Rosh’s and Daniel’s life of hate are contrasted with Jesus’s life of love. Jesus exemplifies love and its power from the very first time he appears; the light of love radiates from his being. Jesus proves his love for his followers, and for all people, by ministering not only to their spiritual needs but also to their bodily requirements.

Several characters mirror Jesus’s love. First there is Malthace. Although it is her brother who is the rabbi-in-training, Thacia is the one who seems to have a more innate or pure understanding of God’s love. She obeys Jesus’s directive to care for the sick, feed the hungry, and above all, to love one another as God does. When Daniel appears injured on her doorstep, Malthace puts aside her family’s prejudices and even her fear for her brother (who is considering leaving the safety of the priesthood for the dangerous life of rebellion) and lovingly ministers to Daniel’s body and spirit. Malthace also exemplifies love by her tender ministrations to Daniel’s sister, Leah. She respects the younger girls’ fear of the outside world and orchestrates the compromise that will allow Leah to move to her new home and keep her dignity. She does not patronize Leah but allows the girl’s true personality to shine. Her love for Leah slowly brings the traumatized young woman back from the edge of insanity and into a world infused with love.

Simon the Zealot, Daniel’s former colleague, is the other major character who is motivated by love. Simon has left everything he has known to follow Jesus. And like Jesus, Simon does not beg or demand that others join him in following God’s love. All people must be free to choose grace on their own. Like Jesus, Simon leads by example. He waits for Daniel to see the power of God’s love on his own.

Leah is another character to be motivated by love rather than hate. Her empathy for her family is enormous. She loves Daniel and all her friends and family in her own odd way, but more importantly, she is able to love outside her culture’s prejudices. Leah falls in love with Marcus, a Roman soldier, a relationship that is strictly forbidden both by her brother and by her culture. However, like both Simon and Malthace, Leah listens to her heart rather than prescribed “reason.” The power of love is perhaps most strongly realized in Leah’s character, for love alone is able to transform her from a cowering, isolated girl into a welcoming and beautiful young woman.

Samson, the mute giant who is rescued from the prison galleys by Daniel, is another example of the power of love. Samson may be the most pure character in the novel, for he has no other motivation other than his love for Daniel. He follows the boy around constantly and watches out for him incessantly. It is Samson who provides the living, and dying, example of Jesus’s maxim that “no greater love has a man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends.”

Although it is awhile in coming, Daniel, too, is moved by the power of love. He returns to the village out of love for his sister and grandmother. His love for Joel moves him to try to “lay down his life for his friends.” And finally, Daniel realizes that “love alone can bend the bow of bronze.”