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| Untitled no. 396, Cindy Sherman |
Luke 24:13-35
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.Popular media today has a number of performers who always stay "in character." Whether they wear an actual costume or just conceal themselves in an assumed dramatic identity the performer is known by their performance. When we see them we see their artistic persona. Comedy has Stephen Colbert playing his alter ego conservative commentator Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report. It also has Sasha Baron Cohen testing the line between Reality TV and scripted television while juggling the portrayal of his characters Borat, Ali G and Bruno. In her latest album Art Pop, Lady Gaga continues the usage of avant garde visual aesthetics pioneered by David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust period to promote mainstream Pop Music. Like many things that trickle down (or up) to popular culture, the roots of the indistinguishable dichotomy between performer and performance has its roots in visual art. There are several cases in performance art like video/performance artist Matthew Barney (the husband of the Icelandic singer Bjork) whose anthropomorphic/androgynous character from the Cremaster Cycle hides the real life identity of the artist. Another example can be seen in the larger than life personality of the 20th century Surrealist Salvador Dali. Every inch of Dali's public and private persona (and upturned waxed mustache) evoked the grandiose dream world of Surrealism and the bombastic silliness of the Dada movement. Yet no other artist surpasses photographer Cindy Sherman in her effort to take on the persona of her subjects. That is because she is the subject of every portrait. The characters are different but the model is the same. With the help of makeup, prosthetics, scenery and a sense of humor Cindy Sherman has appropriated the identity of scores of different characters over the decades. She changes just enough to enable herself to be hidden within the image. The creator of the image disguises herself while being a model in the image to challenge how we imagine Women in general. Whether it is because of the disguise or because of the change of context she hides in plain sight and we don't notice her. This strange phenomenon is exactly what happened in Luke 24:13-35: Jesus hid from his followers in plain sight. Yet the story isn't about the adventures of two dumb disciples but rather reveals several truths about how Christ has hidden in plain sight from all of his followers both ancient and contemporary.
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| Untitled #153, Cindy Sherman |
And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?” Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
When the two disciples tell the mysterious stranger (Jesus) about the recent events that had been going on in Jerusalem they tell the story about a dead Jesus not a risen one. Yes, they had heard the reports that he had risen but to them it was still a legend rather than fact. It was more of an outrageous claim. The thing that they did know was that Jesus was dead. The mystery for them was not whether he was alive or not but rather where his dead body was. Instead of his body being hidden in the tomb (like all other well behaved dead people) the location of his body was what was hidden.
Jesus' body being hidden in the grave gave way to a greater truth: eternal life is hidden in the grave. Eternal life begins with death: first the death to one's self and sinful nature (symbolized in baptism) but then death of the actual physical body. The fulfillment of salvation has three steps (justification, sanctification and glorification) that are only completed in death. It is dying to sin in Christ justifying us, dying to self in the Holy Spirit sanctifying our lives to holiness and finally physically dying in our fleshly state so that God can one day raise us up physically to brand new life. Yet when we die to sin it induces spiritual birth (the being born again that Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about), when we die to self it frees us to birth good works and bless the lives of our neighbors and when we die physically we will be resurrected to the completion of a full new life (in spirit, in flesh and in deeds). Christ promised us eternal life: life and life more abundantly. With each part of salvation we experience a greater paradoxical part of this truth that life is wrapped up in death. Death is only a step and a release into greater life.
In The Gospel of John Jesus once said, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." You may be thinking to yourself that a grain of wheat doesn't actually die in the seed process but rather its destruction in its seed form is only its changing into something greater. That is what Jesus was saying about the wheat and you. Glory means praise honor and distinction but it also means great beauty and splendor, gratification and achievement. When a grain of wheat dies and comes into its full glory it raises from the earth and yields a harvest of golden fields. When Jesus dies he rose to the glory of God, producing a harvest of believing souls and ascending to the right hand of the Father. When you die as a believer you will one day rise to new life and a crown of righteousness in Heaven. Life is hidden in the grave.
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| Unititled Film Still #14, Cindy Sherman |
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
When the two disciples listened to the mysterious stranger, he revealed to them how Christ was the unifying theme of Scripture From the fist prophet (one who revealed God's words to the people) in Scripture Moses to the last prophets, he showed them that the Word of God (the Bible) and the Word of God (Jesus, God made flesh) were almost synonymous. The stories that shared God's people prophets and promises were lived out in the Messiah. Somehow they, the Pharisees and we missed the overall gist of God's communication to us. Christ was hidden in Scripture.
The book of Acts shares that the first century church abided in the Apostle's doctrine/teaching. It was the belief system that united this diverse community. What was the actual Apostle's doctrine? The easy answer is the beliefs, letters and stories that were eventually gathered together as the canon of the New Testament. But what really is the testimony of the New Testament? What is the overall message? If we can capture that then we can glean what was the concise message of the Apostles' ministry and their view of what they had extracted from Jesus in their time as his Disciples. Of course they had gathered that Jesus believed himself to be God and mankind's Savior but it also appears that they shared the view that is shared in this narrative in Luke about the two disciples in Emmaus: all of Scripture (which to them was the Jewish Bible/Old Testament) testified of Jesus and his looming sacrifice. As St. Augustine once argued (and someone else made rhyme in English) "In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed."
