This is the painting I finished for the Stations of the Cross installation.

The ideas shaping this painting arose during my meditations on the crucifixion. I found that the thoughts that came to me as images rather than words. Here I will try to put those images into words.

It seems to me, that while God suffered that day, watching Jesus die for our sins, he must also have been delighted with Jesus for taking on this terrible task. I have watched my own children do difficult and painful things and I know that I am pleased to see them accept the challenge and maintain their good character while suffering. Surely, God felt immense pride in Jesus’ willing sacrifice to redeem all of creation! The bright color surrounding Jesus in this painting is the way I see God’s delight breaking through the pain.

Two ideas are carried by the used tarletan veiling the painting. All the ink accumulated on the cloth, to me, stands for the stain and weight of sin on humankind. The ink does not fully obscure the view of Christ, however. We don’t fully see or understand all that happened on the cross, our view is blocked by our mortal humanity. Our own personal point of view stands in the way of God’s view for each of us. St. Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (I Cor. 13:12)

On the day Jesus was crucified, the veil in the temple was torn clean through from top to bottom! As long as the temple had been standing, the veil stood between the people and the Holy of Holies, the place where God’s presence encamped. That veil was a two-way protection: the people were protected from too much exposure to God; and God was shielded from the sin of the people. After Jesus died, and the debt of sin had been satisfied, the veil was no longer needed! The way the tarletan is torn reminds me of the way the temple veil was torn and the way that we can begin to get glimpses of Christ’s glory on the cross. Remember that, “…having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col 2:15)

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