A Catholic Cathedral in England is showcasing the Last Supper for their congregants, but for the first time, Jesus in the photo is ‘black’. This is supposedly to show support for the Black Lives Matter rallies that have been taking place around the world.
According to the Daily Mail, the dean of the church admitted that the church was at a ‘weak’ position to discuss the issue of racial injustice. In their position, it was a befitting statement to cast a ‘Black Jesus’ or rather an almost black Jesus for the photo.
In the report, the photo used is a rework of Da Vinci’s 15th Century painting and the model used was Jamaican born, not even, well, African.
The paint has been ‘placed over’ a previous painting that cast Jesus as European, a charge which has faced quite some controversy over the recent few weeks.
It all started when an unarmed black man, George Floyd was killed in the custody of the police while being filmed the whole duration of it. One officer had his knee over his neck for than 8 minutes, two others restrained him even after he showed no signs of movement for over 2 minutes while the fourth restrained the crowd from intervening. People and security cameras recording all the time.
This unfortunate event has brought more attention to racism around the world with statues of previously highly esteemed figures being toppled for their support of slavery and racism.
And the revolt has been going on around the world.
In Church, the focus has been on the idols and images that have been used over time to portray Jesus as White or Caucasia and then overtime, with the proliferation of idolatry, artists conjured open ‘jesuses’ that suited the traditions and cultures of the people they were in.
Now even the head of the England Church commented on the issue saying it was time that the question of which race Jesus actually was is reconsidered. While trying to soften his message, he admitted that different cultures and traditions have accommodate a form or look of Jesus that was more acceptable to them. But ultimately, Jesus was not white or Caucasian and sadly to the false narrative that has been suppressed, Jesus was actually black.
While all this is appealing to bring to light the darkness that has been suppressed for long, the bigger focus on the church is how they would swing goal posts like that.
That when it matters to them , Jesus can be black or white or Asian or whatever message you want to pass at that time, so they would create idols and images that suit the audience.
But the Bible is clear on this, we are not to make images or idols of anything that is on earth or heaven with the intent to sort of look at it as the representation of God.
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
The church should stop worrying about which ‘image’ or idol’ or Jesus is right for which audience and simply teach the truth. But problem is that this truth has so many uncomfortable pandora boxes that would literally destroy the perception of religion that people have.
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