Jesus Through Japanese Eyes

As my first Lenten read I've selected A Life of Jesus by Shūsaku Endō, the great Japanese Catholic novelist. I am finding "this somewhat exotic book" (in the translator's words) a most compelling and edifying read.

As only a gifted novelist could do, Endō fleshes out the bare-boned Gospel accounts that have lost their impact with us from familiarity. An example:

Perhaps the harlot in the story was an impoverished girl in Magdala or some such place. She gave herself to any man in order to stay alive, and the man sneeringly gave her money in return for the fun of toying with her while she lay motionless beside him, empty eyes staring open in the dark....

She spoke nothing. In silence she looked intently on Jesus. Soon the tears that formed in her eyes began to overflow. The tears alone bespoke the sorrow she knew. "She rained tears on his feet." The trenchant expression is enough to have us know how pitiably wretched she was feeling.

The tears told Jesus everything. He understood her being a public object of contempt through half her life, eating her heart out in lonely misery. The tears were enough. God rejoiced to welcome her: Your tears are enough. Don't weep anymore. As for me, I understand how unhappy you have been.

Jesus responded with gentleness. The words he quietly spoke are among the most beautiful in all the Bible. "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much."

Whoever loves much will be forgiven much.