Response 3

One of the pieces of art that had a great effect on me was Christopher Young's Man of Sorrows. I was deeply touched by the message of the painting through its contradictions and paradoxes. In this work, Young has depicted Jesus Christ through the shape of a window frame, as if we are catching a glimpse of His trial and His sacrifice. In the painting, Christ has on His crown of thorns and is currently bearing the cross. These are the plain, obvious, and objective facts of the piece. Through further examination we see there are deeper meanings and truths to its message. Christ is holding the cross, but although it appears to be heavy and difficult to bear, he carries it with ease. And although the depiction signifies that Christ has yet to complete His sacrifice, His pensive face seems to be contemplating anything but the coming moments He will endure. A third contradiction is the overall sense of idealism. The body of Christ is very chiseled and almost model-like. The painting creates the feeling that this is as ideal as this situation could possibly be, and the illusion that this reality was in fact an ideal occurrence.

After scrutinizing the facts and physical features of Young’s painting, I came to find the intent of this piece. At first, I thought the contradictions were simply a result of his perspective, of which I could not agree. But I quickly realized that this was purely his way of conveying a message. The message is that our Savior was, in essence, a living paradox. His teachings are seemingly contradictory from the surface and His life was the ultimate ironic act. He lost His life so that we might keep our own. He gave His entire life to us and to The Father, so that we might complete ours individually. He taught that if we take His yolk upon us, we may be light. He preached to all the earth that if we lose ourselves, we will find ourselves. His counterintuitive nature is consistent through His teachings and His life. His insights are a result of His unique perspective and greater understanding of truth. The beauty in all of these paradoxes is, as Dr. H. put it, “the tension of a paradox yields a resolution.”

This message of Christopher Young’s painting highlights the truth of our Savior’s life, mission, sacrifice and death.