St. Paul’s United Church Sunday, September 17, 2006

Images of Jesus – Rev. David Mundy

James 3:1-12 Mark 8: 27-38

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Last Sunday morning a gang of kids came to the front of the sanctuary for the Children’s Time and we probably all breathed a sigh of relief to see so many of them here after the quiet of the summer.

We trust that they will be learning about God and about Jesus after they leave each Sunday morning. Sometime during the year they may be encouraged to draw or paint their own images of Jesus and it would be interesting to see what they would conjure up.

Of course that would be an interesting exercise for all of us, wouldn’t you think? What if I announced “No sermon this morning. Put on your bibs, here are your pots of paint and some brushes, come up with a mural of Jesus on the walls.” Okay, I might be out of a job, but it would be a fascinating way to go!

I don’t know that I have ever asked any adult to paint a portrait of Christ but for as long as I can remember I have been showing people artistic images of Jesus and asking what they think. Confirmation classes, study groups, young and old. What always surprises and impresses me is that people have opinions and are willing to express them. We do form our personal portraits and images of Jesus over time and when we see the impressions of others in art we can compare them with our own to see where they coincide and where they don’t.

Of course there is no clear visual of Jesus, certainly no photograph, and he wasn’t important enough in his day to warrant a portrait or a sculpture. There is no description of Jesus anywhere in the gospels, nor in the rest of the New Testament. It’s as though we were meant to develop our own picture of Jesus, both in terms of his appearance and to a certain degree our perception of Jesus as the Christ. In the second century Jesus is described in some sources as a hunchback. During the Middle Ages it was widely held that he was a leper, a disease he cured in the gospels.

I rummaged around in my books on Jesus this past week and I realized that a number of them had artistic impressions of him on their covers. There is everything from the very traditional and familiar to the contemporary and unique. One of them shows a fragmented face made up of portions of paintings, which probably fits modern sensibilities.

Do you have an image of Jesus in your mind? For those of you who are bringing children to deepen their faith, do you feel that they have formed their pictures of Jesus as a human being and as God-with-us? To form this image or these multiple images requires us to gather information, but also to engage our imaginations.

This morning we heard a passage of scripture which shows up regularly in the lectionary. It is a story found in three of the gospels about a conversation Jesus has with his disciples on the way to a secluded spot in the hills of Galilee called Caesarea Philippi. This was a place of worship for pagan gods – the remains of some of the shrines are still visible today and according to Mark, Jesus asks a question of his followers “Who do people say I am?” They answer with their sketches of other leaders of faith – John the Baptist, who had only recently been murdered, and Elijah, who had lived nearly a thousand years before. Then Jesus brings it closer to home “Who do you say I am?” Remember that Jesus grew up in a small town in Galilee, the son of peasant parents.

You may not think of the disciple Peter as an avant garde artist but he is the one who takes the leap of imagination to say that Jesus is the Messiah, the Promised One of God. Peter is the original Rock, and when we read about him in the gospels we discover that he is constantly changing his portrait of Jesus during the course of the roughly three years he spends with his teacher and friend, although this appears to happen spontaneously rather than with any forethought or intention.

Peter is the one who trusts Jesus totally when he walks toward him on the water, only to have his nerve fail. When Peter lashes out with a sword in the Garden of Gethsemane to protect Jesus it is an impetuous act, defying everything he has heard and learned from Jesus over time. His denial of Jesus in the courtyard of the Sandhedrin is the sad reminder that we can all be frightened away from our convictions. In each of these situations Peter is attempting to understand his relationship with Jesus

But in the moment we heard about in the gospel this morning Peter “gets it, ” at least for a moment. He realizes that Jesus is a prophet and a leader, yet he is more. Jesus has a relationship with God which is unlike any other and while this is far from clearly defined it is real. Poor Peter can’t bask in his revelation for long. When he tries to downplay the possibility of Jesus’ suffering he is chastised and Jesus says to him “Get behind me Satan!”

