The Five Books of Jesus

Jan 24, 2024

Book One, Chapter One

February 25, 2023

It starts in the desert.

In the beginning of the world, says Genesis, the whole earth was a void and the spirit of God swept over it. This desert out on the banks of the Jordan is no void—even in the night the camels moan and the crickets chirp—but when it does get quiet some say you can still feel the spirit of God sweep by, breathe it deep down into your chest.

Book One, Chapter Two

March 4, 2023

After John goes to prison, his legend grows even larger. Everyone in Judea talks about him now: the workmen in the quarries who can’t help but think about his boldness every time they strike the unforgiving face of the rock, the visiting palace steward and his wife whose hushed tones at night and knowing glancing in daylight say he was right…

Book One, Chapter Three

March 11, 2023

It’s quiet on the lake where Simon and his brother Andrew are searching desperately for fish to fill an empty boat and empty stomachs, but the hours have been empty, too, so the only proof they have of their hard day’s work is the gleam of the late afternoon sun on the gathered waters. Zebedee’s boys pull closer and call out to Simon and And…

Book One, Chapter Four

March 18, 2023

When everyone is awake, Jesus announces they’re going back into Capernaum. Since Zebedee’s employees took the boats home, it’ll be a long walk, but Jesus says it’s better if they go in after dark anyway: it’s hard for him to find a moment alone under the sun, but the starlight suits him.

Book One, Chapter Five

March 25, 2023

Peter dreams that night of fish. In his dream, the lake has risen to his house, so that he doesn’t have to choose between following and fishing: he is inviting the sick straight into the courtyard, seating them here and there while they wait for his Master; the lake must follow him because he feels a fish swimming right past his ankle, looks down in tim…

Book One, Chapter Six

April 1, 2023

An angry shepherd accosts Thomas: one of his sheep has either been stolen or else become confused by the crowds and wandered off. Is this any way to treat someone who freely offered his advice and hospitality? “Calm down,” says Thomas, “it’s just one sheep.”

Book One, Chapter Seven

April 15, 2023

It starts in the assembly. One of Jesus’ former disciples reads from Ezekiel: And I will judge you, the way women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; I will give you blood in fury and jealousy. Then he sits, and speaks about Israel’s obligation to keep its covenants, about the dangers of religious laxity in a time of occupation.

Book Two, Chapter One

April 23, 2023

The rumors that get back to Jesus’ family in Nazareth are not encouraging. They don’t listen too closely to the former disciples who pass through with stories about how his fame has filled him with arrogance. They do their best to ignore the men who come just to look for Mary, to warn her of plots and snares they’ve heard about from people who want to s…

Book Two, Chapter Two

April 29, 2023

As they approach the camp again, James and John hear their mother. Why she’s made the journey out to see them and what has her so animated at the moment they can only guess, but long before they can see her face, there’s no doubt it’s her. Of all the women in Capernaum, Salome has the most distinctive voice—and the one most likely to be raised when some…

Book Two, Chapter Three

May 6, 2023

Some say killers and their weapons like to gamble with each other over the next victim’s name. And that once the wager has been placed, they grow impatient to see whose blood will be made to redden next as it is brought naked to face the air. In this empire, the suspense never lasts long. Executioners in palaces keep their weapons unsheathed by their bed…

Book Two, Chapter Four

May 13, 2023

Jesus gets up early in the morning and leads the twelve to a quiet spot on the stream next to Bethsaida. On the west side of the stream is Galilee proper, ruled by the Herod who killed John, but here on the east side they’re safely in his brother Philip’s land.

Book Two, Chapter Five

May 20, 2023

Matthew and Thomas are the last of the twelve to get word that Jesus is now in Magdala and wants to meet them there. In the evening, they say their goodbyes to the people of the town where they’ve been preaching. As soon as the sun sets, the air cools off, and the villagers go to sleep, Matthew and Thomas plan to go.

Book Two, Chapter Six

May 27, 2023

Evening winds stir the lake’s waters, so it’s a rough ride back to Magdala for the apostles who grew up inland. Thomas has the worst time. While the others take turns helping row, he hangs on to the side of the boat against the swaying feeling inside him and breathes through his mouth to keep his stomach from turning at the accumulated smell of old fish.

