Exploring the Passion through Art, Tuesday 12th April
Christ Crowned with Thorns (c. 1495 and 1500), Hieronymus Bosch
Mark 15.15-20
15So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. 17And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. 18And they began saluting him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ 19They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. 20After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
Prayer – Hymn for Good Friday, Orthodox
Today he who hung the earth upon the waters
Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross.
He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.
We venerate Thy Passion, O Christ.
Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.
John 12
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.
27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’
After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.
This holy week we are reflecting on the passion through a variety of means – literature, music, and tonight, art. I would like to reflect upon just one painting: Christ Crowned with Thorns, Hieronymus Bosch.
He was a prolific Dutch painter of the 15th and 16th centuries. Many of his works depict sin and human moral failings. Bosch like to used images of demons, half-human animals and machines to evoke fear and confusion and to portray the evil of man.
Christ Crowned with Thorns was painted toward the end of his life. It saw a shift in style which included paintings with a small number of large figures who appear to almost leave the painting and stand close to the observer. This painting is an example of this and you can find it at our National Gallery.
The painting depicts between the trial of Christ and his crucifixion. In what he probably sees as political expediency, Pilate has Jesus handed over to be crucified. The cruel and hardened Roman soldiers take him, clothe him with purple, put a crown of thorns on his head and then begin to mock him, hitting him and spitting at him, mockingly shouting, ‘Hail, King of the Jews’.
Just as John’s gospel has the stark, binary theme of theme of light and darkness, Bosch’s painting is also intensely stark. The ugliness, anger and violence of the four characters surrounding Christ is clearly meant to contrast with Christ himself.
In the gospel narrative Christ is clothed in purple. But Bosch is making theological point by painting is Christ as the gentle victim wearing the white garment of innocence. The thorny crown is just about to be forced down upon his pale and delicate skin… and it sort of resembles a halo.
Christ’s humble and serene expression, almost lost in his own thoughts, contrasts with the ugliness and violence of the tormentors. This is clearly the contrast between good and evil that Bosch is attempting to portray.
What do we know about the mockers? He paints them wearing contemporary c.16 costume, a pointed reference to the corruption of the society of his time. Only two of the characters are soldiers. The one on the right wears a spiked dog collar, which recalls Psalm 22 (v.16) about dogs surrounding God’s chosen one.
The soldier on the left looks more menacing. His turban has a crossbow bold through it, and his armoured hands and arm hold the crown of thorns. Perhaps this soldier also reflects the secular power of his day. He’s about to place the crown upon Christ’s head, a right to determine the next ruler in a mock coronation. It depicts the government of his day, complicit in Christ’s torture, and he refuses to allow us to look away.
The other two characters seem to be paying false mocking homage as they kneel before Christ. The one on the left has a red headgear on which is a crescent and star, identifying him as an unbeliever. The other man is dressed like a merchant.
The painting was, and is, a challenge to us its viewers. We are challenged to answer the question posed by Christ to his disciples: ‘Who do you say that I am?’. As we think about the cosmic significance of Christ’s death, what are its implications for what it means to be human? We ponder the injustice of Christ’s fate and the cruelty of which humanity is capable.
And we’re challenged to see violence and ugliness not just ‘out there’, where we see it on the news every day, most recently in the Ukraine. But also to see it within ourselves.
Whilst much violence continues in our world today, it’s unlikely that we here today in this part of London participate in this sort of physical violence… but I wonder whether there are other, more subtle faces of violence, of which we might be guilty: emotional violence at work or at home, often with those whom we are closest to; the violence of ignoring someone; an abusive use of power; verbal aggression, and so on. We must not allow ourselves to see violence as being ‘out there’ so as to avoid confronting our violence within.
In contrast to the world, and ourselves, who so often respond to violence with violence, the power of Jesus’s passion is that he absorbs it. And by so doing, he transforms it and transcends it. That’s the powerful, redeeming message of the Gospel. And whenever it happens things change.
There is an account in The Catholic Worker newspaper during the time of the civil rights protest in United States. It was a time when blacks and whites would sit at segregated lunch counters, refusing to move until they were served while angry whites poured ketchup on their heads, smeared mustard through their hair, pelted them with slurs, and mocked them. It quotes a black man: ‘I will let them kick me and kick me until they have kicked all the hatred out of themselves and into my body, where I will transform it into love.’
That's how Jesus loves us. He accepts all the violence, the ugliness, anger and hatred of sin, he absorbs it into himself, and then he pours out his love, even on us who are broken sinners.