Art is Interpretive

Some Christians look at an image of Jesus and see his power, and wealth, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and praise, as Revelation 4:11 describes him.  Other Christians look at an image of Jesus and say "What a gross depiction of my Savior.  He is so much greater than this worthless interpretation.  There is no way any artist can capture who Jesus is."

First off, neither viewpoint is incorrect.  Now I myself fall into the latter category.  But I would reword that last sentence.  I would say "there is no way any artist can capture who Jesus is to me."  For some, a picture of Jesus is essential to bringing them to him for the first time, as adopted children.  And perhaps throughout their lives, more images of Jesus continue to conjure up cause for them to worship him.  And that's great.  In fact, it's absolutely fantastic that something as simple as art can get to a person and show them Jesus in that way.




For me, that has never been the case.  I personally do not see the glory of God in any picture depicting him.  Yet.  That may change.  You see, it's hard for me to understand how something as simple as art can capture something so terrifyingly awesome as the character of God.  I just don't get it.  But I believe it's possible.  I see people on fire for God because they have been changed by art.  Personally, God has shown himself to me through his own creation, not through the work of human hands.  He has shown himself to me through his holy written Word.  He has shown himself to me through his divine intervention in people's lives, including the amazing fact of drawing people to himself through something as small and insignificant as a painting.  I think that's incredible.

The problem arises when people say "Pictures of Jesus are absolutely wrong and they should not be used to aid in your worship and praise of him!"  Now that's totally bogus.  But I also want to stress that an equal problem arises if someone were to believe that the effect a picture of Jesus has on people should be UNIVERSAL.  Is it terribly wrong that I personally don't see God's glory through images of him?  I hope not.  Once again, to further drive my point, I'm glad that you see elements of God through art that you wouldn't have ever seen otherwise.  But I firmly believe that God has revealed himself to people in all kinds of different ways.  Everybody has their own unique story to tell.

Who knows? Maybe someday I'll come across a painting of Jesus and say "Holy guacamole! That's IT! That's what Jesus is to me!"  I would LOVE to one day find an image like that, because I would just stare and stare and stare and stare.   I want to end this by urging you to make sure that the image you have of Jesus is sincere.  Really test yourself before you praise any earthly depiction of Jesus.  Ask yourself, is this image really representing our Savior in his power, and wealth, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and praise?  Because if it's not, then I'm afraid you have a wrong idea of who Jesus is.  Yes, Jesus is fully man.  But he's also fully God.  

OK, I've talked too long.  That's it.  Originally, it was going to be even longer.