Jesus Character Analysis in The Shack

Jesus is “the son” in the tri-part God depicted in the novel (the other parts being Papa and Sarayu). In some ways, he most closely aligns with Mack’s preconceived image: he is a kind Middle Eastern man who enjoys woodworking and helps Mack to literally walk on water. With kindness and humor, he helps Mack to understand new ideas about faith over the course of the weekend, including talking through Mack’s ideas about what he expects God to look and act like. He also tells Mack that the church is simply a bureaucratic institution created by humans, and he prefers for those who follow him to try to form more personal, direct connections rather than being distracted by the trappings of religion.

Jesus Quotes in The Shack

The The Shack quotes below are all either spoken by Jesus or refer to Jesus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

“Sweetheart, Jesus didn’t think his Daddy was mean. He thought his Daddy was full of love and loved him very much. His Daddy didn’t make him die. Jesus chose to die because he and his Daddy love you and me and everyone in the world. He saved us from our sickness, like the princess.”

Related Characters: Mackenzie Allen Phillips (speaker), Missy, Jesus, Papa/Elousia

Related Symbols: Waterfalls

Page Number and Citation: 33

Explanation and Analysis:

While the family is camping, Missy is enchanted by the story of the Multnomah princess, who jumped off of a waterfall in order to save her tribe. When she asks Mack about parallels between that story and the story of Jesus, his answer reveals much about his own beliefs about the nature of God. While Mack does not think Jesus’ father was “mean,” as Missy says, he does believe that God uses sacrifice and suffering to bring good to the world. He believes that God operates from a position of love for all humans, but he also believes God required Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetu

“Oh”—now Jesus was serious—“don’t go because you feel obligated. That won’t get you any points around here. Go because it’s what you want to do.”

Related Characters: Jesus (speaker), Mackenzie Allen Phillips, Papa/Elousia

Page Number and Citation: 91

Explanation and Analysis:

When Mack first arrives at the shack and meets the three personas of God—Papa, Sarayu, and Jesus—he is overwhelmed and unsure how to act around them. He feels that he should be deferent and accommodating in the presence of God, because he sees himself as a follower of God. In telling Mack that he should behave as he pleases and not feel obligated to follow Papa inside, Jesus hints at the true nature of the relationship between God and people, something that he will explore in more depth later. In order for faith to be meaningful, it must be given Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta.

So this was God in relationship? It was beautiful and so appealing. He knew that it didn’t matter whose fault it was—the mess from some bowl that had been broken, that a planned dish would not be shared. Obviously, what was truly important here was the love they had for one another and the fullness it brought them. He shook his head. How different this was from the way he sometimes treated the ones he loved!

Related Characters: Willie (speaker), Mackenzie Allen Phillips, Sarayu, Papa/Elousia, Jesus

Page Number and Citation: 107

Explanation and Analysis:

As Papa prepares dinner, Jesus drops a bowl of sauce, making a mess in the kitchen. But rather than creating tensions—as it did when Mack tried to prepare a meal at the campsite with his children, and lost his temper at them—the incident brings Papa, Jesus, and Sarayu to laughter. Mack watches transfixed as preparations for the meal continue. As Papa explains, the Trinity exists as three separate people in part so that they can embody and demonstrate a perfect relationship. In a perfect relationship, love is at the center, while power, anger, and judgement have no place. By observing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam volupt

“What you’re seeing here is relationship without any overlay of power. We don’t need power over the other because we are always looking out for the best. Hierarchy would make no sense among us.”

Related Characters: Sarayu (speaker), Mackenzie Allen Phillips, Jesus, Papa/Elousia

Page Number and Citation: 124

Explanation and Analysis:

At breakfast, Mack asks Papa, Sarayu, and Jesus which one of them is in charge. They are thrown by his question, teasing him a little because to them the concept seems utterly absurd. Sarayu, the embodiment of the Holy Spirit, gently explains that in a perfect relationship, mutual love and not fear or power hold people together. Because the relationship among the Trinity is meant to be an example of perfect love, they do not allow the tainting influence of a hierarchy to creep in. Sarayu explains that therefore, power dynamics—which usually lead to one person being abused, or, on Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi.

