A Painting of the Resurrection of Christ

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This painting is about being born again.

I recently joined a Bible study group with a group of Christian ladies who make it a point to share their testimonies with as many people as possible, and through sheer chance (or I should say, through Divine Grace) I have the opportunity to study their methods.

On my first visit, the leader directed my attention to chapter 3 of the Gospel of John, which includes this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus:

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."

Jesus answered and said unto him, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus saith unto him, "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?"

Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

There's more to the conversation, as you probably know, but my instructor emphasized the two sentences I've marked in bold.

What strikes me about this passage is how normal it seems now, after centuries of Christian musings about rebirth, and how STRANGE it must have seemed to Nicodemus. If you had never heard this phrase before, it would seem surreal. It almost seems designed to throw the supplicant off guard.

It reminds me of Jesus telling a grieving man to let the dead bury their dead; or telling a rich man to sell everything he has. It's as if He's trying to reach past our guard and seize us by the collar to get our attention. These are statements of power.

In the classical Christian tradition, most paintings of Christ emphasize a stern, quiet majesty, and especially in paintings of the resurrection. Here's a wonderful example from one of my favorite artists, Fra Angelico:

This is a fresco (painted on plaster) which was originally created for a monk's cell. This artist's works are often particularly quiet and full of light, a joy to contemplate.

And yet, there is another aspect to the resurrection of Jesus: the power of life bursting forth from the barren ground. The power of rebirth!

That's the main idea in my painting: there's an arrow of power driving up through Christ's body and into the sky.



There's also a slightly surreal touch, because I've cut away the stone wall between the tomb and the outside world so that you can see the empty, dark, narrow space of the sepulcher contrasted with the airy morning light.

The remaining pieces of the wall suggest the jaws of Death which Christ is escaping from:


Over on the right of the picture, the grapevines sprout new leaves (a symbol of Christ as the True Vine) while new seedlings start in the furrows of a ploughed field.


The mountains and field curve in another direction, pulling your eye in a circle to indicate the circle of life: from birth to death, to the Christian rebirth.