Today’s topic is faces. Faces of God, faces of Emperor. The texts are Exodus 33:12-23 (Moses asks to see the Lord, or the Lord’s glory; YHWH concedes); Matthew 22:15-22 (Render unto Caesar). As you might imagine, depictions of God in art tend toward the old man in the clouds imagery, like this one, God the Father, …
One of today’s lectionary readings is Exodus 32:1-14, the Golden Calf. And by golly do I EVER I have some relevant art to share for this scripture! This piece is by artist Damien Hirst. It is a bull. An ACTUAL bull. Its hooves and horns are dipped in 18-carat gold, and it is wearing the …
One thing I love about Jesus is his focus on food. His first miracle was to save a wedding party from the perils of having to drink water, by turning it into wine instead. The only miracle story in all four gospels is the feeding of the 5,000, in which Jesus creates a feast for a large crowd.
Matthew 10:34-42 includes one of the many seemingly contradictory statements from Jesus about weaponry: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Iconic depictions of Jesus with a sword are rare, but they do exist – interestingly, most of them are modern. But here is one from the 14th century. It is a fresco at the Vysoki Dechani Monastery in Kosovo, Serbia. The Greek says “This Sword is the Cutter of Sins.”