Rest for the Weary

Jesus says in Matthew 11; "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest". I took the advice of Jesus this weekend and rested with Him and my family. It's been extremely stressful, frustrating, irritating, painful, and down right unbelieveable for me in these last few weeks. So this weekend, I spent my time with the family. Saturday was fun. My and wife went to the Getty Center Musuem because she had to do a paper for school on some of the artwork. There was one section of the museum that caught my attention, "Imagingng Christ".


This exhibition features images of Christ in illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The images show the multiple ways in which Christ was understood: as the son of God and as God, as human and divine, as the sacrifice made for mankind, and as the divine judge who would save or condemn humanity at the end of time. The images in the exhibition, primarily from western European manuscripts, demonstrate how medieval and Renaissance faithful sought to participate in Christ's suffering and salvation through art and prayer.


Here is a capture of a few art pieces I thought were very interesting:








"Invoking Christ In Word and Ritual" Catholic depiction of Christ by 6th Century Pope Gregory the Great






In medieval and Renaissance churches, gilded metal-relief sculptures of Christ and sculpted metal book covers gave physical form to the logos (word of God). These highly symbolic works of art reinforced the ways in which Christ was made present through church services.This figure was one of a larger group that likely covered the front of an altar in the Cathedral of Saint Martin in Ourense, Spain. An entire altar decorated with similar figures and surrounded by flickering lamps emitted a golden glow in the church, bringing to mind Christ's words from the Gospel of John, "He who sees me, sees Him who sent me. I have come as a light into the world."


There were many other artwork pieces that were very interesting and disturbing. The reason I say they were disturbing is because many people in time past, present, and the future feel the need to believe in God with visible signs and images. And all the artwork pieces just confirms my belief that we living times of visible faith.



Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:7, "We walk by faith and not by sight." And Jesus says to Thomas in John 20:29; "Thomas, because you have seen me you believe. Blessed are those who have not seen yet believe".


We see God in every aspect of life as we see His creation each morning we wake up. Thank God we can believe in God without shadows of His image.


If you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead you will be saved. - Romans 10:9


Remember, your tomorrow will be better than your today!