Book Two, Chapter Seven

June 3, 2023

It’s a three days’ walk straight from Magdala to Zarephath: two if you’re in a hurry. Jesus doesn’t go straight or hurry, so it takes him a week and a half. They spend the first day in Magdala. Jesus has a long talk with Matthew and Thomas, who he’s leaving behind to care for his followers here. Mary and Judas pack provisions while the others prepare the…

Book Two, Chapter Eight

June 10, 2023

Magdala’s fishermen are still out on the lake when Jesus’ boat comes in, so it’s quiet on the harbor. For a moment, Peter wishes he could push out to fish instead of heading into the city: he knows how to harvest the lake’s bounty far better than he knows, even now, how to handle the crowds. But because he made a promise, he doesn’t hesitate long. He he…

Book Two, Chapter Nine

June 18, 2023

Before Jesus sends out the seventy, he gives them a warning: they’ll be like sheep among wolves. They all nod gravely and brace themselves against dangers they vaguely imagine, but almost none of them really understand, because almost none of them have spent enough time alone out in the hills, as Jesus has, to see how wolves hunt.

Book Two, Chapter Ten

June 24, 2023

That night, four of the apostles have nightmares. In his dream, Matthew is running down an alley toward the setting sun, his heart pounding so hard he can feel it in his temples. He knows he has to get to his office before they come. He needs to protect the names written in his ledger. The slanting light half-blinds him and he trips on one rock, falling …

Book Two, Chapter Eleven

July 1, 2023

Jesus has led them up hills before, but Galilee’s hills are nothing like this mountain. At first, they think he’s just looking for a solitary place on its steep, forbidding slopes. But after an hour or so of strenuous climbing, they realize he’s leading them toward the top of the mountain—though the summit is still far beyond their sight.

Book Two, Chapter Twelve

July 8, 2023

Apostles return from the north, south, and east to their meeting place in the hills, but Matthew’s group is late. As he watches for them, Nathanael grows more and more nervous. Didn’t the other nine leave the province for a reason? Aren’t they keeping out of sight for a reason now? What might have happened to the one group that stayed in Galilee?

Book Three: Vayiqra (And He Called), Section One

July 15, 2023

Book Three: Vayiqra (And He Called), Section One

“If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. . .”Someday they’ll see: the driving wind mingles the dust of my body with the ashes of the moth —Sauda

Book Three: Vayiqra (And He Called), Section One (Continued)

July 29, 2023

Book Three: Vayiqra (And He Called), Section One (Continued)

When they approach the eastern wall of Jerusalem—God’s chosen city—the people who have come with Jesus start to pave the road with their clothes, lining the way for him. And as he draws closer to the city, they start to sing from a psalm: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the House of the Lord! God is the Lord, let his …

Book Three, Section Two

August 13, 2023

Don’t regret our breath’s use as air, our blood’s as oil— some lamps at last are burning in the night. —Faiz Mary from Magdala goes to the market with all the savings she has. For years, she’s managed money carefully, feeling that someday she would need it—she never would have imagined, though, she’d be spending her savings like this.

Book Three, Section Two (continued)

August 26, 2023

Judas sits out in the courtyard while the others sleep inside. Judas wants to pray, but he can’t focus. Judas tries to pray the same thing he’s prayed thousands of times: “When is the End going to come? Master of the Universe, when is it going to come?” But when he starts to say the words, there’s none of the warmth or excitement he used to feel in resp…

Book Three, Section Three

September 3, 2023

“I am like a candle that has gone out on the grave of a poor man.”—Ghalib Torches shine like scars on the dark, smooth face of this spring night when the clanking of steel against a rock startles eight of the apostles awake. A group of armed men—the high priest’s Temple guards and a few Roman soldiers—pass close by, muscles tensed in anxious anticipation.

Book Four, "Sinai"

September 18, 2023

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” 1. Andrew and Nathanael hear from the men in the fish market, who heard it from a passing soldier. James hears from John when he gets back in the late afternoon. Simon and Philip hear from a passerby shortly after they wake up, panicked, in a filthy alley. Matthew and Thomas hear from them an hour later.

Book Five: Devarim (Words)

October 7, 2023

Mary’s hair is white and thinning by the time the foreign doctor comes to visit; her joints are sore and stiff. He speaks halting Aramaic with a heavy accent; she wishes she’d been educated, so she could talk to him in his native Greek tongue. People have been talking about her son for decades, but no one has asked her so many questions before, or liste…

James Goldberg is a poet, playwright, essayist, novelist, documentary filmmaker, scholar, and translator who specializes in Mormon literature.

Original artwork by Sarah Hawkes.

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