The Faces of Jesus by Frederick Buechner

Frederick Buechner. The Faces of Jesus: A Life Story. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 1974.

The Faces of Jesus, by Frederick Buechner is a biography. Buechner retells the “life story” of Jesus, in beautiful prose. The overall impression of the book is that of “the jerky haste of an old newsreel” (45) which mimics the gospel writers’ description of Jesus’ life as urgent and rushed. After all, Buechner reminds us, one doesn’t take time to draw detailed sketches “when you think the world is on fire” (ix).

Despite the haste, the face (or, rather, faces) of Jesus can be seen and understood in light of the gospels, argues Buechner, and his pacing does not detract from what is ultimately a gorgeously poetic account. At times, however, Buechner seems highly uncertain about the historicity of the gospels and his ambivalence requires him to focus on a more theological understanding of the text.

One example of his suspicion towards historical fact is his treatment of the virgin birth. Although Buechner includes a separate chapter on the Annunciation, he points out that our earliest sources, the apostle Paul, Mark, and Matthew, do not record that aspect of Jesus’ life (8). Buechner argues that there is “another kind of truth” (16) and ultimately his position falls uncomfortably between the two types of truths. No matter what happened on the night Jesus was born, the world changed forever. Perhaps, Buechner says, this is the only truth that matters at all.

When discussing Jesus’ earthly ministry, Buechner says that we must have a clear understanding of the world Jesus inhabited. Unfortunately, he is quick to add, this is a difficult task at best, and impossible at worst (31-32). While the gospels do tell the reader some things about the cultural, social, and political world Jesus lived and ministered in (mostly by inference), the majority of the gospels presuppose a familiarity with the milieu being described therein. No matter how much we learn about the peripheries of Jesus’ ministry, we will still never fully understand who Jesus was or what he thought about his life, much less what he would think about the way his followers changed and adapted his life to suit their own purposes (36).

As Buechner focuses on Jesus’ ministry and the events leading up to Jesus’ death, I found several points of contention. First, Buechner’s treatment of the woman at the well in John 4 strikes me as unkind and unduly harsh. There is nothing in the text to suggest that the woman is impressed with Jesus’ fortune telling abilities above and beyond his claim to be the Messiah and although it is true that she poses the question to the rest of the village, “Could this man be the Messiah?” it strikes me as rhetorical, especially since Jesus himself just confirmed it.

Perhaps his discussion of the woman at the well’s response to Jesus is a result of the author looking for ways to prove his thesis that Jesus’ ministry was less than a roaring success (49). Buechner argues that the parables are never understood and Jesus is never said to have made a single convert, and therefore his ministry is a failure. The gospel account, however, says that by the end of his ministry there are crowds of people following Jesus wherever he goes, excited and enthused to make him their king. Perhaps one might say that his ministry was not the success Jesus anticipated it being, but to argue that it is unsuccessful seems a stretch.

The most disturbing point of Buechner’s work is that the resurrection of Lazarus was not effective. In Buechner’s version, Jesus, shaken by the death of Lazarus and unwilling to accept that this is his fate as well, attempts a resurrection, which seems to be beyond his ability. “It is not a living man who prepares to come out again into the unsparing light of day but a living corpse” (52) writes Buechner. In view of these chilling words, Jesus decides that something more must be done and so he “set his face towards Jerusalem” and his death.

The mood of this story reframes everything Buechner recounts afterwards and it makes for great effect. However, the crowd’s response to this in the gospel does not seem to allow for such a Gothic Romantic interpretation. This reading seems closer to something in one of the Bronte sisters than the gospel.

“If there are certain events that [the gospel writers] cannot tell without improving on them a little with each retelling…there are others that  almost in spite of themselves they seem unable to tell except in the curt monosyllables of fact” (56). The Last Supper is one of these stories, says Buechner, and of all the stories in the gospels that we have read in an overly spiritual manner, it’s this one: Jesus, unafraid and confident in his coming death, and his disciples, blissfully unaware that the crisis is upon them. Buechner reinterprets the story to his advantage by adding an element of anxiety to the Last Supper that most retellings ignore. He sketches Jesus as afraid and uncertain, the disciples as confused and anxious about what will take place.

From an historical perspective, it is impossible to read the crucifixion as anything other than a tragedy. The madman, Jesus, has been caught at last and he dies at the hand of the very system he attempted to change. It is here out of necessity that Buechner turns to an almost entirely theological perspective. It is not just the man, Jesus, hanging on the cross, but Christ, the preexistent Word of God, who has been sent into time for this moment. “Out of this terrible death…came eternal life not just in the sense of resurrection to life after death but in the sense of life so precious even this side of death that to live it is to stand with one foot already in eternity. To participate in the sacrificial life and death of Jesus Christ is to live already in his kingdom” (74).

From an historical perspective, it is impossible to read the resurrection as anything other than a fairy tale or a myth told to simple, pre-Enlightenment people. “Who knows what the truth of it was?” (87) questions Buechner, and from a solely factual position, we cannot know. But, as Buechner concludes, we are aware of Jesus’ resurrection not through the absence of his body, but through the presence of his resurrection in our lives. “If Christ has not been raised,” Paul insists, “then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (93).

Overall, The Faces of Jesus is a beautifully written poetic retelling of the life of Jesus Christ. Buechner makes the story captivating and this is his primary strength. Good storytelling is a gift. It is obvious that he is responding to the third Quest for the historical Jesus and is working to maintain a theological perspective in his writing despite the general mood of society and at times this can make The Faces of Jesus seem slightly dated, as the concerns of the third Quest have mostly fallen to the wayside. However, Buechner takes a big step in integrating a theological perspective into an historical perspective. More Christians could learn from his example.