04/15/01
The face of faith
It’s a very human thing to want to put a face on the unknown.
Even if that face is … well … unknown.
It’s Easter, one of the few times each year (the other is Christmas)
when the major media acknowledge, though somewhat grudgingly,
the deeply spiritual side of most people. And this time, we were
ready for them.
People have long wondered what Jesus might have looked like. No,
it’s likely not the image most of us grew up with: blond or sandy-haired,
blue eyes and Hollywood looks. Nor, I’m quick to point out, is
there any expectation that the image concocted by the British
Broadcasting Corp. recently, an image that has flooded British,
and now American, media. (See stories, Page 11.)
That “reconstruction” of a Jewish man using a first-century skull
tantalizingly asks, “Is this the face of Jesus?”
The answer, of course, is “no.” At least, not any more than a
computerized and anthropological image built from skulls of Texas
would resemble President Bush. The BBC creation actually looks
a bit like a slimmer Buddy Hackett, the comedian, hardly the Savior
of the World.
But, that said, it’s natural to want to put a face on the unknown.
And no one knows what Jesus looked like.
But we’ve tried, oh, how we’ve tried.
The powerful graphic on Page 1—“The Face: Jesus in Art”— is a
compilation of many of the faces of Jesus perceived by artists
through the ages. True, many of these artists labored under the
same assumptions—patently false ones—that Hollywood has used.
Jesus became a product of the environment of the artist. For a
monk
For a monk in the Middle Ages, Jesus took on the trappings of
a medieval European monk. For a culture steeped in the theology
of the crucifixion, Jesus became a wounded and hurting savior.
For Eastern Orthodox Christians, he was a powerful, but benevolent,
being. For modern Catholics, Jesus is often a smiling friend,
a companion on the journey of life.
This disparate imagery is perhaps not an altogether bad thing.
“The Face: Jesus in Art” was funded by the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Communications Campaign and is a
powerful effort to see the many faces we have put on Jesus, the
person at the core of our faith.
In the images, it’s possible to trace an ethnic development of
Jesus through the millennia: Middle Eastern, Greek, Roman, European,
black, white and even Asian.
What did Jesus really look like? Would you believe like Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat?
There, I just did it again, putting a contemporary face on Jesus,
one that yanks us to an emotional level we might not have had
before. That’s what artists have done through the years … sought
to connect this man Jesus to everyman, and every age.
Arafat? Really? No, I’m kidding, but maybe only a little, since
Jesus would certainly bear a resemblance to the Semitic people
of the Middle East today.
Bottom line: the face of Jesus is important only to those who
need to connect it to the faith of Jesus.
Easter acknowledges the resurrection of humanity as much as it
celebrates the resurrection of Jesus since the two are inextricably
linked.
Gaze on the face of Jesus as you’ve come to know it. Blond, blue-eyed
or olive-skinned and curly-haired or black or with Asian features
or like the person next door. Does it demean your faith to see
Jesus in a neighbor, or even an enemy? It shouldn’t. After all,
that truly is at the heart of Easter’s message.
From the staff of The Catholic New World, happy Easter.
Tom Sheridan
Editor and General Manager
Send your comments to Tom Sheridan
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