The Messiah of Morris Avenue: Jesus in the Bronx

The Messiah of Morris Avenue by Tony Hendra (author of Father Joe) is one of the better novels I’ve read over the last few years. A friend of mine, spiritual guru really, suggested I read this.

The story is simple. In the Bible, Jesus of Nazareth came to redeem Judaism (“to do for Israel what Israel could not do for herself,” as N.T. Wright has written). Jay of the Bronx comes to redeem Christianity. In the person of Jay, God attempts to call Christianity back to it roots of radical hospitality, love, and solidarity with the marginalized around us. And like the first time God walked among us, the religious and politicians form a strange marriage and end up killing Jay, the son of God.

I would not classify this novel as a Christian novel; one that could be purchased at the Family Christian Bookstore for its theology is far deeper than most “Christian” novels. This novel challenges the way we do “church” America, and the way we think about ethics, discipleship, faith, and worship.

I am going to use this novel for an upcoming trip to the Bronx in which several college students from Rochester College will be working with The Bronx Fellowship of Christ, a house church movement in one of New York City’s largest boroughs.

Some of my favorite segments of the novel:

Depicting the rich young man who wants to follow Jesus (Pg. 167):

We were taken downstairs to the dressing rooms by security, and standing by the NO ENTRY ARMED ENFORCEMENT sign was a short-haired familiar-looking woman in jeans and a baggy sweater. She was holding a brown-paper supermarket bag and looked a bit scared as we approached. Jay gave her the one-arm bear hug: “Bobbi! You did it?”

She nodded. I wouldn’t have recognized her, though I’d interviewed her for an hour. Stripped of the Grecian ringlets, the plastic mask, the body armor of designer clothes, she was a person, not a billboard. Instead of Chanel, she smelled of peace.

She handed him the bag, which was stuffed with bundles of C-notes. My guess was it contained at least a hundred grand. Without even looking at it, Jay gave it to Maria. “Now I can follow you,” said Bobbi.

“You sure can.” Jay laughed, hugging her again. And in we went.

Addressing those who claim that “God is on their side” (192):

I have always hated wars waged in my name. God is on our side! Gott mit uns! Deus Vult! God Bless America! I am on no one’s side. I am not on America’s side, or Islam’s, or Israel’s, or Europe’s. I have never been on the British, German, the Spanish, the Dutch, the Catholic, or the Protestant side; I did not uphold the Crusades, not Muhammad. I did not guide the hand of David or Solomon, or the hand of Caesar or Alexander or Ptolemy.

And…the Lord’s Prayer (150)

…in heaven and in our hearts, blessed be Your name and blessed by your infinite strength.

Feed us with the food we need, teach us to sow the seed of love, hold our hands when we walk alone and afraid.

Forgive us the evil we have done to Your other children and help us forgive those who have done evil to us.

The real genius of the book is the way Hendra captures the “otherness of Jesus.” Think about Jesus for a moment. Here are some generally accepted facts about this carpenter Messiah as understood from the Gospel accounts: Jesus is born in a barn. Jesus is Jewish, a minority in the Roman schema (I often remind my students that Jesus is not a Christian). Unlike Paul, Jesus isn’t even a citizen in his own nation. Some might say he is an alien. Jesus is from Nazareth, not exactly a cutting edge city producing great thinkers. Remember the infamous line from the Gospels, “What good can come from Nazareth?” Jesus and his father are carpenters, more migrant workers than middle class; he does not appear to hold any elite positions. He has no special education that the reader is made aware of as do some of his contemporaries; Paul and Josephus to name a few. Jesus depends on the generosity of others during his ministry. Jesus is voluntarily homeless. Jesus is crucified as a criminal; a political insurgent who threatens Rome’s power in the region and Judaism’s tests of orthodoxy. Churches would not hire this Jesus. Moms would think twice before letting their daughters date this Jesus (borrowed from a piece I wrote for Wineskins).

And to have your imagination captured by the Jesus of Scripture and the Jesus of Morris Avenue, you’ll have to dive into the world of this book for yourself.