Holy Week Devotional - Good Friday

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining.  And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.  Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  When he had said this, he breathed his last.  The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” Luke 23:44-47 

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”  Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” John 13:36

  

Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí

 

Completed in 1951, this painting depicts Jesus on the cross in a darkened sky floating over a body of water complete with a boat and fishermen. It is a depiction of the crucifixion devoid of nails, blood, and a crown of thorns.

Dali’s inspiration came from an early sketch by St. John of the Cross.  One day, while praying he was struck by a vision, and hastily made a pen sketch of Jesus in a position similar to what Dali captured 375 years later.  It depicted Christ, weighed down by the sins of the world and his own suffering, as if seen from the perspective of the Father - a unique and powerful perspective.

Dali’s composition is based on a triangle and circle (the triangle is formed by Christ's arms; the circle is formed by Christ's head). The triangle, since it has three sides, can be seen as a reference to the Trinity, and the circle may be an allusion to Platonic thought and represents Unity.

The painting was surrounded by controversy.  Its initial purchase by a museum in Glasgow was met with protests.  In 1961 a visitor attacked the painting with a stone and tore the canvas with his hands. It was successfully restored and returned to public display.  Twenty-five years after it was created, a poll in Scotland voted it the nation’s favorite painting.  A leading art critic, Jonathan Jones, described it as "kitsch and lurid," but noted that the painting was "for better or worse, probably the most enduring vision of the crucifixion painted in the 20th century."

Questions on which to meditate

When you view this what feelings do you have?  Isolation, despair, sadness?

What you think the boat represents?

Prayer   

Give thanks to God for his ultimate gift and the forgiveness of our sins.

Written by Paul Cropley