“It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can’t It is impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn’t even real, nor will it ever be real. You try to play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try to make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear.”

Related Characters: Jesus (speaker), Mackenzie Allen Phillips

Page Number and Citation: 144

Explanation and Analysis:

Mack joins Jesus outside for lunch, and is taken aback when Jesus invites him to try to walk across the surface of the lake with him. He realizes that he can’t stop imagining everything that might go wrong, leading him to imagine a future for himself without God’s help and guidance. In this way, Jesus helps Mack to see another way in which his separation from God is related to his depression, The Great Sadness. In trying to imagine future outcomes, Mack is burdening himself with the impossible responsibility of predicting the future, something that only God can know. Because Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Volu

“The world is broken because in Eden you abandoned relationship with us in order to assert your own independence. Most men have expressed it by turning to the work of their hands and the sweat of their brows to find their identity, value, and security.”

Related Characters: Jesus (speaker), Mackenzie Allen Phillips

Related Symbols: Gardens

Page Number and Citation: 148

Explanation and Analysis:

As they sit by the lake, Jesus explains to Mack the roots of the disconnect he and many humans now have from God. He also explicates another way in which power dynamics and hierarchies have come to infect human relationships, in contrast to the perfectly equal relationship exemplified by the Trinity. First of all, Jesus states plainly that all problems in the world derive from the fact that humans chose to break from God. God allowed humans to have independence so that their love and faith would come freely. However, this also means that humans were free to turn away Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corpor

“Mack, that’s because you’re seeing only the institution, a man-made system. That’s not what I came to build. What I see are people and their live, a living, breathing community of all those who love me, not buildings and programs.”

Related Characters: Jesus (speaker), Mackenzie Allen Phillips

Page Number and Citation: 180

Explanation and Analysis:

Jesus wistfully describes a beautiful woman he is in love with, and Mack is surprised and confused to realize that Jesus is actually talking about the Christian church. Mack asks why the church as he knows it doesn’t seem to bear any resemblance to the beautiful vision Jesus describes. Jesus describes that, just as power and judgement have tainted human relationships, humans have inadvertently warped their relationship to God by imposing the rules, rituals, and judgements of the formal church. These organizations allow humans to judge one another for being more or less devout, when in fact they are simply Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt.

Mack was amused. “Willie,” he whispered, “it’s not a secret. God is everywhere. So, I was at the shack.”

Related Characters: Mackenzie Allen Phillips (speaker), Willie, Jesus

Page Number and Citation: 243

Explanation and Analysis:

As Mack is recovering in the hospital after his weekend in the shack, Willie visits and quietly asks whether Mack did indeed meet God like the note promised. Mack’s answer reflects the ways in which the weekend has transformed his ideas about belief and the nature of God. Previously, Mack believed that God sometimes abandoned humans, especially when they needed him most. But now, Mack feels that God is ever-present. The Trinitarian nature of the God Mack encountered at the cabin—with three inseparable elements, one of them fully human but still fully God (Jesus)—means that God can never truly be Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus ea

Jesus Character Timeline in The Shack

The timeline below shows where the character Jesus appears in The Shack. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...if the story is true, and if the Great Spirit is another name for God, Jesus’s Papa. Mack is pleased by the question and says that he thinks so. Missy asks... (full context)

...if she is slightly transparent. She is dressed in gardening clothes. Behind her is a man in his thirties in work clothes who appears Middle Eastern . Mack finds his smile captivating. (full context)

...himself, saying he enjoys working and fixing things. He has many names but goes by Jesus to many. The second woman introduces herself as Sarayu, keeper of the gardens. Mack is... (full context)

...telling Mack he can follow or do whatever else he likes. Mack stays outside with Jesus for a moment and asks if he’s supposed to go inside and talk with God,... (full context)

...start to understand what freedom actually is—it’s all about the man out in the woodshed, Jesus. (full context)

