What's Wrong With This Picture?

1). Could it possibly be a violation of the Second Commandment, not to make any graven images (Exodus 20:4)? If the Second Commandment’s purpose is to prohibit idolatry and false worship, and not necessarily ‘artistic expression’, then maybe this big cement Jesus is just someone’s way of expressing what they perceive Jesus to have looked like on the cross.

But…

2). This Jesus is too clean and too recognizable. The Bible says that Jesus was pierced and crushed and bruised and wounded (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus was scourged and beaten (Matt. 27:26;30). Historians tell us that the floggings that took place in that day were beyond brutal. The device used for the floggings was usually a leather whip with stones and glass embedded into the leather so as to rip the skin off of the ‘criminal’ in ribbons of torn flesh and muscle. Jesus also had a spear rammed into his side (John 19:34) and He wore a crown of thorns that was mercilessly rammed onto his head (Mark 15:17). There is no accurate representation of this brutality in this picture.

3). The other thing that is wrong is this: Jesus is no longer on the cross. He’s no longer in the tomb either. The cross is empty and the tomb is empty. He is very much alive and seated at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3). What is attractive to the unbeliever about showing a dead and defeated Jesus in His humiliation? Why would we want to depict the Conqueror of sin and death in any other way than ‘living and victorious’?

You see, even a statue, a crucifix, or ornamentation on the front of a church can give us the wrong ‘picture’ of who Jesus Christ is. If we have a wrong view of who He is, how then can we properly understand why He came to earth and what He did here? We MUST go to the Word of God to find out who Christ is, how He lived, how He died, what His purpose was and what He is doing right now.

Christians must preach the good news of the gospel. Christians must be able to articulate and clarify the gospel. At least once a week, probably on the weekends, I hope to enter into a habit of sharing elements of the gospel from what I am learning in my study of Paul's letter to the Romans.

Not ashamed of the Gospel,

Mark