Let me ask you - I'm curious - what does this picture *say* to you? Would Jesus wash his feet?
In case you're wondering, this is (left to right): German Chancellor Angela Merkel; Tony Blair, England; Kofi A. Annan, UN; Osama bin Laden; George Bush; Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; and Jiang Zemin, former president of China. That's Jesus washing their feet.
12 comments:
I have no business posting to this (cause I'm not able to follow your links right now), but this picture rubs me the wrong way.
It's preachy and agendized and I just don't like it.
What the heck is up with me? Geez...
Shock and awe ... to borrow a phrase from someone. It is, at first, shocking to see that particular line-up with Jesus at their feet. The awe factor comes in when I realize that Christ, as Boyd points out, did come to die and to serve all people.
In the end, maybe, the poster proved its point ... "Jesus - Still Too Radical?"
Robin,
Not sure what you mean by "preachy and agendized." And I have never really known what was up with you, but didn't want to say anything. :)
Tammy,
Yeah, "shock and awe" are good words. I wonder if it was that much different the night Jesus did this in the upper room?
Thanks for sharing, both of you.
And now for something completely specific...
On this Earth we fight "chaos" and our best definition of "evil" so that the resulting controlled and non-evil society will render the greatest "good" for the longest amount of time.
Bin Laden has enabled the deaths of more Muslims than Christians and more Arabs than Americans. How I feel about him transcends my politics. I do see him as "evil." And if he isn't, then no one is or ever was. And if there's no evil, can there be good? Aaaaand so on and so forth into the sunset.
Heh - looks like Chancellor Merkel is about as prepared for a foot-washing as she was for Bush's shoulder-rub!
MR,
Thanks for being clear on that. :) Buuuut... would Jesus was his feet?
WP,
Hahahaha. That's too funny.
I liked it. Jesus never did what the people thought He should, and He certainly isn't constrained by our thoughts of right and wrong. To many in His time the Romans were evil incarnate, and yet He forgave and helped them, too (story of the Centurion, etc.)
Thanks for the link, Dan (and Tom).
well you know him better than I do. You're asking ME? :)
In my layman's opinion, he'd knock him over in his chair--as he did with Saul and ask why he was being persecuted.
Jim,
Glad you liked it. Thanks for dropping in. :)
The grave problem with this picture is that Jesus is washing the feet of the powerful and famous, rather than the poor and despised. Jesus is here serving the greatest, not the least. And these Important People, unlike the disciples, who were abashed by the actions of the Master, seem bored by the whole thing. The picture suggests, then, that Jesus serves the powers and principalities--and expects nothing of the--rather than the poor and oppressed, who are radically transformed by the profound truth of the Word incarnate as servant.
Jesus washing the feet of an African AIDs victim, an Indian untouchable, even a petty Jihadist--sure. But the Big Dawgs? No way.
I should have written "and expects nothing of them."
I think the idea was to make the point to the whole world. If they just put Bush and Bin Laden there, someone from Iran (or California) would say "they're both evil. What's the point?" But this lineup demonstrates the contrast for many nations, as patriotism is not unique to America (and seemingly rare here).
But, of course it's the Christians who got mad. That's Christ there in the middle. If it had been the prophet Mohammad, well, France would be burning again tonight.
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