Representing Jesus?

From Edward Colston to Mahatma Gandhi, statues of public figures are under intense scrutiny.

American Black Lives Matter activist, Shaun King, recently made the news by calling for white statues of Jesus to be added to the list of historic monuments to be torn down. He tweeted: ‘Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down. They are a form of white supremacy.’ Not only statues, but he called for other forms of representation to be removed: ‘All murals and stained-glass windows of white Jesus and his European mother, and their white friends, should also come down.’ He claimed that they were ‘created as tools of oppression. Racist propaganda’.

Images of Jesus

There are some embarrassing portrayals of Jesus to be seen in religious art. But is this necessarily the product of racism? From a global perspective we find that Jesus is generally portrayed in a style appropriate to the artist’s culture. From sub-Saharan Africa to rural China there is a beautiful array of images of Jesus that tell us more about those who have received Him than it does about His actual appearance.

In Christ, the Universal Saviour, Hsu San Ch’un, a Chinese artist, portrayed Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well as distinctively Asian. Japanese printmaker Sadao Watanabe created images of Jesus that reflected Byzantine art, but set in the context of his own culture. Ethiopian images of the Last Supper inevitably present a black African Jesus, while Australian Greg Weatherby’s The Crucifixion presented the scene according to aboriginal conventions, with Ayers Rock (Uluru) looming up behind Golgotha.

No images at all?

Many readers may be convinced of the Reformed tradition of avoiding images of Jesus altogether, as they are understood to violate the second commandment (Exodus 20:4-5). This might solve the problem of racism in Christian imagery. But the commandment itself only forbids the worship of an image rather than the mere creation or viewing of an image. Given the idolatry of the mediaeval church, it is not surprising that the Protestant Reformers often opposed any form of image of Christ. However, many of us can distinguish between seeing illustrations in a children’s Bible and our worship of Christ. In fact, the diversity of images of Jesus we see in the world remind us that the incarnation was about much more than physical appearance.

Jesus Christ has been able to transcend cultural and racial barriers for 2,000 years. The real Jesus of the Bible gave hope to those Africans suffering in slavery, inspiration to the Abolitionists in their tireless work against evil, and a foundation to the message of civil-rights campaigners in their opposition to segregation.

Whatever image we see of Jesus, we will always be able to say he was much more than that. Bear Grylls, adventurer and broadcaster, commented on his own faith: ‘Jesus, the heart of the Christian faith, is the wildest, most radical guy you’d ever come across … and I found myself drawn to that character, not the kind of fluff that we like to box as religion.’ So the problem with white statues of Jesus is not that they claim too much but that they claim too little. The real Jesus is more encompassing and more transformative than any politically-correct campaigner could hope to be.