One of the more enjoyable excursions while I was in London last year was to the National Gallery. They had an extensive exhibition showing of Christian art.
I spent half a day, wandering from room to room, using it as a time of worship. Immersing myself into the scenes depicted, reminding myself of the stories being portrayed and thanking God for things like creativity and for His works throughout the centuries.
Of course, the way that Jesus was represented varied quite markedly, from artist to artist and from era to era. From features bordering on feminine, to the ethereal; European, Mediterranean; glorious and triumphant, to suffering and weak.
Jesus had many faces.
Initially I found some of the images quite off-putting. “That’s nothing like what Jesus would have looked like”. But I thought later that throughout Christian history, artists have just been depicting Jesus in the context of their culture, both in time and in place.
Something that we are inclined to do. Which I think is quite OK.
And I’ve since also reflected on the words of Jesus found in Matthew 25:40, ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’.
And recognised my own failings - I can quite easily overlook this in some people, thinking ‘that’s nothing like what Jesus would look like’.
Author Leonard Sweet says, “We will never know what Jesus looked like, because he looks like everyone at every time. It’s not his physical presence outside of us but his resurrection presence inside of us that is the handwriting of the gospel anyway.”
As I view Christian art now, I try to concentrate less on the facial features of Jesus shown in the art, and more on the heart features that can be found in me.
www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington
