Lisa Katayama wrote a post about Saint Young Men, a manga series depicting Jesus and Buddha as modern day roommates – an interesting concept, to say the least. I’m sure there’s a mixed bag of good and offensive in the series. One line in the Tokyomango post makes me go “BAH,” however:
Jesus is a lavish spender.
Jesus continuously spoke about living a life without earthly riches, he criticized those who sought earthly gain, he praised the poor woman who gave up what little she had to God, and, here’s the big one, Jesus was homeless. In Luke 9:58, Jesus says:
Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
I know this is no historical narrative. I know it’s entertainment. But it would be nice to see such an interesting concept present Jesus with some more-than-skin-deep parallels to the historical individual. Eh well, I hope for too much, I suppose. And I’ve got admit…I’m intrigued.
Read the entire post at Tokyomango.
Well, there was that whole bit about Mary Magdalene anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive oil and “the poor you will always have with you”…. But yes, I don’t really think the manga-ka got the personalities quite right.
Jesus, in this manga, isn’t actually a “lavish spender”, more the sort of happy-go-lucky fellow who might liven up a party by turning the water into wine.
It’s actually quite sweet and charming.
Thanks for the insight…I may check it out then. 🙂