“…The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29b-30). So responds John the Baptist when questioned by the religious leaders seeking to lodge a wedge between Jesus and John. His inquisitors appeal to a temptation similar to the one offered to Adam and Eve, the temptation to throw off their identity as the IMAGE of God in order to BE God. The tragedy of this sin is that seeking to be “more” than the Image of God does not lead to greater life. It leads to death. The greatest possible life for Adam and Eve was not to “know good from evil” and have a “choice” but was in fact to continue to grow into infinite, never-ending fellowship with God and thus fulfill their greatest possible destiny. And so John is tempted. Rather than being the character in God’s Story, he is tempted to write his own story of which he is the central character, thus using his own powers to secure his memory in history. But John understands this counterfeit story of his own making to be just that…a counterfeit. And so John, as depicted in the painting by Grunewald, Crucifixion, The Isenheim Altar Piece, seeks to be the character of the Friend and Forerunner of the Bridegroom, Jesus. Refusing to write his own story John is freed from feeble pursuits of self in order to be the one whose life points not to himself but to Christ. Ironically it is in “losing his life” by pointing to Christ that John truly finds his life. For he exclaims to his inquisitors, “for this reason my joy has been fulfilled.” In being caught up in God’s Story we find true joy which any lesser story will always fail to give.
As the Body of Christ our lives are to be “the bony finger” of John the Baptist who points the world to Christ; lives shaped by the Spirit into the very Image of Jesus. By being caught up in God’s Story in this way God offers through us Faith (trust) where the world can only offer fear, Hope where the counterfeit story can only offer death and despair, and Love where the world only offers unforgiveness and violence. May we be “the bony finger” pointing the world to Christ. AMEN.
“As the Body of Christ our lives are to be ‘the bony finger’ of John the Baptist who points the world to Christ.”
Wow. I’ve always loved the Isenheim Altarpiece, and this is a profound interpretation of the “body of Christ” image. Thanks.
You are welcome David. Thanks for your generosity. I am glad it was helpful. Grunewald’s painting has a strongly Iconic feel as well.