Oh, wow. I never saw the manger that held Jesus this way before, even though great sadness and urgent prayers for my own family, church and nation issue from me when I meditate on the blindness of the people of Israel to recognize their Lord in the time of his appearing to them.
Oh LORD, convict and forgive us when our theological boxes, prejudices, and presumptions keep us from recognizing you. Open our eyes and hearts to welcome you, and acknowledge Jesus as the One who feeds us daily. May we respond quickly to your voice and see and honor you, Lord.
In reading Luke 2:1-20, I can’t help thinking how the animals were fed by these troughs — their food, their very sustenance, was provided by their master was literally consumed in these mangers. To think of Jesus being food — our very sustenance! And he was - and is. He literally poured out his life that we might live! “He took bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which has been given for you” (Luke 22:19).
Am hoping that image comes through. I have a print of this piece called “Simeon’s Moment” in my home. I was so struck by the joy and devastation of Simeon’s holding the Christ child in the fulfillment of God’s promise that Simeon would live to see Israel’s salvation!
The work is fabulous in that we do not see the face of Jesus — which was intentional so that every person viewing this piece could relate to Jesus being for all people. The cross is superimposed upon the painting with a map of the world as the background.
I imagine Simeon’s moment was very akin to this artist’s rendition and marvel at how he captured the intimacy, longing, and beauty of the moment
Oh, wow. I never saw the manger that held Jesus this way before, even though great sadness and urgent prayers for my own family, church and nation issue from me when I meditate on the blindness of the people of Israel to recognize their Lord in the time of his appearing to them.
Oh LORD, convict and forgive us when our theological boxes, prejudices, and presumptions keep us from recognizing you. Open our eyes and hearts to welcome you, and acknowledge Jesus as the One who feeds us daily. May we respond quickly to your voice and see and honor you, Lord.
In reading Luke 2:1-20, I can’t help thinking how the animals were fed by these troughs — their food, their very sustenance, was provided by their master was literally consumed in these mangers. To think of Jesus being food — our very sustenance! And he was - and is. He literally poured out his life that we might live! “He took bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which has been given for you” (Luke 22:19).
Thank you, Deidre.
The picture is awesome.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.2JVns4CnoyWi0Zh2nfFtFAHaJn%3Fpid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=67833bc157c6e34e8863fa046e199afb71f3e11d361b1e0e96c0137aab2646dd
Am hoping that image comes through. I have a print of this piece called “Simeon’s Moment” in my home. I was so struck by the joy and devastation of Simeon’s holding the Christ child in the fulfillment of God’s promise that Simeon would live to see Israel’s salvation!
The work is fabulous in that we do not see the face of Jesus — which was intentional so that every person viewing this piece could relate to Jesus being for all people. The cross is superimposed upon the painting with a map of the world as the background.
I imagine Simeon’s moment was very akin to this artist’s rendition and marvel at how he captured the intimacy, longing, and beauty of the moment
Thank you for sharing both the painting and your interpretation, Deidre. Who is the artist?
Ron DiCianni