Jesus the Son of Man · Chapter
Rachael, a Woman Disciple explained
Rachael, a woman disciple, reflects on the nature of Jesus, affirming that He was not a dream or a phantom but a real man of flesh and blood.
What happens
Rachael, a woman disciple, reflects on the nature of Jesus, affirming that He was not a dream or a phantom but a real man of flesh and blood. She describes His joy, His sorrow, His aloneness, and His tender love, and she recalls how He brought spring and joy to her soul. She also ponders the significance of His birth and death, seeing Him as the first child and the first man to die.
Themes in this chapter
Humanity and Divinity of Jesus
Rachael grapples with the question of whether Jesus was a man of flesh or a thought, ultimately affirming His humanity while acknowledging His divine nature.
Nature and the Divine
Rachael uses natural imagery—spring, lilies, cyclamen, violets—to describe Jesus' coming and the joy He brought, linking the divine to the natural world.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“Often it seems to me that He was but a dream dreamed by the countless men and women at the same time in a sleep deeper than sleep and a dawn more serene than all dawns.”
Sometimes I think He was just a dream shared by many people, a vision from a profound sleep and a peaceful dawn.
Rachael expresses her initial doubt about Jesus' reality.
“But in truth He was not a dream. We knew Him for three years and beheld Him with our open eyes in the high tide of noon.”
But actually He was not a dream. We knew Him for three years and saw Him clearly in the middle of the day.
Rachael affirms the reality of Jesus' presence.
“He was a mountain burning in the night, yet He was a soft glow beyond the hills. He was a tempest in the sky, yet He was a murmur in the mist of daybreak.”
He was like a blazing mountain at night, but also a gentle light beyond the hills. He was a storm in the sky, yet also a soft whisper in the morning mist.
Rachael uses contrasting imagery to describe Jesus' powerful yet gentle nature.