What is your image of Jesus? Has it remained static since you were first introduced to Jesus as a child or has it expanded? Actually, I don’t want to be unfair to children because they often have a simple but remarkable faith in Christ. They often believe that Jesus is with them in a very tangible and meaningful way, in large part because that’s what we teach them. When I was younger and still had hair, which was dark, kids would see me in a long robe in church and be absolutely convinced that I was Jesus, although my own children never suffered this confusion! The simple faith of youth tends to see Jesus as compassionate and kind “Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so” is what the beloved hymn reminds us and we have seen the pictures of children on Jesus’ knee.

Yet we don’t want to be maudlin or limiting in the portrait we produce. There is a great deal more to Jesus and his love than mere tenderness. Jesus was a remarkable teacher who invited his listeners to create what one scholar calls an “alternate moral universe.” Listen to this from what is called the Sermon on the Mount”“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also . . . ” This is followed by “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you . . . ” There isn’t much that is gentle in these words, but they do call us to a profoundly different life.

It wasn’t just what Jesus said that created this alternate universe. It was what he did. He ate meals with the riffraff and the “wrong side of the tracks” crowd, and the scandal was that he seemed so comfortable doing so. He was present to them and loved them by that presence.

In so many ways Jesus stood the traditional notions of what it meant to be radically faithful to God on their head. I have never seen a painting of Jesus doing a cartwheel or hanging upside down from a tree branch but the symbolism would be accurate. If the gospels are to be believed, Jesus was challenging and even fierce as he made his way through this world. T. S. Eliot wrote a poem nearly a hundred years ago that contains the stanza:

Signs are taken for wonders. “We would see a sign”

The word within a word, unable to speak a word,

Swaddled with darkness. In the juvescence of the year

Came Christ the tiger.

Jesus is born into the darkness of our world to bring light and while I had to look in a dictionary to discover the meaning of juvescence, the phrase “Christ the tiger” captures me. Tigers can’t be tamed. Tigers are magnificent. So Christ the tiger is the one of coiled power and energy which he refuses to use for his own purposes or to bring about any conventional form of empire. Instead he quietly defied the conventions of religion and politics and when he shared his portrait of God with those who would listen it was obvious he wasn’t afraid to colour “outside the lines.” This loving Jesus was not and is not a “tame” messiah.

And he is certainly not a victim. One of the images of Jesus we know well is as the Crucified One, the Suffering Servant who was willing to make his way to Calvary, even though it meant humiliation and death. Jesus doesn’t want this pain, but he does not run away either. And on the cross our pain, our screw-ups, our prejudices, are received and transformed. I have shared with you before a painting by a Russian Jewish artist who surprised the art world by creating his image of a very Jewish Jesus on the cross. In the background are scenes of violence and hatred

and this Jewish Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world.

How is your image of Jesus forming up? Is it coming into focus? One last thought today. There are many paintings of the Risen Christ but most of them just can’t express what is really inexpressible.

Perhaps we depict the resurrected Christ in a different way, a much earthier and accessible way. At the conclusion of the gospel of John there is a story of Jesus with his disciples on the shore of Galilee. This is after the crucifixion and the resurrection. After the fishermen in Jesus’s band of followers have returned to their work on the water. In this story Jesus makes breakfast for “the guys.” We all know about the Last Supper, but this is the Last Breakfast and is a simple meal of bread and fish. While they are eating, Jesus asks Peter “do you love me?” and Peter answers with his mouth full “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus asks him again, and then again, and it says that Peter’s feelings are hurt. After the third time Jesus says “Follow me.” It is so simple, but Peter and the rest of them sitting around the charcoal fire on the beach that morning would have remembered the words we heard today“If any want to follow to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up the cross and follow me.”

My encouragement to you this morning is to bring together the images of Jesus you have and look at them and decide how they fit and then follow this Jesus. Trust that you can see him today and every day. Follow Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, with all your heart and mind and soul.