"The Multi-Faceted, Many Images of Jesus"

Sermon 02.28.10
“The Multi-Faceted, Many Images of Jesus”

Is Jesus having an identity crisis? It might appear so, on a first reading of today’s text from the gospel of Luke. In the span of five short verses, he is like the month of March – roaring in like a lion and going out like a lamb. He starts out gutsy, telling the Pharisees to take a terse message to Herod. “Go tell that fox”, he says, and you can just imagine that he’s just plain aggravated as all get out. I picture flecks of spit coming out of his mouth as he asserts that he will finish the work that he has started.

And then, just as quickly, he dissolves from his anger, and bemoans the city that will be the place of his death, and wants to comfort it like a mother hen brooding over her chicks. In the other gospel accounts he is actually moved to tears as he pities the fate of Jerusalem and its inhabitants.

So what is going on here – is Jesus a keenly determined man or a a hand-wringing whiner? Now I mean no disrespect here, let me say that. But the character of Jesus changes so dramatically, it’s hard to tell where he is coming from. And it is that chameleon-like quality of Jesus – that he becomes something different for everyone he meets, that makes him just so interesting. He is multi-faceted, having many sides to his nature.

In the gospel texts, we almost see Jesus as the quintessential Renaissance man. He heals, he teaches, he preaches. He eats with sinners. He speaks in parables. He calms the storms. He is a sailor when he is in the fishing boat with Simon Peter. He is a dinner guest at the wedding at Cana. He is a host at the Passover meal in the upper room.
If you ask the priests and scribes who he is, the answer would be “the enemy who threatens the established norms of our faith traditions.” If you ask Pilate or Herod who he is, the answer would be “the thorn in our side whom the unwashed masses want to crown as King.” If you ask the Samaritan woman at the well who he is, the answer would be “the one who knew my entire past without me telling him.” Jesus is perceived differently by everyone he meets.

To illustrate this thought, I’ve brought some pictures with me today. Throughout the centuries, our images of Jesus have changed. The earliest recorded images that were painted in the house churches showed him as the Good Shepherd, carrying a sheep around his shoulders. It is an image, which many people like and identify with – Jesus as protector of the weak and helpless, Jesus as the one who tends the flock.

Think about the stained glass windows that you have seen in churches, or the artwork here in the sanctuary. The painting that we have here is The Head of Christ by Warner Sallman, made popular back in the 1940’s. This image has been reproduced over 500 million times, making it one of the most popular. It shows a serene, composed Savior, not the Jesus who overturned the money changers tables at the temple.
That Jesus was angry, unrestrained and not very shepherdly.

Another painting that is commonly found in the sanctuary is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, by Heinrich Hofman. You know exactly the one that I mean. In the UCC churches of Western PA, where I was serving before I came here, it was this picture that was displayed most often. This Jesus is depleted and desperate, knowing that the time of betrayal is near and praying to his father that the cup might pass from him. He is pensive, and weighed down, with the inevitability of his impending death.

There are two more images that I would ask you to recall: The first is DaVinci’s masterpiece, The Last Supper. Jesus is serving bread and wine and telling the disciples that these symbols will continue forever to commemorate his passion. This Jesus is concerned with the final meal with his friends, his followers, the one who would betray him and the ones that would desert and deny him, the one who would need to touch Jesus’s side to believe in the resurrection.


These are the standard, classical pieces that many older people identify with. But there are newer pictures of Jesus, that again, show different traits and parts of his personality. And I wanted to show you some of them as well. Here is the laughing Jesus, whose head is tossed back in joy. I like to think that he enjoyed a good joke. And we cannot forget the Jesus who was frequently surrounded by little children. Kids don’t hang all over you unless you are fun to be with.

There’s a wonderful sculpture of Jesus on the cross wearing jeans, surely an image that resonates with youth. I’ve even brought two very modern images of images, both very different in nature. One is a wide-eyed country looking young Jesus, and the other shows a rough and tough Jesus with a tattoo marked “Father” on his arm.
With all these images, is there anyone who can’t find a Jesus to like. That perhaps is one of the messages from today’s text.
There are varied images of Jesus, some of which are dear to our hearts. We serve a risen savior who was not only gutsy, but gracious; not only in charge, but submissive to his father; not only weary and drained, but also glorious in his resurrection.

All of us identify with some image of Jesus, whether from a childhood raised in church surroundings, or from the more contemporary images that I have shown you. He appeals to all, in many roles, and in all surroundings. I think this embodies the words of the UCC statement of faith: “In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Savior, you have come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the world to yourself.” Find the Jesus that speaks the most to your soul and hold that for your image.

Our Jesus, the Jesus we love and praise here today, has shown his divinity and humanity in multiple identities, none of which constitutes a crisis. He is multi-faceted. Everyone who knew him during his time on earth saw something different, and all of us in this room have a unique relationship to him. All views are distinctive, yet Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. No matter how we see him, this is truth indeed. Amen.