Day 4: Jesus before the priests, magistrate and people (Gay Passion of Christ series)

8. Jesus Before the Priests (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“One of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, ‘Is that how you answer the high priest?’” -- John 18:22 (RSV)

A guard hits Jesus in a church while clergymen do nothing, indifferent to the violence, in “Jesus Before the Priests” from “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a series of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard. The blow is so hard that Jesus doubles over. The guard’s dark sunglasses cannot hide his hateful grimace. A bespectacled priest looks up from an open Bible, but his bland face registers no concern for Jesus. Another priest purposely ignores the assault, studying his fingernails. Red carpet on the steps leads to an altar with candles. Watching from the back are more white-robed priests and men in business suits.

This is one of the more shocking images in Blanchard’s Passion series because it exposes blatant hypocrisy in a familiar setting. The church and its priests look familiar, maybe even comforting or boring. We have been there. But we haven’t seen what would happen if Jesus showed up there today in person as a young man. One might expect violence from police or soldiers, but not from ministers in a church sanctuary. But in the banality of evil, unspeakable acts are committed not by monsters, but by ordinary people who accept the premises of an institution.

Religions have condemned LGBT people and others as “sinners,” and then refused to accept responsibility for the violence that they incited. A recent example occurred in Uganda, where a law that imposed the death penalty for homosexuality was drafted under the influence of Christian conservatives from America. Church trials for homosexuality continue in America too. In a highly publicized trial the Presbyterian church ruled in February 2012 that Rev. Jane Spahr violated their constitution by performing same-sex marriages.

“Jesus Before the Priests” is a counterpart to the Biblical story of Jesus’ trial in the before Caiaphas, the high priest, in the religious court of the Sanhedrin. After lengthy questioning they condemned Jesus for blasphemy and sent him to the Roman authorities for sentencing.

“Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, ‘He has uttered blasphemy.’” -- Matthew 26:65 (RSV)

The police arrested Jesus and took him straight to the priests -- the ones that Jesus had often accused of hypocrisy. They rigorously enforced minor laws, while neglecting the purpose of the law: justice, love and faith. They were like today’s church officials who put ministers on trial for blessing same-gender relationships or ordaining lesbians and gays. The priests interrogated Jesus for hours, trying to get him to say something that could be used against him. When they asked about his teachings, Jesus replied, Why ask me? Ask those who heard me. At that, an officer struck him, snarling, Is that how you answer the high priest?! The priests watched the violence with bland indifference. There were some good men among them, but they accepted their role as part of the system. They kept silent as evil triumphed again. Violence in God’s name was routine. The unthinkable had become normal.

God, I listen to YOU, even when it goes against what the priests say.

9. Jesus Before the Magistrate (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“Now Jesus stood before the governor.” --Matthew 27:11

A young defendant consults an attorney in “Jesus Before the Magistrate.” Jesus is caught between his lawyer and a guard wearing Nazi-style knee-high boots. Dull men in suits are shuffling papers, but nothing seems to happen in the generic courtroom. All of them, even the judge, look like pawns in Kafkaesque bureaucracy. A post behind the judge’s bench is topped by an eagle, a symbol shared by imperial Rome -- and the United States.

The Biblical parallel for this painting is Jesus meeting with Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate has been portrayed as the villain that you love to hate in Passion plays and movies, played by the likes of Telly Savalas in “The Greatest Story Ever Told.” In Blanchard’s painting the judge is too bland to make a memorable villain. It is in this antiseptic setting, impartial to a fault, that Jesus is found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.

“And they began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man perverting our nation.’” -- Luke 23:2 (RSV)

The priests took Jesus to the magistrate, Pilate, demanding that he impose the death penalty. His government headquarters was bustling with dispassionate bureaucrats. For Jesus, the only law was love -- outright love for God and for people. He kept quiet in this alien place where loveless laws led to injustice. They used the legal system to force an uneasy “peace” on the local people, suppressing their culture and their very identity. Pilate’s lawmakers were like those who devised today’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy or “defense of marriage act.” Pilate came from just such a narrow-minded viewpoint when he asked Jesus, What have you done? Jesus answered, I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Puzzled, the magistrate posed another question: What is truth?

Jesus, show me your truth.

