An American couple in Mexico sees an Indian man riding a donkey on the street, and they are struck by the realization that his face looks like that of Christ – or at least the way that it looks on murals and paintings. They share this anecdote with their friend in a coffee shop, but it is quickly dismissed. A few days later, the husband visits Dr. Serente for a minor treatment, and he sees the same Indian man in the office. The two converse, and it turns out that "Christ’s" daughter is terribly ill. In private, the husband asks Dr. Serente if anything can be done for the girl, to which he replies that she is dying and there is no hope. The operation is an expensive one, and even if the family could afford it, the doctor is not sure that the young girl would survive it. But the husband is unable to let it go. He offers to pay for the operation, but Dr. Serente rebuffs him, asking whether he would pay for everyone who needed surgery to get it. He observes that charity is an impossible choice to make. A few days later, the American couple go to Dr. Serente’s house for dinner, and the other guests converse about how Americans come into Mexico with their wealth and change the nature of the city. The "Christ of Cuernavaca" comes up in conversation, and the dinner party laughs at the American couple for their strange ideas. The husband reflects on the moment he went into a cathedral and asked a priest about what he should do about the Indian man’s daughter, to which the priest suggested prayer. This unhelpful response leaves him disillusioned. Later, he learns that the girl perished, and that Dr. Serente paid for her funeral. The couple drinks to "angry" Mexico, who shelters the poor and fights for them. Coincidentally, the husband later sees the man who resembled Christ on the road, but grief at the loss of a child has changed him, and now he simply looks like a tired, sad man.