The Crucifixion outside Jerusalem,
Painted after John Martin (1789–1854),
Painted between 1830 and 1840,
Oil on canvas
© Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
The Crucifixion outside Jerusalem,
Painted after John Martin (1789–1854),
Painted between 1830 and 1840,
Oil on canvas
© Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, New Haven
Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem
Luke 9:51-56
As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.
Reflection on the painting
Our Gospel reading today marks a shift in how Luke tells the story of Jesus. Up until this point in Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ public ministry has been located in Galilee. Now Jesus leaves Galilee and begins his journey to Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem has a reputation as ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you’ (Lk. 13:34), Jesus has to steel himself for this journey. As Luke tells us in our gospel reading, ‘Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem’. Jesus was fully conscious where this journey would lead, and yet he also knew he had to take it.
In our early 19th-century painting by a follower of John Martin, we see the crucifixion scene set outside the walls of Jerusalem, which features very prominently in the background. The sky is dark, clouds have gathered. But the skies have somewhat opened to let through some light, and we see the Roman soldier piercing the side of Christ.
The painter didn’t paint an accurate picture of what Jerusalem would have looked like at the time of Jesus, nor the way it would have looked in the 19th century. It was the painter’s creative liberty to paint a Jerusalem which sits between the earthly and the heavenly city. As Jerusalem was already a popular pilgrim destination during the Middle Ages, artists would have been very familiar with what it looked like. So these fantastical representations of Jerusalem with exaggerated architectural details and other artistic liberties were chosen by artists to convey the city's spiritual significance… a city towards which Jesus in our reading today resolutely started walking.
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The darkness grabs my attention instantly. As Our Lord offers up His last breath His light departs and Jerusalem is left in darkness. Reminds me of John of The Cross speaks to the dark night of the soul. Yet the shimmer of light is the hope that God’s loving mercy Tells us to hold on to no matter the sorrow. Bless us Sweet Jesus to accept the death you will for us with all faith, hope and charity. Seven months ago my cousin breathed his last breath after a long and very painful suffering. He was blessed by a priest during his suffering and we prayed many rosaries and the divine mercy chaplet for him. Lord grant us Your Grace to persevere with our last breath. Amen
How harrowing😩. He was comforted by the rites of the Holy Roman Church which I very much hope will be my consolation as I depart this life.
Please write your thoughts up on CA as they come to you Susana.
O Blessed Joseph, you gave your last breath in the loving embrace of Jesus and Mary.
When the seal of death shall close my life, come with Jesus and Mary to aid me.
Obtain for me this solace for that hour – to die with their holy arms around me.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I commend my soul, living and dying, into your sacred arms.
Amen.
Beautiful prayer Andy.
Amazing! Went into the shop again this morning and they refunded the money on the spot, after all this time. Thank you Lord, and to you Carter’s for your support. 🙏🌻
Well done- glad it got sorted!
Drinks all round!
💰
We have had the first session of our Mission (Syon Community) which was on The Word. Interestingly, one of the methods suggested for focusing on scripture was with the use of art, and thinking about what it conveys. They called it Visio Divina. I was resisting the temptation to feel smug and simply recommended our dear CA. One of you good folk also had a mission recently and I wonder if the format was the same?
Visio Divina is becoming a thing. It is a great tool for sharing faith and the gospel.
I find Visio Divina a powerful aid in reflecting on icons and many of the paintings presented on the CA website.
Tonight we have our ‘Mercy Evening’. Reflection, Confession, Music, Eucharistic Adoration and nasty (ooh I shouldn’t have said that!) wine afterwards. I’m quite fidgety and impatient by nature and I fear that this might prove challenging to sit down for for a long time.
I am planning on reading ‘Daily Christian Living with John Henry Newman’ which is a little CTS booklet I have had for a while. Then maybe ‘St Charles Borromeo’ and finishing off with ‘Saint Philip Howard’.
The reading will take place after I have prayed for loads of people including all CA subscribers!
I wish you all the best with this Chaz, and thankyou in advance for the prayers. I need them today! Nice to see Philip Howard get a mention too!
A painting with a great deal of cruelty depicted. The outline of the spears against the pale clearing looks as threatening as the sky above. And the soldier with the lance – on horseback (!) seems more than wicked. I don’t actually like the painting but it certainly stirs many emotions. As to the gospel – Jesus ‘resolutely’ took the road to Jerusalem…how accepting of all that was to come, for our sake.
Dramatic indeed. That windswept sky! That pinky light shining on the hilltop, and the heaviness of that fantastic architecture. The faces are indistinct- we only recognise the figure of Jesus because of the spear, and being in the middle. Otherwise, it is hard to see Him as the focus for the picture. The bit I like are the hands- shooting up from the crowd at centre right, and some from just below. They draw me in to the human drama of the spectacle, regardless of the storm and the buildings.
The reading is also full of a more understated drama. Jesus is resolute, the disciples may be quite excited and in anticipation of a coming show down. The messengers Jesus sends ahead come back with bad news, there is no one willing to put them up. James and John, the ‘sons of thunder’ want Jesus to exact revenge but Jesus rebukes them, and they find somewhere else to go. Here we anticipate the passion in microcosm. The rejection of Jesus, the bewilderment of the disciples, and the final ‘resting’ place.
Thanks for pointing out the good bits!
Having thought about it a bit more I find the hands very Goya-esque. We should have more Goya on CA, don’t remember seeing any!
Good point SFG!
Here we see two instinctive reactions butting up against each other – resulting in the sort of clash we see all too often in everyday life. First rejection, then the reaction, the desire to curse or to take revenge. How terrible for Jesus, knowing what lay ahead of him, to see his disciples reacting in that way, and going against all his teaching…
I think this picture would be more impressive if you were standing in front of it, it’s quite hard to see the detail on screen.
We have glorious sunshine at the moment, always a mood lifter. Lord help me to be positive whatever the weather, and not to react angrily to difficult situations. Just now I’m trying to recover a few hundred pounds from a very well-known company, to which they acknowledge I’m entitled, but they have kept me waiting 2.5 months, not just the normal week. Nobody seems to know why. I confess to being angry, but ask the Lord for help in not behaving rudely or angrily when speaking to their representatives. Lord hear me, Lord graciously hear me.
This sort of injustice really tests us doesn’t it? I hope you get some success today Noelle!
Agreed!
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Thank you SFG. it has been a testing time. All the best 🌻
Patience they say is a virtue. Last year I had to wait 4 months!! 🙄
Oh dear! You got it back in the end, d.g. 🌻
What a grim, foreboding painting. I used to like seeing the John Martin paintings in the Tate Gallery when I was young as they were so dramatic. This painting is pretty depressing although we have to come to terms with Our Lord’s Passion and Crucifixion.
The disciples’ idea of calling down fire from heaven to burn the village was pretty awful and I’m glad Jesus was there to rebuke them. Severely I would think.