And Jesus says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32)
At first glance this is a very simple icon. But it is rich in meaning.
We’ve looked at this when we were talking about John 19:26-27 how Jesus – by his death – makes a new community, and links his mother and the beloved disciple. And we saw how, certainly in John’s gospel, Mary represents both the mother of Jesus but also all people who put their faith in the promises of God; she represents the whole church. And John represents the individual believer, beloved by Jesus.
The title above the icon is the Crucifixion of our Lord, and there are six characters here
There are two angels representing the heavenly world. I think we can see three of their six wings
There is Christ himself on the cross. Above him on the left and right are the initials – they appear to us as IC and XC – IC Jesus, XC Christ. On his halo – it is faded – are the words, ‘The One who Is’, the ‘I am’, the name that God gave for himself to Moses.
Above the figure on the right are the initials which tell us that it is John the apostle and the initials on the figure of the right tell us that it is Mary.
I want to start with the figure of John. The words above him call him John the Theologian. Theology is, in the understanding of Eastern Church, not just an activity of the mind, a thinking about God, but the contemplation of the divine. He is in the posture of thinking and reflecting. He is asking, What does all this mean? His eyes are looking inwards but also outward toward the hand of Mary
Mary is pointing to Jesus with her right hand. Notice the geometrical connection between Mary and Jesus. The shape of her arm and hand are continued up through the line in the centre of the body of Jesus and the line ends with the angel on the right. You can also see that the shape of John’s head and Jesus’ head lead to the angel on the left.
Mary is grieving. Her left hand is here, above her heart. We see the Son of God crucified.
But Mary points John and us to Jesus.
Jesus – and you can’t see this on the reproduction – has open eyes and is looking with deep compassion on her. It is his love that led him to the cross. He dies for the church, he dies for our forgiveness to give us life.
I’ve said that there are 6 characters, but only 5 are obvious.
The sixth is the skull at the bottom. And this has been for me a bit of a revelation.
The skull is the skull of Adam. According to legend, Jesus was crucified above the skull of Adam (Golgotha means ‘place of the skull’). I suspect it is a legend – but one that has been shaped by people’s reflection on the significance of the cross.
The death of Jesus was the consequence of Adam. Adam is the representative of our humanity which has chosen to rebel against God and has chosen to live for ourselves and not for him. It is our sin, our pride, our viciousness, our cruelty, our fear that crucified Jesus. It is too easy to say that it was them, then, who crucified him. But I suspect that if he had lived today, we would have ‘crucified’ him in our way.
And Jesus death is the answer to Adam’s sin, to our sin. He died for Adam’s sin and he died for our sins. He dies ‘so that we might be forgiven’. He died so that we can be put right with God.
We are with Adam. We are that skull. We may not be dead yet, but we all will be. We will all be there. Death is a consequence of our sin, of our rebellion against God.
But we have not been abandoned. We are not abandoned now, and we will not be abandoned then when we are in the grave. It is hard to see, but it is there: from the nails in the feet of Jesus there are two streams of blood, and they fall onto the skull of Adam. And it is Jesus’ life giving, mercy pouring love. It is his death, his blood that drops on us, who are spiritually dead, and brings to all who are prepared to receive it his forgiveness, restoration and new life.
Jesus looks with such compassion on Mary, on his people – and his hands are outstretched. We are welcomed to come to him, the crucified who died out of love for us.
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15)
And Jesus says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32)
At first glance this is a very simple icon. But it is rich in meaning.
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| Icon of the Resurrection, Moscow C14th, Rublev museum |
We’ve looked at this when we were talking about John 19:26-27 how Jesus – by his death – makes a new community, and links his mother and the beloved disciple. And we saw how, certainly in John’s gospel, Mary represents both the mother of Jesus but also all people who put their faith in the promises of God; she represents the whole church. And John represents the individual believer, beloved by Jesus.
The title above the icon is the Crucifixion of our Lord, and there are six characters here
There are two angels representing the heavenly world. I think we can see three of their six wings
There is Christ himself on the cross. Above him on the left and right are the initials – they appear to us as IC and XC – IC Jesus, XC Christ. On his halo – it is faded – are the words, ‘The One who Is’, the ‘I am’, the name that God gave for himself to Moses.
Above the figure on the right are the initials which tell us that it is John the apostle and the initials on the figure of the right tell us that it is Mary.
I want to start with the figure of John. The words above him call him John the Theologian. Theology is, in the understanding of Eastern Church, not just an activity of the mind, a thinking about God, but the contemplation of the divine. He is in the posture of thinking and reflecting. He is asking, What does all this mean? His eyes are looking inwards but also outward toward the hand of Mary
Mary is pointing to Jesus with her right hand. Notice the geometrical connection between Mary and Jesus. The shape of her arm and hand are continued up through the line in the centre of the body of Jesus and the line ends with the angel on the right. You can also see that the shape of John’s head and Jesus’ head lead to the angel on the left.
Mary is grieving. Her left hand is here, above her heart. We see the Son of God crucified.
But Mary points John and us to Jesus.
Jesus – and you can’t see this on the reproduction – has open eyes and is looking with deep compassion on her. It is his love that led him to the cross. He dies for the church, he dies for our forgiveness to give us life.
I’ve said that there are 6 characters, but only 5 are obvious.
The sixth is the skull at the bottom. And this has been for me a bit of a revelation.
The skull is the skull of Adam. According to legend, Jesus was crucified above the skull of Adam (Golgotha means ‘place of the skull’). I suspect it is a legend – but one that has been shaped by people’s reflection on the significance of the cross.
The death of Jesus was the consequence of Adam. Adam is the representative of our humanity which has chosen to rebel against God and has chosen to live for ourselves and not for him. It is our sin, our pride, our viciousness, our cruelty, our fear that crucified Jesus. It is too easy to say that it was them, then, who crucified him. But I suspect that if he had lived today, we would have ‘crucified’ him in our way.
And Jesus death is the answer to Adam’s sin, to our sin. He died for Adam’s sin and he died for our sins. He dies ‘so that we might be forgiven’. He died so that we can be put right with God.
We are with Adam. We are that skull. We may not be dead yet, but we all will be. We will all be there. Death is a consequence of our sin, of our rebellion against God.
But we have not been abandoned. We are not abandoned now, and we will not be abandoned then when we are in the grave. It is hard to see, but it is there: from the nails in the feet of Jesus there are two streams of blood, and they fall onto the skull of Adam. And it is Jesus’ life giving, mercy pouring love. It is his death, his blood that drops on us, who are spiritually dead, and brings to all who are prepared to receive it his forgiveness, restoration and new life.
Jesus looks with such compassion on Mary, on his people – and his hands are outstretched. We are welcomed to come to him, the crucified who died out of love for us.
“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15)
And Jesus says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32)
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