10. Jesus Before the People (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“They shouted out, ‘Crucify, crucify him!’” -- Luke 23:21 (RSV)

A mob turns against their former hero in “Jesus Before the People.” Jesus stands alone, handcuffed and motionless in the shadow, his back to the viewer, as he faces the angry crowd outside the courthouse. They are enraged, shouting, shaking fists, and waving signs with messages such as “Hell is hot, hot, hot!” Someone flips the finger at him in front of that sign, adding an obscene gesture. Another begins, “God hates...” with the last word hidden by the mob and a fist blocking it. The viewer can fill in the blank -- this mob could be turning against any disadvantaged group.

A man in a wheelchair points a finger sideways, signaling to cut his throat or get the hell out. Police struggle to stop the hostile crowd from killing Jesus right there. The crowd is multi-racial, but all male, which is realistic for mass street violence. Eggshells, squashed tomatoes and other debris litter the ground after being hurled at Jesus. Even the frame looks like it is spattered with eggs and gunk in a trompe l’oeil (fool the eye) artistic technique. Slashes are ripped into the back of his white T-shirt. His head is haloed by one of the “death” signs. The windows of a nearby office building are filled with people watching. A banner that says “Death” hangs between two windows.

The words on the signs suggest that Jesus is a gay man being jeered by fundamentalists. The signs are reminiscent of Westboro Baptist Church, led by Pastor Fred Phelps, who is infamous for picketing AIDS funerals with “God hates fags” signs. By scapegoating queers, the bullies maintain power. The scene is all the more tragic because the crowds adored Jesus less than a week earlier when he entered the city.

May be one of the few scenes that doesn’t have an exact parallel in art history. This could be an “Ecce homo” scene, although that normally comes after the flagellation. The order of events differs in various gospels.

“But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him.’” -- Mark 15:14 (RSV)

How quickly the people turned against Jesus! A week ago the crowds adored him. Now a mob was outside the government headquarters demanding his death. Pilate, the magistrate, wanted above all to maintain security. He made Jesus stand before the angry throng. They shouted with increasing frenzy: “Crucify him!” The chief priests stirred up the crowd, vehemently accusing Jesus of all kinds of sins. “He’s a traitor! Burn in hell!” Their words still echo today when hate-mongers tell ruthless lies: “God hates gays! Death to fags!” The magistrate saw that a riot was beginning. If one person had to die to keep the peace, then the end justified the means. Guilt or innocence was not part of the equation. The magistrate agreed to the demands of the crowd. He ordered the execution of Jesus.

Jesus, help me see my own capacities for good and evil as truthfully as I can.

___
This is part of a series based on “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a set of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry.  For the whole series, click here.

Scripture quotation is from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Kitt at HuffPost: Queer Christ Arises to Liberate and Heal

“The Crucifixion of the Christ” by Becki Jayne Harrelson

Today Huffington Post published my new article “Queer Christ Arises to Liberate and Heal.” It begins:

Visions of a queer Christ are on the rise as Easter approaches this year -- because the conventional Jesus is no longer enough. Christ's story is for everyone, but LGBT people get excluded when conservatives use Christian rhetoric to justify hate and discrimination….

Click this link to read and comment on the whole article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kittredge-cherry/queer-christ-arises-to-li_b_1374286.html

In the article I reflect on the growing number of queer Christ projects, including a new book, a new film and Becki Jayne Harrelson’s painting “The Crucifixion of the Christ” (pictured above).

Update: Newsbusters.org, a major conservative watchdog group, posted an attack on my recent Huff Post article on the queer Christ. Click here for more info

I was surprised when Huff Post chose a different (generic) crucifixion photo to promote my article on their Gay Voices page instead of one of the queer Christian images from my post. I assume that the word “faggot” in Becki Jayne's painting was too inflammatory, even though the context is speaking out against hate speech. Doug Blanchard’s painting of Jesus being tormented by the soldiers also appears in my post, but it shows anti-gay violence with nudity and the finger, so that too is a kind of obscenity. But why is the “normal” crucifixion picture OK? It’s just as violent and obscene, but people have grown numb to its meaning.

My “micro bio” at HuffPost says, “Kittredge Cherry: Lesbian Christian author and art historian; founder, JesusInLove.org.”

Day 3: Jesus has a Last Supper, prays alone and is arrested (Gay Passion of Christ series)

5. The Last Supper (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.’” -- Luke 22:14-15

A contemporary Jesus shares an intimate dinner with friends in “The Last Supper” from “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a series of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard. Twelve people are with him, the classic dozen disciples, but these are a multi-racial set of many races, ages and gender identities. They are seated in a way that invites the viewer to join them at the table. Plates hold food for a Passover seder meal, including matzos, a hard-boiled egg, and roast lamb. The room is simple, lit only by a bare light bulb.

