Seeing the brushwork
Campbell Dye
November 19, 2022
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John 4: 39-42 (NIVUK)
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’ 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’
The Mona Lisa is probably the world’s most famous painting. It appears on tee-shirts, coffee mugs, playing cards and mouse mats. It features in popular culture and even films and songs have been named after it. If you have visited the Louvre in Paris where it hangs, I wonder what you thought of it? I was so familiar with the image of it that, when I saw it in the “oil”, it took a while to comprehend that this really was the actual thing. The experience is not helped by the hundreds of people who, at any given time, have their backs to the painting and their phones to their face, consuming the painting by serial selfie.
There was, all the same, something incredible about the actual painting. The colour was a bit more intense than the reproductions; the smile – yes, definitely enigmatic. The brushwork gives a dimension missing from the plastic fridge magnet. In other words, there’s no substitute for experiencing the painting up close – or at least as close as security will allow.
The friends and neighbours of the Samaritan woman had quite an experience. They were intrigued by her tales and wanted to experience Jesus for themselves. Her narrative got them curious but it was only in experiencing Jesus firsthand that they came to believe.
I started this week’s contribution by talking of the relentless hope which flows through the Bible. I end where I began. The hope in the Jesus story is real and persistent but we do float away from it at times. However — and I speak from experience — it's often times of crisis, pain or grief when the hope comes flooding back and our sense of God’s care for us is at its most tangible.
PRAYER:
Lord, be with me through the storms of life. Let me grasp onto the hope that you offer. Never let me go. AMEN.
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