“The labourer”: an image of Jesus by Papua New Guinea artist Mairi Karl Feeger
by Roland Ashby
The story of the yet unborn John the Baptist ‘leaping for joy’ in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visits her, (Luke 1:41) can touch us deeply as we enter the season of Advent. This is the time of invitation to let our hearts be softened and ‘leap for joy’ as we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the world.
The great mystic and theologian Thomas Aquinas, who believed that joy is at the heart of faith, said, “Sheer joy is God’s, and this demands companionship”. In commenting on this, theologian Matthew Fox says that “Aquinas proposes that the universe exists for the sake of joy – God’s and that of the rest of us”.
The greatest joy, Fox says, for God and for all of us, is to share the joy and not to hoard it. “Fear restricts; but joy expands and seeks companions with whom to share itself.”[1]
Aquinas further states: “God delights. God is always rejoicing and doing so with a single and simple delight. In fact, it is appropriate to say that love and joy are the only human emotions that we can attribute literally to God.”[2]
Jesus, the one “in whom God’s fullness was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19), is not normally associated with joy. But as a healer and life-giver extraordinaire, Jesus was a bringer and sharer of supreme joy. A recent online art exhibition, ‘Jesus laughing and loving’ seeks to celebrate this much neglected quality of Jesus.
In his Foreword to the exhibition, the Rev’d Tim Costello writes:
A collection of pictures featuring Jesus ‘loving and laughing’ sounds trivial at best, perhaps blasphemous at worst. Western art has made Jesus a holy and solemn figure usually shown suffering or dead, or perhaps teaching a crowd or making a ghostly appearance to startled onlookers. In modern cinema he has been portrayed as otherworldly and formal. We are not used to thinking of Jesus ‘laughing out loud’ or being a loved and loving friend. Yet he ate and drank with tax collectors, was accused of consorting with prostitutes and broke many of the laws of his day regarding purity of diet, association and sacred days. The human Jesus lived among ordinary people and shared their lives. He often scandalised the pious and brought joy and hope to the disreputable and despised.
The doctrine of the Incarnation emphasises this - God’s love in Jesus comes to us in our own language and culture wherever we are. These paintings depict Jesus engaging with people in their ordinary daily life doing ordinary everyday things and enjoying himself immensely among friends. In a Pacific Islands context he is seen fishing from a canoe, in the Philippines he is depicted drinking with friends in a bar. We are shown Jesus juggling, joking and dancing!
The church that bears his name has not always been as free and joyful as the Jesus presented in these paintings. It has mistrusted laughter and often presented a sterile and domesticated vision of Jesus strangely at odds with the robust, challenging but also attractive figure we see in the gospels. This exhibition is a step towards liberating the person of Jesus from the traditional other-worldly image so that his power and relevance for modern living might be rediscovered and enjoyed.
When the world is so beset with problems and suffering, and our own personal situations may also weigh heavily on our hearts, let us hold dear this Advent to the little flame of love and joy that is deep within each of us, the Christ within.
See the exhibition at: https://www.miat.org.au/jesus-laughing-ex/Jesus%20Laughing%20and%20Loving%20-%20Web%20Copy.pdf
[1] Matthew Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas – Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times (iUniverse), Loc 742-743.
[2] Ibid., Loc 743