Jesus places his hands on the shoulders of the men beside him. The man resting his head on Jesus and embracing him must be the beloved disciple. The love between them is obvious. The homoerotic nature of their relationship has been highlighted by today’s LGBT-affirming Bible scholars, but here their relationship blends naturally into the group. The whole group is joined by touch, and yet they are not completely united. Each individual is gazing in a different direction.

Knowing that this is the Last Supper gives a hint about what is happening. Christians remember this meal every time they celebrate communion or the Eucharist. One glass is still full of red wine, meaning that Jesus hasn’t yet passed it to his friends, saying, “Drink, all of you. This is the cup of my blood.”

This could be the moment when Jesus tells them, “One of you will betray me.” But who?! Which one is Judas, the traitor? Maybe the man in shadow in the right foreground?

At this same meal the Biblical Jesus summarized his teachings on love. He gave his followers a new commandment: Love each other as I have loved you. He tells them that the greatest love is to lay down your life for your friends. Soon his own love will be tested.

“This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” -- Luke 22:19 (RSV)

Jesus’ friends didn’t know it would be their last meal with him, even though he tried to prepare them. All his closest friends were there, including the man whom Jesus loved. Jesus snuggled his Beloved and talked about love, and then about betrayal, and then a lot more about love. Jesus said he was going away and urged them all to love each other as he had loved them. The greatest love, he told them, is to lay down your life for your friends. He handed bread to them and said something strange: Take, eat; this is my body. Then he passed around a cup of wine, saying, Drink, all of you, this is my blood. He gave and they received completely, an act of true communion. The wine tasted sweet, with a touch of bitterness.

Jesus, thank you for feeding me!

6. Jesus Prays Alone (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.” -- Mark 14:34

A man claws the ground in gut-wrenching spiritual agony in “Jesus Prays Alone.” His face is hidden by darkness -- he could be anyone -- but his tortured hand is spotlighted front and center in stark relief. Jesus kneels, utterly alone, on an urban rooftop with trash cans and brick walls. This is the modern Gethsemane -- not a garden, but an urban jungle. City lights glimmer against the night sky.

The simplicity of the image makes an immediate impact. It is the only painting in Blanchard’s Passion series where Jesus is alone. Even in death Jesus is shown with other corpses, but here the people have deserted him, and God is not visible. The loneliness is absolute. This painting stuns many viewers more than the explicitly violent scenes ahead. People get used to violence in the news and have grown overly familiar with the crucifixion, but this image captures Christ’s emotional distress and makes it up close and personal. The viewer is alone with Jesus.

In the Bible, Jesus asks his friends to stay awake and pray with him in the garden after the Last Supper, but they fall asleep. He is left alone to repeat his prayer over and over: “If possible, please remove this cup from me: yet, not what I want, but what you want.”

Jesus is in agony because his ministry has brought him into conflict with authorities who will arrest and kill him. But this scene, often called “the agony in the garden,” can symbolize any spiritual anguish, including the struggles of LGBT people to reconcile their sexuality and their spirituality. In a world that often denies the existence of queer lives, many LGBT people have felt utterly alone.

“Jesus Prays Alone” marks a turning point in the artist’s own relationship to this project. Blanchard began painting the series in summer 2001. He had finished four panels on Sept. 11 when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center near his studio on New York’s Lower East Side. He watched the attacks in shock from the roof of his apartment building in the East Village. “I understand that a lot of people rediscovered religious faith after September 11th. I had the opposite reaction,” he said. “The first effect of September 11th on me was to alienate me from religion. I was horrified by the religious motivation of those attacks. The knowledge that history is full of sectarian massacres did nothing to mitigate my horror and disgust. This created a serious conflict in my mind that perhaps I used these paintings to try to resolve…” Jesus takes on his inner turmoil in “Jesus Prays Alone.”

Viewed separately, this could be a painting of anyone. Blanchard painted the frames, numbers and titles onto each image so that they could not be taken out of context.

