Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

Raziel takes Levi bar Alphaeus (Biff), to a hotel room in St. Louis and instructs him to write his Gospel. However, the newly resurrected apostle is distracted and frightened by the unfamiliar technology that he witnesses in the modern world. He wishes that his friend were with him: “Joshua always told me not to be afraid, for he would always be with me. Where are you, my friend? Why have you forsaken me?” (9).

The narrative shifts 2,000 years into the past. The day that Biff meets Joshua of Nazareth, both boys are six, and Biff sees Joshua bring a lizard back to life. The two become best friends. Israel is under Roman occupation, and Biff is drawn to Joshua’s fearlessness. The two often reenact stories from the Torah with Joshua playing the parts of heroes like David and Moses. Although Joshua does not yet know that he is destined to save the world, he tells Biff that he is the Son of God. This frightens Biff because such blasphemy is punishable by death. One day, Joshua casually tells his stepfather, Joseph, that Joseph will not live much longer. Shaken by his stepson’s words, Joseph asks Biff to stay with Joshua and “teach him to be human” (17).

As a child, Joshua performs miracles that are “small and quiet, as miracles tend to be, once you get used to them” (18). However, supernatural events sometimes occur around him without him deliberately causing them. One Passover, Joshua’s face appears on all the unleavened bread in Nazareth. Biff and Joshua’s family tell the other villagers that the image is of Moses, but Joshua dislikes the lie and declares that he is unafraid of whatever punishment the Pharisees would give him.

At age nine, Joshua befriends a snake, fulfilling a prophecy from Isaiah. Jakan, the son of a Pharisee, accuses Joshua of consorting with demons. Mary of Magdala, who goes by Maggie and is about the boys’ age, comes to Joshua’s defense and persuades Jakan to drop his accusations. Biff falls in love with Maggie, but she has feelings for Joshua. Soon the boys will be old enough to begin training for a career. Biff wants Joshua to join him as an apprentice stonemason, but Joshua replies that he’s “thinking about saving mankind” when he grows up (28).

The narrative briefly jumps forward to Biff’s time with Raziel. The angel refuses to tell Biff anything about Joshua, Maggie, or the rest of his friends. Biff finds a Bible in the hotel room and realizes that the book may hold the answers that he seeks.

The narrative returns to Biff’s childhood in Nazareth. The mother of a Temple priest dies, and a crowd of Nazarenes, including Joshua, Biff, and Maggie, attend the funeral. At least 20 Roman soldiers are present to deter any dissidence from the assembled Israelites. The priest whose mother died belongs to the Sadducees, a sect of Judaism that does not believe in an afterlife. With great effort and despite Biff’s urgent warnings, Joshua briefly brings the woman back to life. As the terrified priest and mourners flee, Joshua collapses, and Biff and Maggie drag him away. A Roman centurion named Gaius Justus Gallicus sees the children. Joshua revives and defiantly addresses the centurion: “Will you slay my people if we follow our God?” (35). Justus answers that Joshua will live as long as he pays his taxes and doesn’t rebel.

The next night, the angel Raziel appears to Joshua and Biff and confirms that Joshua is the Messiah. Dispirited, Biff consoles himself by spending the next day with Bartholomew, “the village idiot” (39). Bartholomew reveals to Biff that he is a Greek Cynic who has renounced worldly desires as a way of liberating himself from suffering. Although he isn’t Jewish, the philosopher believes that Joshua is the Messiah. Biff finds Joshua and tells him that he’s jealous of Joshua and Maggie. Joshua soothes his friend’s emotional pain by touching his forehead and musing that jealousy must be a good thing because the “Lord said, ‘I am a jealous God’” (41).

Joshua and Biff begin training as stonemasons. On their walk from Nazareth to the Roman fortress of Sepphoris, Joshua wonders why he was unable to bring the old woman back to life for more than a few moments. Although he asks for divine guidance, his prayers receive no answer.

Biff’s father oversees a group of enslaved people constructing a house for a Greek man. Justus, the centurion, observes Joshua’s sympathy for the enslaved people and alludes to Spartacus’s rebellion and subsequent crucifixion as a warning. However, Justus comes to Joshua and Biff’s defense when the Greek homeowner tries to force the boys to move a statue of the god Apollo, which would go against their religious beliefs. Joshua decides “to circumcise Apollo” as an act of resistance (56).

