Content Warning: This section of the novel discusses suicide.

Joshua serves as the novel’s compassionate and gentle yet brave protagonist. When Biff first meets his best friend and the future savior of the world, he notes that Joshua has “blue-black curls” and eyes “like dark honey” that shine with “a light older than Moses” (7). His warm, ancient eyes reflect his kind personality and divine nature. Throughout the novel, Joshua demonstrates compassion for everyone around him. He even weeps over bandits and gives a demon a moment of free will. Joshua is also exceptionally gentle. He’s born into a world that operates on the principle that might makes right, yet he refuses to use his power for self-gain. His people expect the Messiah to be a military leader who will overthrow the Romans. Instead, Joshua performs miraculous healings and preaches that he “can’t cast the Romans out of the kingdom because the kingdom is open to all” (393). Of course, Joshua’s kindness and gentleness don’t diminish his defiant courage. As a child, he briefly brings a woman back to life to show the Romans and the Temple priest “who the Temple belongs to” (32). In his ministry, he fearlessly defends the vulnerable and works miracles on the Sabbath despite threats from the Pharisees.