“If this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.” -- Matthew 26:42 (RSV)

After supper, Jesus and his friends went to an isolated place. Jesus wanted to pray alone without being disturbed. He asked his friends to wait and pray nearby. He knew that his actions -- even his very existence -- brought him into inevitable conflict with authorities who wanted him dead. His extravagant way of loving challenged the power structures, the status quo. But he couldn’t deny who God created him to be. He wouldn’t stop loving. He couldn’t. He had to be true to himself. They would condemn him as a sinner because his wildly inclusive love broke all the rules. They would denounce his love as sin. They might even kill him. Jesus was in so much agony that he sweated blood as he prayed: God, if it’s possible, let this cup pass by me. I don’t want to drink it. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

God, your will be done in my life.

7. Jesus is Arrested (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.” -- Matthew 26:50

A young man stops his friends from fighting back when police grab him in “Jesus is Arrested.” One hand points an accusing finger at Jesus from the left. Another hand aims a gun at him. Peter on the right wields a knife against the police, but Jesus stops him. Flashlight beams and searchlights pierce the night, forming a partial halo behind Jesus’ head. An officer seizes Jesus. Standing behind him is a bald man in a suit, probably one of the creeps who was watching Jesus at the temple. Dark silhouettes on the horizon show that many more policemen are on the way.

The stark black-and-white lighting gives the painting a film-noir vibe. The high contrast and theatrical lighting of Orson Welles movies influenced Blanchard in painting this series, and it is especially evident here. Jesus is caught in the cross of an X-shaped composition, adding to the dramatic tension.

What’s notable about this painting as a “gay vision” is what is missing: history’s most famous same-sex kiss, the kiss of betrayal between Judas and Jesus. That man-on-man kiss has been used as a vehicle to instill homophobia over the centuries. Blanchard must have figured that we’ve seen it too often… although the Judas kiss remains a popular subject among LGBT artists and viewers.

Blanchard is also not interested in the naked young man who ran away when Jesus was arrested in Mark 14:51 -- a favorite theme of queer scholars. They have written several books debating the authenticity of the so-called Secret Gospel of Mark, which tells how the young man “learned the mysteries of God” by spending the night naked with Jesus.

“Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Human One is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” -- Matthew 26:45

Jesus didn’t try to escape when the police came for him in the dead of night. He and his friends were used to police harassment and government persecution. Authorities tend to pick on the poorest, queerest and most marginalized in any society. This time they came out in force, like a small army with bright lights and far more weapons than necessary. Some of them were security guards at the temple, so Jesus asked: Why didn’t you arrest me there, when I was with you teaching out in the open? They grabbed him. He didn’t resist arrest. His friends tried to fight for him, but he stopped them, saying, those who live by the sword will die by the sword. Then they ran away and abandoned him, leaving him alone with the police.

God, you are my highest authority.

___
This is part of a series based on “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a set of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry.  For the whole series, click here.

Scripture quotation is from the Inclusive Language Lectionary (Year A), copyright © 1986 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Scripture quotation is from the Inclusive Language Lectionary (Year C), copyright © 1985-88 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Day 2: Jesus drives out the money changers and preaches in the Temple (Gay Passion of Christ series)

3. Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.” -- John 2:13 (RSV)

An angry modern-day Christ figure disrupts business in “Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers” from “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a series of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard. Jesus, hair flying, overturns the tables of money. Coins scatter, bills flutter away, and the men in suits run. A crowd in the background yanks away the barred gate that separates them from the wealthy money managers. One security guard struggles to keep out the mob -- what today’s Occupy Movement would call “the 99 percent.” Another officer reaches to grab Jesus by the shoulder.  Jesus looks like a freedom fighter standing for justice against Wall Street’s greed.

The Biblical Jesus attacked the money changers in the temple, not in a secular marketplace. But banks hold more wealth than churches in our world, so it makes sense that Blanchard creates a setting that looks like a modern bank with classic columns and statues.

The money changers of first-century Jerusalem exchanged foreign currency for the temple coins that were acceptable for offerings. They made big profits by using a high exchange rate and adding service charges. Priestly authorities also got a percentage of the transactions.

