Short story about Jesus being actually an alien that got stranded on Earth

Question

This is a story I read about 15 years ago (or maybe 20?) within an anthology book of sci-fi stories that was already old when I read it. From what I can remember, the story goes like this:

• An alien wakes up in a lake and using the energy stored within him (thanks to the advanced technology of his race he can store energy and use it for different purposes) walks over the lake and crosses the lake to talk to the natives (frightening them by walking over water, of course).

• When talking with them (he can do it thanks to his advanced tech), he realizes that they are so primitive they don't all love each other (which is the peak result of any advanced civilization).

• He sends a beacon so their partners rescue him.

• Then, he tries to help the natives so they all love each other. Meanwhile, he uses the energy within him (or his suit) to heal people, to produce food and even resurrect a couple person.

• All of this causes a commotion within some of the natives who then capture hil and "kill" him.

• He would try to fight back if it weren't because he's low on energy, so he apparently dies but actually goes into stasis until his race returns.

• A couple days go by and his race returns and takes him back, in front of many witnesses.

There could be some details of the story that are different, but I'm almost sure that the story was like this. This anthology book where I read it was in Spanish (I'm from a Spanish-speaking country), but I don't think the story was written originally in Spanish (although it could be, I don't really know).

I know it didn't involve time-travel for sure, so it isn't a story about that. And it was on planet Earth.

Does anyone know it or heard of it? I tried finding it for the last ten years but no luck.

Answer 1

This sounds very much like Un inesperado visitante ("An unexpected visitor") by the Cuban writer Ángel Arango, originally published in 1979. It was more recently published in the anthology Crónicas del mañana: 50 años de cuentos cubanos de ciencia ficción in 2008, which is possibly where the OP came across it.

The story indeed deals with an alien who crashes on the Earth, and uses his stored energy to produce what the local inhabitants perceive to be miracles. I am not aware that the story has been translated to English, so the texts I give below I have translated myself.

The part where he walks over the lake (and also accidentally causes "the miraculous draught of fishes"), is when he tries to return to his crashed spaceship to recover his transmitter:

he found a family of fishermen with whom he made friends and learned to speak the language perfectly. He then embarked with the fishermen to recover the signaling equipment. He descended into the waters and walked along the bottom of the sea. It was useless. Then he emitted a telepathic signal under the water and it attracted the fish, which filled the nets. He returned to the surface, displaced the atmosphere and created a void around him. The force of gravity ceased to act on his body: he held himself as still as a dead man and he slid over the waters, upright on his feet that rested on a thin layer of air above the surface of the sea.

Next, out of pity, he uses some of his stored energy to restore a blind man's sight. He then realizes that the natives are so primitive that they do not know that love is the most important thing:

"What they call wealth is worthless in my country," he said. "Love is what is important."

After performing more "miracles", he is eventually captured, and because he is low on energy he does not fight back. He is crucified, and slows his metabolism to a point where it is imperceptible, and awaits rescue by his colleagues. They arrive three days later:

The rescue patrol fired two or three effect shots on the ground and buildings. In the cemetery the graves of the dead were opened. While the ship remained in the air, close to the surface of the earth, creating a stormy sky with all its searchlights on, two of the men approached the tomb to the horror of the guard. They were tall and in bright uniforms and they easily removed the stone that covered the tomb.

The tortured stranger stood up and, retracing his footsteps, went to join the two men.

"Let's go," he said.

And they disappeared into the sky.

Then, the people began to tell the story with great emotion. The detractors distorted it and the admirers did too. The writers took all these deformations and made it a work of literature. Everyone said what they wanted, and humanity continued to repeat it, and continues to do so. Even today in the year 3,000.