...sees that Papa has scars on her wrists, outlining pierce wounds. She says that what Jesus chose to do cost them dearly, but that they were together during Jesus’s time on... (full context)

Papa says that becoming Jesus was a way to embrace the limitations of being human, even as Papa herself still... (full context)

Mack is called back to the kitchen by a loud crashing sound. Jesus has dropped a large bowl of sauce and it has splattered Papa’s feet and the... (full context)

...it makes him think of formulaic bible recitations from his childhood. Instead, he watches as Jesus gently takes Papa’s hands and says sincerely that he loved watching Papa try to take... (full context)

Jesus invites Mack outside to look at the stars. They lie down under the brilliant night... (full context)

Mack admits that he thought Jesus would be better-looking. Jesus says he is Jewish and asks what standards Mack is using... (full context)

Jesus and Sarayu join them for breakfast, and Jesus, Sarayu, and Papa, enter into an intense... (full context)

...in process. He is overwhelmed with emotion. Handing Mack a picnic lunch, Papa says that Jesus wants to see him. (full context)

Jesus takes Mack over to the lake and walks to the end of the dock, bidding... (full context)

With Jesus’s encouragement, Mack steps off the dock, and the two walk easily across the surface of... (full context)

As they eat their lunch, Mack asks why Jesus wouldn’t take back the earth if humans are destroying it. But Jesus says again that... (full context)

Jesus says that ideally, all relationships should be founded this way. Instead, when humans struck out... (full context)

...taken to hell in the place of his children. Smiling, she says he sounds like Jesus and she is proud of him. She says that he has judged his children worthy... (full context)

...calls Missy’s name, and she mimes giving Mack a final hug and kiss. He sees Jesus give Missy a hug as a waterfall crashes down in front of him, obscuring his... (full context)

...part of him—after all, Missy would not want it to be. He meets up with Jesus, who is skipping stones. Jesus explains that the woman in the cave was Sophia, a... (full context)

Mack says he can’t stop thinking about Missy alone and terrified in the truck. Jesus stops him and says Missy was never alone—he, Sarayu, and Papa were with her the... (full context)

...see the water well up around his calves like usual. But unlike before he knows Jesus is there, so he doesn’t have to worry. Sure enough, Jesus soon joins him, and,... (full context)

...heaven, even though it didn’t resemble the pearly gates and gold-plated heaven he had envisioned. Jesus says that that image of heaven is derived from an image of Jesus’s bride, the... (full context)

Jesus says that the way to become part of the church is by embracing relationships and... (full context)

...much of the conversation going over his head, but he wants to try to understand. Jesus explains that in order to live a full life of friendship and openness, humans need... (full context)

Realizing she’s referring to Jesus, Mack asks what Jesus accomplished by dying. Papa says that Jesus’s death and resurrection allowed... (full context)

Mack joins Sarayu, Jesus, and Papa at the table, where they openly talk and laugh with each other. He... (full context)

Sarayu begins to explain that because of Jesus’s death, humans are no longer bound by the Commandments, but they still behave as if... (full context)

Still crying, Mack returns to Sarayu as Jesus emerges from the darkness, dressed in a white garment and gold crown. The crowd erupts... (full context)

...pack, filled with aromatic flowers and herbs that Mack and Sarayu picked the day before. Jesus says he will give Mack a gift when he returns. Papa makes Mack some breakfast,... (full context)

Jesus meets Papa and Mack when they arrive back at the cabin. He takes Mack into... (full context)

...believe he didn’t realize that was the source of Kate’s grief sooner. He thanks Sarayu. Jesus also offers him a gift, the small tin box where Mack keeps his prized belongings.... (full context)

Willie says that Mack is hoping for a revolution of love and kindness revolving around Jesus and what he has done for us all. It will be a quiet revolution rooted... (full context)

Jesus Character Analysis

Jesus Quotes in The Shack

Chapter 2 Quotes

Chapter 6 Quotes

Chapter 7 Quotes

Chapter 8 Quotes

Chapter 10 Quotes

Chapter 12 Quotes

Chapter 18 Quotes

Jesus Character Timeline in The Shack