Nothing made Jesus angrier than religious hypocrisy. When he saw the money changers taking advantage of people’s faith in God, he exploded. It was the only time that Jesus used physical violence in the Bible. All four gospels describe what is commonly called “the cleansing of the temple.” Jesus poured out the coins of the money changers and turned over their tables. Then he made a whip of cords and used it to chase them out, along with the sacrificial animals and those who sold them. He said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

“It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” -- Matthew 21:13 (RSV)

Jesus acted up when he saw something wrong. Nothing made him angrier than religious hypocrisy blocking the way to God. He got mad when religious leaders made people pay to attend worship. He said, you can’t buy your way to heaven! Everyone gets God for free. Don’t trick a poor widow into giving her last penny! The sacrifice that pleases God is to do justice and love people. Oh sure, you can raise tons of money by claiming that some other group is an unholy threat: lepers, immigrants, queer. But remember, whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me! Stop demonizing people! You call gays an abomination, but your fundraising tactics are the real abomination! Hypocrites! You’re like fancy tombs, pretty on the outside, but full of death on the inside. Then he turned over the tables where the men in suits made their unholy profits. Coins went flying as he drove them out.

Jesus, thank you for your anger. Give me the courage to act up against injustice.

___

4. Jesus Preaches in the Temple (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.” -- Luke 19:47-48 (RSV)

An attractive young teacher distracts church-goers from a worship service in “Jesus Preaches in the Temple” by Douglas Blanchard. Jesus, looking like an urban hipster, welcomes the people who crowd around and touch him. The title says that Jesus is preaching, but he stands quietly among them, mouth closed, communicating compassion with his presence. Blue tones create a peaceful mood. Large pillars and arches suggest that they are in the aisle of a modern cathedral. Far in the distance on the left, a row of priests carries candles or shiny processional crosses, as happens in a contemporary cathedral at the start of worship or mass. But many people are more interested in Jesus. A man peeks around the pillar on the back right to see who is causing all the excitement.

The realistic faces and gestures of Jesus’ listeners invite speculation about their lives. Two gay couples wrap Jesus in a loving embrace: a white couple on the left and a black couple on the right. Jesus puts his arm around one of the blacks while a balding man in a wheelchair shakes his other hand, perhaps in search of healing. Even cool guys with a spiky mohawk or a cigarette are drawn to this Christ. Others sit in front, just wanting to be near Jesus: A mother and daughter on the left, and on the right a downcast figure in red high heels whose tall, awkward body suggests a drag queen or a transwoman.

But all is not well. Two bald men eavesdrop, arms crossed. Their suits suggest that they are businessmen, but they could easily be church bureaucrats. They look like the money changers that Jesus attacked in the last painting. These two guys might even be another gay couple, but a conservative and perhaps closeted gay couple with a stake in the status quo. Whatever their identity, they are the modern counterpart of the elders, scribes, lawyers, priests and Pharisees in the Bible who observed Jesus in the temple, looking for a way to destroy him.

The two-fold message that the Biblical Jesus taught was love and justice. Blanchard’s “Jesus Preaches in the Temple” painting functions as a counterpart to the previous image of Jesus driving out the moneychangers. He stood for justice against the money changers before, and here he stands for love. The Bible records many words of wisdom that Jesus preached in the temple, but he himself said the most important lesson was this: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

This painting raises the question: What would happen if Jesus walked into a church of today? The general consensus is that he would disrupt the established order. Not many Christians would want to listen to a sermon or eat a wafer if the had a chance to see, hear and touch the living Jesus. But those who gain power by speaking for Jesus might not welcome the change.

“And he was teaching daily in the temple.” -- Luke 19:47 (RSV)

All kinds of people crowded around Jesus when he taught at the temple: male and female, young and old, rich and poor, healthy and sick, people from every race and nation -- and the queer ones: women who acted like men, men who acted like women, those who loved someone of the same sex, those with bodies somewhere between male and female. People lumped all of the queers together and called them “eunuchs.” Jesus said some of us were born eunuchs, some were made into eunuchs by others, and some made themselves into eunuchs. He never spoke a word against homosexuality. He just taught about love: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies. Religious leaders felt threatened by his absolute love, but his words and his touch healed people. The religious leaders listened too -- hoping he would say something that they could use to silence him.

Christ, teach me, touch me!

More resources:
Homosexual Eunuchs - Did You Know That Some Eunuchs Were Gay Men Or Lesbians? (GayChristian101.com)

___
This is part of a series based on “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a set of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry.  For the whole series, click here.

