Listen
Read
John 19: 1-3 nrsv
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove
a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a
purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the
Jews!” and striking him on the face.
Look
Observe the visual qualities of the image: line, shape, movement, and
texture. How do the visual elements connect to the scripture text?
What emotions emerge for you as you observe the art?
Reflect
“I’m floored by the boldness of violence in this passage. To strike
someone across the face requires looking someone in the eyes
and marring the most recognizable and identifiable part of the
body. It requires facing the recipient of your rage and witnessing
the consequences and destruction of your actions first-hand. It is a
brazen and intimate act of violence.
Continuing to misunderstand and mock Jesus’ power, the soldiers
craft him a crown made out of pain—a crown made out of that which
protects the beauty of the bloom. In this case, however, the thorns
cannot protect the beauty they surround.”
—Artist Lauren Wright Pittman
Pray
May I recognize the ways I am complicit in the violence of this world
and take a stand against it. Amen.