The authorship of the book of Hebrews is contested. The author does not leave his or her name. We assume that it is Paul the Apostle Paul (most probably), but their are arguments that it could have been Apollos, Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Luke or Priscilla. Personally my money is on J. K. Rowling. In the midst of all of this debate there is one thing evident about the author. They think that Jesus is everything...or at least superior to everything else. Literally that is the theme of the book. The book systematically breaks down how Christ is above the angels, Moses (and by connection the Law) and the priesthood/sacrificial system... everything that the original first century Jewish reader would have understood about connecting with God. Before the writer delves into discussing any of these matters they open up with this line: "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." Jesus provides our last revealed word from God. The same Jesus whom the Apostles believed the Old Testament prophets foretold. The same Jesus whom the Apostle John and the mysterious writer of Hebrews both agree that God created all of creation through.
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| Untitled #425. Cindy Sherman |
Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
Yes, I am about to say that Christ is hidden in our communion. This will be followed by my fellow Protestant readers getting up in arms that I am making such a Catholic statement. Before you flip your wig and excommunicate me, follow my line of thinking. Catholics (along with the other first Christian denominations, like the various Orthodox groups) believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This means that they believe that the communion wine is really Jesus' blood and the bread is really Jesus' body. Where did they get a crazy idea like this? Well, Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me."
Often times we like to paint the simplified picture that Catholics do things based purely on Church tradition and Protestants do things based purely on biblical precedent. We also like to imagine that theologically conservative Protestants (Fundamentalists and Evangelicals) always base things on a literal interpretation of Scripture and never base their decisions on Science. Yet we have an instance here where Catholics are basing their beliefs on a literal understanding of Jesus' words and Protestants (who in varying degrees believe that the bread and wine are symbolic of Jesus' flesh and blood) are taking Jesus' words metaphorically and doing the most basic scientific function (testing by observing that the bread and wine appear to not be wine and flesh). It shows that you cannot use a general rule of interpreting Scripture, like most language and literature it uses both literal and figurative/metaphorical devices to make its point. It is not about taking the Bible strictly literal or figurative: it is about taking it seriously. As a Baptist (a Protestant group) I do understand the communion wine to be symbols of Christ's real symbols of Christ's literal sacrifice of his flesh and blood for our real sins. As a believer who tends to side with taking the Bible literally, who am I do look down on another believer (in this case Catholic) for actually taking Jesus' words literally, even if they are different than my understanding.
I believe that the greater truth that can be shared by all types of Christians (Protestant, Catholic, theologically liberal and theologically conservative) is found in what Jesus (the mysterious stranger) and the two disciples shared in Emmaus: a meal. Early Christians made a shared meal the center of their weekly worship. Whether it was an actual communion/Eucharist or just a meal between friends, the breaking of bread is how our spiritual ancestors shared community. They communed together in these Agape feasts and discussed the Apostles doctrine, prayer and their lives. The name Agape, comes from the Greek word for Love. Actually there were several Greek words for Love, but this one was used exclusively to express the unconditional love that emanated from the Christian God and flowed freely among the Christian brethren. It is sometimes translated to English as the word "charity"... a word that we now often associate with free. But isn't that exactly what this free meal amongst believers symbolizes: the free gift of love that God had freely bestowed upon us? A grace? If that is the case then it is truly the bread of our communion that Christ broke in Emmaus and gave to the two disciples. A communion of community in Grace that he still gives to his disciples today.
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| Untitled 224 from the History Portrait Series, Cindy Sherman |
And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.
Cindy Sherman has taken a plethora of portraits over the years. She has disguised herself as silver screen film actresses, clowns, socialites, plastic surgery victims and classic pieces of Renaissance and Baroque art. It can be hard recognizing Cindy Sherman hidden under all of the makeup and prosthetics. However it becomes a high brow game of "Where's Waldo?" to the trained eye. Every piece starts to look like Cheri Oteri doing an impersonation in her Saturday Night Live days. I believe that poker players call this a Tell: visual and/or behavioral clues that reveal something that the player is hiding. I believe that Cindy Sherman's tell is her intentional overacting in her portraits. The overacting of a Nikki Minaj trying desperately to have her albums be palatable to a Pop audience. That is at the core of every Cindy Sherman image. Peal away all of the layers of disguise and disfigurement and you will find this borderline comedic actress and photographer at the heart of the image amplifying her characters through stage makeup and pronounced subtleties.
The heart. It is the place where the mysterious stranger revealed Jesus to be hidden in Scripture. It is the place where Jesus revealed that eternal life lies hidden in death. It is the place where Jesus' prayer that we all may be one lies hidden in our diverse communion of believers. It is the place the two disciples felt a burning when they broke bread with Christ and recognized him as Christ... maybe because the bread was really spicy and they were two millennia away from the invention of Tums. But what do we mean by "heart" in all of these diverse cases? It is a metaphor, a figure of speech that reveals a greater truth in a greater way. The heart is the center, the core, the essence... the part that beats the life and meaning that flows through a thing. It is because the disciples had Jesus in their "heart" that they could recognize him hidden in the mysterious stranger sharing the bread of Life with them at Emmaus.
As modern day believers we will find that having Christ in our heart will help us recognize Christ in others. Now by this I don't mean that Christ is making weekly trips back in forth to earth to live out episodes of Highway to Heaven and Touched by an Angel amongst believers. I believe that he lives in others, especially those of us in the most dire straits. While we are looking for Jesus to reveal himself in our lives ready to bless us he has hidden himself in the lives of the hungry, the thirsty, the sick and the prisoner waiting for us to serve him. That is why Jesus shared this story, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Jesus truly is hidden all around us but he only reveals himself to be in the heart and eyes of us as believers if we can recognize him in the situations of others. When we serve others, share a meal with others and share the Gospel of grace with others we reveal him to the world. We may wear different disguises but others will recognize Christ in our heart. Just as in Cindy Sherman's art the performer is known by her performance. We as Christians are known by our love. When people see us they see Christ...Or can they?
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