Scripture quotations are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Day 1: Jesus Enters the City on Palm Sunday (Gay Passion of Christ series)

1. The Son of Man with Job and Isaiah (from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“God has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” -- Isaiah 61:1 (Inclusive Language Lectionary)

God’s solidarity with people amid human suffering is emphasized from the first painting in 24-panel series “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision” by Douglas Blanchard. Right away we see that Jesus is an attractive young man of today. This will be no ordinary Stations of the Cross, with a hopelessly distant Jesus moving predictably from trial to tomb. Blanchard’s vision starts at a different point and features an accessible Jesus that 21st-century readers can know and touch. As often happens with contemporary LGBT people, his gay identity is not obvious most of the time.

Jesus stands half-naked in blue jeans and handcuffs with a pair of Old Testament prophets in a dark prison cell. A barred window behind an arch gives him a crude halo. His warm, pink flesh is bleeding. In a contemporary form of dehumanization, Jesus is labeled with a number, “124,” hanging on a tag around his neck. Names painted on the sides of the frame identify the two men from the Hebrew scriptures: Job on the right and Isaiah on the left. Their presence signals that themes of suffering and justice will run through this series. The gay vision of Christ’s Passion promises to address the suffering of queer people today -- and thereby speak to the human condition.

This scene of Jesus in prison with Job and Isaiah does not occur in scripture. Maybe it represents Jesus’ own vision as he prayed in prison after his trial, listening to the crowds outside shouting for his death -- just a week after they roared their approval when he entered the city. Maybe is this a resurrection as Jesus seems to emerge from the arched door of a tomb? Or does it show how we lock away the prophets of today along with Jesus?

The opening image is also one of the most cryptic paintings in the series. It’s tempting to skip over it and jump ahead to the next scene where Jesus enters the city. Even the prophets turn their faces away. Job seems unable to bear looking at Jesus’ suffering, while Isaiah appears to be lost in thought. Jesus faces the viewer with a full frontal gaze, ready to engage in dialogue. Together the three men form a kind of Trinity. A closer look reveals a surprise: The lapel of a suit is visible under Job’s ancient robe, and the fringes of Isaiah’s robe dangle over modern shoes. The prophets are wearing modern business suits. For those who take time to decode its dense symbolism, this painting foreshadows and sums up the whole series.

Passion means suffering. It comes from the Greek and Latin words for suffering, and has become a theological term for the events and suffering that Jesus experienced in the week before his death. Both Job and Isaiah are associated with suffering. Job was a righteous man who experienced horrible calamities. Throughout the whole Book of Job he wrestles with the question: Why do bad things happen to good people? A major theme in the Book of Isaiah is the Suffering Servant, a “man of sorrows” who brings justice, but is rejected. Christians see this as a prophecy about Jesus, the compassionate servant of God.

Jesus did launch his public ministry by quoting Isaiah. He told the people at the synagogue in Nazareth that he was fulfilling this prophecy: “The Spirit of God is upon me, because God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, and has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 61:1)

The title of this painting is “Son of Man,” a multi-purpose phrase that Jesus, Job and Isaiah all used. Due to its male connotations, the expression “Son of Man” is translated as “Human One” in gender-inclusive language. It can mean a normal human being (male or female) or a divine ruler envisioned by the prophet Daniel. Jesus often referred to himself as “son of man,” emphasizing his own humanity while perhaps also invoking the ancient prophecy. By titling this first painting “Son of Man,” Blanchard underscores the humanity of Jesus while honoring his divinity. Blanchard’s choice of words reveals that this vision is progressive but not necessarily politically correct. This Jesus remains unapologetically male.

Blanchard’s references to Job, Isaiah and the Son of Man place this series squarely in Christian tradition. This first painting makes a theological statement in addition to telling a story. It hallows human suffering by invoking two major Biblical archetypes of Christ: the Suffering Servant and the Son of Man. Thus the series operates on two levels as a story framed within a story. The real-life adventures of Jesus’ last days and post-resurrection appearances (paintings #2 through #23) are set within a larger theological vision. Paintings #1 and 24 function like picture frames, putting the story into a context beyond time and space.

This series is based on a time-honored artistic heritage as well as religious tradition. Scenes from the Passion cycle were painted by virtually every great European artist in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, from Giotto to Michelangelo, Leonardo, Rubens and Rembrandt. Blanchard, who is an art history professor as well as artist, drew on a deep reservoir of great art to create this series. He has said that he was especially inspired by The Small Passion, a series of 36 woodcuts by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer.

With this first painting in “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” the stage is set and we are invited to join Jesus on a journey.

