A Chinese Jesus
October 25, 2009
I quote from page 72 of the 10/26/09 New Yorker about a man in China.
“Little Long particularly liked :A Collection of the Classics†because it introduced foreign religions. He was interested in Christianity, and when we talked about the subject he referred me to a chapter that featured a parable about Jesus. In this tale, a humble doorkeeper works at a church with a statue of the Crucifixion. Every day, the doorkeeper prays to be allowed to serve as a substitute, to ease the pain for the Son of God. To the man’s surprise, Jesus finally speaks and accepts the offer, under one condition: If the doorkeeper ascends the Cross, he can’t say a word.
“ The agreement is made, and soon a wealthy merchant comes to pray. He accidentally drops a money purse; the doorkeeper almost says something but remembers his promise. The next supplication is a poor man. He prays fervently, opens his eyes, and sees the purse: overjoyed, he thanks Jesus. Again, the doorkeeper keeps silent. Then comes a young traveler preparing to embark on a long sea journey. While he is praying, the merchant returns and accuses the traveler of taking his purse. An argument ensues; the traveler fears he’ll miss the boat. At last, the doorkeeper speaks out—with a few words, he resolves the dispute. The traveler heads off on his journey, and the merchant finds the poor man and retrieves his money.
“But Jesus angrily calls the doorkeeper down from the Cross for breaking the promise. When the man protests (“I just told the truthâ€), Jesus criticized him:
“’What do you understand? That rich merchant isn’t short of money, and he’ll use that cash to hire prostitutes, whereas the poor man needs it. But the most wretched is the young traveler. If the merchant had delayed the traveler’s departure, he would have save his life, but right now his boat is sinking in the ocean.â€
Shades of the Koran’s Sura 18:60-82! This also seems to have an Eastern ring to it.
So Sura 18 and this tale suggests that things are not what they seem. I don’t think they are suggesting that we ever ourselves should do anything wrong (although the Sura might*), but seem to be counseling patience, and the receptivity to the discovery that things are not as they seem, namely that God’s Will will out.
[* The Muslim may have the same general notion of morality as others, but is cautioned not to make moral judgments and instead to wait until the Day of Judgment when things will be made plain and much that seemed immoral at the time will be provided, a la this Chinese Jesus story, with an explanation which shows that it was actually moral, the reason being that the end result was good.]
Actually I think that the parable does not work for the Christian, for I conceive of the Christian as one who is obligated to actively live in accordance with the golden rule. But it does suggest patience in the outcomes of things and not to give up hope. Paul admonished his followers to thank God for all things. This is the same sense, I think, of patience. Christians are to do all the good that they can and not to worry about the outcome, but instead always to trust in God.