John 11:35 Jesus wept.
Most Christians, and honestly, most people in general, are not familiar with modern and contemporary art, especially abstraction. To look at this painting and say it is of Jesus would be for them a stretch.
Makoto Fujimura (https://makotofujimura.com/) is a renowned contemporary artist who uses the ancient Japanese art of Nihonga, characterized by countless layers of handmade paints made from very pure expensive materials and the language of non-representational, traditionally western abstraction which really is its own language and takes time and familiarity to interpret and enjoy. Both of those things are all about process. He is one of those rare individuals who has achieved acclaim in the secular art world for the merits of his art itself, and also is open and deep in his faith and Christian theology. He was commissioned by Crossway in 2008 to create an illuminated version of the four Gospels to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. He chose this painting as the cover, inspired by John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” He has said of that passage and its inspiration for his art, “…(His) weeping is the purest sign of His humanity. At the same time, as the Son of God, Jesus’ tears make no logical sense… why did He, upon seeing the tears of Mary, waste His time weeping when He could have shown His Godly power by wiping away every tear, telling people like her, ‘Ye of little faith, believe in me!’?”
In my reflections, this ‘irrational,’ emotional response from Jesus became a central means to understand the role and even the necessity of art in the midst of suffering… Art, like the tears of Christ, may seem useless, ephemeral and ultimately wasteful… What seems, at first, to be an irrational response to suffering may turn out, upon deep reflection, to be the most rational response of all.” (https://henryehooper.blog/witness-post-fujimuras-tears/)
Fujimura’s artistic philosophy aligns then with modernist painter Georges Roualt, who also sees Christ’s compassion tied with His suffering, and sees that mirrored in our human suffering. He was also inspired visually by Roualt for this large-scale piece, particularly starting with a heavy dark background and illuminating the space with bright jewel-like colors that convey nuances in emotion. There is something violent about the contrast, especially of the red spatter against the black which echoes tears or drops of blood splashing against the ground. There is something cleansing and cathartic in the horizontal washes of blue and the transparent cropping-up of green. And the gold is vertical, pouring, and seen most intensely through those downward drips of weeping blue which speaks of divinity, eternity, everlasting significance, and worth. Christ’s tears are a mystery, a comfort, and evidence of His deep compassion.
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