The narrative briefly jumps ahead 2,000 years. Raziel develops an interest in soap operas, and Biff manages to hide the Bible in the bathroom when the angel leaves the hotel to purchase a copy of Soap Opera Digest.

The narrative returns to Biff’s childhood. Maggie joins the boys on their nighttime expedition to Sepphoris. A Roman soldier spots the children near the statue of Apollo. Maggie’s uncle, a member of a Jewish resistance group called the Sicarii, appears and murders the soldier. The boys accompany Maggie home to Nazareth before hurrying back to Sepphoris. Roman soldiers won’t allow anyone in or out of the fortress city while the soldier’s murder is under investigation, and Joseph is arrested as a suspect.

If Joshua tells the Romans the murderer’s identity, they might free his stepfather, but Maggie’s family and many other Jewish people would likely be killed. Joshua goes to an olive grove to pray in vain for guidance, and he feels lost and alone when he returns to Biff. Biff punches him in the arm to prove that he isn’t alone and then goes off to pray, too. In Biff’s prayer, he berates God for the dilemma in which Joshua finds himself and entreats, “could you, much as you did with Samson when he was backed into a corner weaponless against the Philistines, throw the kid a bone here?” (68). In answer, God sends a lizard to Joshua. The reptile reminds the young Messiah that he has the power to bring the dead back to life, and he resolves to resurrect the murdered soldier.

The villagers of Nazareth gather at Sepphoris and ask for Joseph’s release. Biff distracts the Roman soldiers, allowing Joshua to bring the dead man back to life long enough to identify his killer. Maggie’s uncle draws a knife, but Justus kills him before he can strike again. With the culprit identified, the Romans free Joseph. On the way back to Nazareth, Maggie and Biff discuss the young Messiah and his growing power. Maggie prays for Joshua “all of the time” and is deeply moved by the knowledge that he is the savior (77). Biff sees things differently, explaining that he couldn’t protect his friend if he spent all his time “basking in the light of his holiness” (77).

The Romans arrest the men of Maggie’s family, thinking that they may also be conspiring with the Sicarii. The Pharisees negotiate the men’s release. In exchange, Maggie’s mother betroths her daughter to Jakan, Iban the Pharisee’s son. When Maggie tells her friends the dreadful news, Joshua vomits and Biff assures Maggie that Jakan “could be killed in a thousand heinous ways [before the marriage], and that’s just the ones [he] can think of right now” (81). Maggie tells the boys that she can’t spend time with them anymore and asks Biff to take care of Joshua.

Biff wants Joshua to use his divine power to smite Jakan, but the young Messiah refuses. The angel Raziel appears to the boys once more, informing them that Joshua may not do anything about Maggie’s betrothal, that he may not lie with women, and that it is time for him to find his destiny.

When they are 13, Joshua, Biff, and Maggie and their families journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. During the journey, Joshua’s cousin, John, nearly drowns one of Biff’s brothers while trying to wash him of his sins. The young John the Baptist believes himself to be the Messiah and nearly cries with relief when Biff informs him that Joshua is the prophesied savior. In Jerusalem, Joshua, Biff, and their fathers carry lambs to the Temple for sacrifice. Distressed by the sight of thousands of animals gathered for slaughter, Biff tries to flee from the Temple. Joshua stops him with a smile, saying: “It’s all right, Biff. God’s will” (93). From that day on, Biff never eats lamb again.

At the Temple, Joshua and Biff ask a wise old Rabbi named Hillel what Joshua should do. Citing the centuries that the Israelites have suffered under slavery and oppression, the rabbi explains that he isn’t sure that he believes in the Messiah. Still, he encourages Joshua to seek out the three Magi who visited him as an infant and bestows on the boy the sum of all his wisdom: “[T]reat others as you would like to be treated” (98). Mary tells Joshua the Magi’s names and suggests that he begin his search in Antioch. Biff insists on accompanying his friend because the guileless Joshua would be as defenseless as a lamb by himself.

Neither of the boys can bear to see Maggie marry the odious Jakan. When Biff tells her that they’re leaving Nazareth, she asks him to tell Joshua to meet her behind the synagogue on the night before her wedding. Joshua sends Biff in his place. On a dark night, Biff and Maggie indulge “desires [they] had carried for years, [his] for her, and hers for Joshua” (104). Thinking that Biff is Joshua, Maggie says that she loves him. Biff voices his love for her, revealing his identity. Maggie thanks Biff for being with her. The next morning, Joshua and Biff begin their search for the Magi and Joshua’s destiny.