“The Spirit of God is upon me, because God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, and has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” -- Luke 4:18 (Inclusive Language Lectionary)

Jesus was one of us, a real human being. He loved everybody, even his enemies. And yet some say that LGBT people don’t belong in the story of Jesus Christ. There’s black Jesus, Asian Jesus -- and now gay Jesus to heal the hate and discrimination done in Christ’s name. This is the story of a Jesus who emphasized his humanity by calling himself the Human One.* He didn’t look very gay. He could pass for straight. Everyone found him attractive. He was fully in the present, yet felt kinship with the ancient prophets Job and Isaiah who knew about suffering. He wanted to serve God by healing people and setting them free. Here we remember his last days, his death and his resurrection. Jesus was a child of God who embodied love so completely that he transcended death. But while it was all happening, people didn’t understand. Society rejected him.

Jesus, show me how you lived and loved.

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2 Jesus Enters the City(from The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision) by Douglas Blanchard

“And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, ‘Who is this?’ And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet Jesus.’” --Matthew 21:10-11 (RSV)

A crowd like today’s Occupy Movement marches under an arch with a charismatic young man on a donkey in “Jesus Enters the City.” This image show Palm Sunday, but there are no palms in the generic cityscape. Signs for “freedom” and “justice” make it a rally for any kind of cause, from LGBT Pride to the Tea Party. The crowd is full of familiar people from 21st-century America, a veritable model of diversity: male and female, black and white, young and old, able-bodied and wheelchair-bound. A mother and daughter are in the lead, while a black man holds the donkey’s reins. The crowd adores Jesus as if he was a rock star or political leader. They stretch their hands up to him, and he bends down to touch them. Jesus rides on a donkey -- as surprising now as it was in Biblical times. We might expect a limo, while the people of old Jerusalem expected a chariot or at least a horse. It’s a happy scene, but it foreshadows the emptiness and impermanence of earthly glory.

With this second painting his series “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” artist Douglas Blanchard begins to show events from the gospels in a contemporary urban setting. All four gospels describe Jesus’ entry into Roman-occupied Jerusalem at the height of his popularity. Adoring crowds greeted him by laying palms on the ground before him and shouting “Hosanna!”

Crowd scenes are one of Blanchard’s strengths as an artist. He captures the unruly movements of a large gathering of people almost like a stop-action photo. Indeed while working on this series, Blanchard studied Charles Moore’s photos of the American Civil Rights movement. He paints each face in the crowd as a unique individual. Check out the young man in a spiky mohawk carrying the “justice” sign on the right. He looks like somebody right out of a Pride march.

The arch is like a simplified version of the Washington Square Arch in New York City, where Blanchard has lived since 1991. It is a landmark in Greenwich Village, an artsy neighborhood with a nonconformist tradition. That arch was in turn based on the first-century Arch of Titus in Rome, which also inspired the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Triumphal arches were invented by the ancient Romans and remain one their most influential architectural forms.

All of these arches symbolize material power, and therefore end up hinting at its transience as times change. The Arc de Triomphe played a role in military victory rallies for everyone from Napoleon to Hitler, and in 1999 a new version aggrandizes a contemporary kind of empire: a Las Vegas casino. The Arch of Titus was built to celebrate the sack of Jerusalem, yet ironically in this painting it serves as the gateway to Jerusalem for the doomed Jesus. Light streaming through the arch forms a kind of halo behind Jesus’ head, like the barred window in the first painting.

“Look, the world has gone after him.” -- John 12:19 (RSV)

Everyone cheered when Jesus called for justice and freedom. Crowds followed him into the city, shouting and waving palm leaves. Their chants were not so different from ours: “Yes we can! Out of the closet and into the streets! We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!” Jesus was a superstar making a grand entrance. But he did it in his own modest, gentle style. He surprised people by riding on a donkey. Some of his supporters, those who had mainstream success, urged him to quiet the others -- assimilate, don’t alienate. Tone it down. Act respectable, don’t demand respect. Stop flaunting it. His answer: I’m here to liberate people! If the crowd was silent, the stones would cry out! It was that kind of day, a Palm Sunday sort of day, a day when everyone shouted for equality and freedom. But was anybody still listening?

Christ, set me free!

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This is part of a series based on “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a set of 24 paintings by Douglas Blanchard, with text by Kittredge Cherry.  For the whole series, click here.

Scripture quotations are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the Inclusive Language Lectionary (Year C), copyright © 1985-88 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.