Why is Jesus looking on an oddly standing stone?
Upvote:1
On the present level, it is the temptation to turn stone into bread.
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. Luke 4:3
But on the future level, there's a valley of sorts between Christ and the stone. There's also an obvious round rock between the valley and upright stone. Jesus is looking past the valley of the shadow of death to and past the stone rolled away from the tomb to the time when men's hearts of stone are turned by Christ the living bread to lively stones.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John 6:51
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5
Upvote:7
All so called Christian art is Biblically based; and is intended to induce some reflection of some event in Biblical History otherwise it would not be Christian art. Even going back to the old Masters, much or even most of their artworks were based on their concept of some event from the Bible.
The picture you asked about along with many other paintings are symbolic and are intended to elicit contemplation on the part of the viewer. As to what that painting refers to in the Bible is mostly an association within the mind of the viewer.
One person might be reminded of the temptation of Christ when Satan said turn these rocks into bread while another person might be reminded of the aloneness of Jesus and that he was like no other man who ever walked the earth. The more connotations that a painting can induce in it's viewers the better.
The painting itself readily identifies itself with Jesus in it's title and for my part it represents many facets of Jesus life on earth. His loneliness, his deep concentration, among many others.
And although it most likely will be deemed off topic I felt it necessary to give you this explanation even though I will be called down for answering an off topic question.
Upvote:12
From the title of the picture, I feel it is safe to assume the author had this in mind:
Matthew 4:1-4
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The stone is so oddly standing in order to stick out. Otherwise it wouldn't be Jesus staring at a stone, it would be Jesus staring.
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