my mother and
the others that only my body will sleep. My mind will be with them till
their mind come to my morning."
And many other wondrous words He said when He was a boy, but I am too old
to remember.
Now they tell me I shall see Him no more. But how shall I believe what
they say?
I still hear His laughter, and the sound of His running about my house.
And whenever I kiss the cheek of my daughter His fragrance returns to my
heart, and His body seems to fill my arms.
But is it not passing strange that my daughter does not speak of her
first-born to me?
Sometimes it seems that my longing for Him is greater than hers. She
stands as firm before the day as if she were a bronzen image, while my
heart melts and runs into streams.
Perhaps she knows what I do not know. Would that she might tell me also.
ASSAPH
CALLED THE ORATOR OF TYRE
WHAT SHALL I SAY OF HIS SPEECH? PERHAPS something about His person lent
power to His words and swayed those who heard Him. For He was comely, and
the sheen of the day was upon His countenance.
Men and women gazed at Him more than they listened to His argument. But
at times He spoke with the power of a spirit, and that spirit had
authority over those who heard Him.
In my youth I had heard the orators of Rome and Athens and Alexandria.
The young Nazarene was unlike them all.
They assembled their words with an art to enthrall the ear, but when you
heard Him your heart would leave you and go wandering into regions not
yet visited.
He would tell a story or relate a parable, and the like of His stories
