17 December, 1999
Send comments to George Irbe
Jesus of the People for the New Millennium
Does this fellow really carry the genes of King David?
This painting, "Jesus of the People" , by Janet McKenzie, is to grace the front cover of a special millennium issue of the National Catholic Reporter, a well-known Catholic publication in the USA.
Ms. McKenzie is reported as stating that her Jesus was intended to be a masculine presence (who knows what she means by that babble), but that she added a subtle feminine dimension by using a woman as a model for her creation. According to her, this Jesus is supposed to remind all of us about the importance of "celebrating our differences". That last is so deliciously politically correct, it makes one shiver with sheer delight.
Whatever happened to the son of Joseph who was by blood the descendant of King David? He hoped to lift the heavy Roman yoke off the backs of his own people and other subjugated nations by friendly persuasion rather than violent confrontation.
We do not know what he looked like, but surely we trust he did not resemble this creation of McKenzie's. Christianity would be taken more seriously by persons with a genuine faith if it ceased trying to portray the image of Jesus in all kinds of daffy forms. There is no contemporary portrait or bust of Jesus, and Christians would get on much better without fantasizing about what he looked like. Instead they should pay attention to what he did and taught. What Christianity has practiced for the first two millennia is not much different from pagan idol-worship.