Meet Jerusalem’s ‘Jesus Guy’
Carl James Joseph lives in voluntary poverty, trying to be like Jesus.
Carl James Joseph was born in Detroit. But for the past 17 years he has lived in the Holy Land.
He is not a typical expat. He didn’t go to Jerusalem for work, and he doesn’t live among other expats in a tony Tel Aviv neighborhood.
Instead, James Joseph, 64, has spent most of the past decade living in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem, built in the place where Jesus was laid to rest after the crucifixion, and where he rose form the dead.
He became a Catholic at 12, according to profiles of the man, and he worked in an office for a while, before taking up a pilgrimage life in his early 30s.
Also known as “The Jesus Guy,” James Joseph considers himself a pilgrim and an evangelizer, who tries to live like Jesus and the apostles, according to the mandate of trusting completely in providence.
He prays at Jerusalem’s holy sites, he talks with pilgrims, he studies scripture and prays the rosary. He tells people that he’s not Jesus and he’s not trying to portray Jesus. Years ago, he was frequently in the media, but he’s told reporters that he “ran away from that,” as it “got pretty intense.
The Pillar talked with him about his life, and his unusual mission.
Here you are, sitting in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, wearing a tunic and a cape. It’s 2025. What’s the deal?
Its pilgrimage combined with evangelization.
Since I began, I have lived in 47 states in the U.S., and in 21 different countries, and I have been in the Holy Land for the past 17 years.
How did you travel all that time?
It has been mostly on foot. No money, no shoes, just a robe.
And a passport, I imagine.
You know, there were times I have even been without that. I literally try to live like the way Jesus sent out his apostles. I do have one here.
But, you know, actually everybody knows me here. They don't even ask anymore.
When was it that you took on this mission, this vocation?
I've actually lived this way for 33 years, and I’m 64 now.
You’re 64? You look younger.
Yeah, thanks be to God! But part of it is from this way of life. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's also from living here at the Holy Sepulcher.
But God has given me a special grace, the grace of not worrying, not being preoccupied.
Most of our worries are about money and about the future, but now I live a life contrary to that, just living by the providence of God.
Were you ever married?
No.
So, you don't have children.
Right. But I do have a tremendous spiritual family, the closest family, all over the world. We all come together here.
You’re clearly close to the Franciscan friars here at the Holy Sepulcher. Are you also friends with the priests and monks from the other confessions which share the custody of the space?
It really depends on the individual, but actually, there can be a tremendous relationship.
That's part of the Holy Spirit, you know, in a place where, classically, there's the division and friction, but in reality, and especially when you're living together in such difficult situations, you become closer.
There is this idea that that the different confessions are all at each other’s throats, but I’ve heard that it’s gotten better over the past few years…
Actually, as humans we tend to exaggerate, or focus excessively on the negative. But the reality is this, and I think it always has been this, that even though sometimes things erupt, most of the time, there's tremendous harmony.
There was a [religious] superior here that gave this analogy. It's like five families sharing the same kitchen, and especially when they have the same birthday, all five of them on that day – like Easter – then there's going to be friction. But most of the time, there is harmony.
You are originally from Detroit, and there are a lot of Middle Eastern Christians there. Had you been exposed to Middle Eastern Christianity before you came here?
Not so much before I came here, this was my first exposure, even though my father was from a Lebanese background.
It’s one thing to visit Jerusalem on pilgrimage, and be overwhelmed by the fact that one is here. But living here for almost a decade, don’t you just get used to it? Does the thrill go away?
Not really, to be honest with you. I mean, there can be some of that, that can set in, but it dispels immediately, especially because here, if you're interacting with the people, you're bound to feel that, for that feeling to come alive again.
But I've been privileged to be in the tomb alone, to be the only person in the tomb – every night, during [the pandemic], and the beginning of the war – and even though what you’re saying can be a difficulty, the fact is that you're just immersed into that spirit, the spirit of the Resurrection.
What's it been like since the war started after October 7, with the lack of tourists? It's obviously terrible for the economy of the city, but do you feel that it is a privilege to be here with less people, or do you feel the pain of the local population?
I’m not at all indifferent to the feelings of the people, but the fact is, God is blessing us through it. He blesses us through the cross, and in here you're especially immersed into that mystery, united with it.
The mystery of the cross that always leads to the Resurrection, beyond what we could possibly imagine, so much better than the sufferings that we have.
Now there's been the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and there is hope that tourism will start to pick up. Do you have a message for people who might be thinking of coming over, but are hesitant?
It's actually very safe. It's safer here than in the inner city in America! All of the trouble happens in the West Bank, and in Palestinian areas that are far from Jerusalem and the rest of Israel.
Most Christians in the Holy Land are either Palestinians, or migrants, and they often speak about feeling like second-class citizens. Do you feel that is the case?
Well, that's true. And, you know, that is something that Jesus predicted for all of us. It's easy to complain about that, but the reality is that Jesus said ‘Blessed are you when they persecute you, when you suffer injustice for my name's sake’. And that's always the key. If we're connected with that mystery, with Jesus, then the suffering is transformed into even greater glory. It's actually a privilege. And that's why Jesus said, “leap for joy.”
So what are your days like? Where do you sleep, for example?
Either in the Holy Sepulcher itself, or I will rest and pray up at the Ninth Station [of the Way of the Cross]. It's outside, but it's a holy place, and God has blessed me.
You don’t beg. How do you manage to buy food and anything else you need?
Do you know what St Francis’ favorite Bible verse was?
“Behold the birds of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”
I have the privilege of living like that. But to answer your question more directly, some people have been very kind to me, and recently I have been allowed to eat with the staff from the Notre Dame Center.
How about hygiene? Do you shower here?
No. Sometimes I have to go without, but often I can wash up at the Notre Dame Center as well.
Do you have a message to the world?
I love you all in the name of Jesus!
This guy is probably one of the righteous men that is keeping God from Sodom and Gomorrahing the whole planet.
I can recall seeing Carl and speaking with him while on pilgrimage in Jerusalem (although I didn't know his name). I was fortunate to be able to spend a night in the Holy Sepulchre, and joined the Franciscans in praying the Office in the early hours of the morning. Just before we began Carl walked into the chapel to join us. We prayed in Latin, and Carl was just as familiar with the Latin psalms as the friars were! Up until that point I must confess that I had mixed reactions to the Jesus Guy, but in that moment I was struck by how much he had allowed himself to be formed by that sacred place.
Thanks for the article!