A Cruce Salus 2007 Virtual Tour
A Cruce Salus - "From the Cross Comes Salvation."
The 2007 gallery was curated by Marc Marsocci and Brad Breyer.
Station I
I. Jesus Prays in the Garden of OlivesDr. Joanne K. Morse
various mediums
This plate was made a few years ago. It was for sale along with other pieces I had created. I loved this piece and was happy when it didn’t sell. Something about it speaks to me. I used items from around the house, for example, the figure is a skate key and the wings are the insets from an ice tray. The black plate represents the universe. The figure is kneeling and praying. The brown circle represents the planets and moons within the universe and the feather piece represents the garden. The squiggly wire stands for snakes or deceit in the garden. The black pieces sticking out around the head represent the coming crown of thorns. The wings are angel wings. Jesus has a halo around him and an angel behind him. The heart is His love for us.
When I created this dish I was not aware of what it all meant. It was some months later that I realized the depth of its meaning. Jesus is praying asking God to lift this burden but He also says “Thy will be done”. He knows He will be betrayed and face torture and death. God sends an angel to stay by Jesus as He prepares to give His life for us.
God is with us in every mundane moment of our lives so using the mundane bits and pieces to create this scene helps us to remember that. Orthodox Jews believe that so deeply they have prayers for everything from getting out of bed to brushing their teeth. We sometimes forget that He is with us every moment of the day and night even though we relegate our thoughts to Him only when we pray.
Station II
II. Jesus, Betrayed by Judas, is ArrestedCarol Kenreigh
various mediums
Station III
III. Jesus is Condemned by the SanhedrinMarc Marsocci
various medium
Station IV
IV. Jesus is Denied by PeterSarah Salisbury
various mediums
I chose to do the denying of Christ by Peter. We have all denied Christ whether by omission or submission. But, to be like Peter is not all bad. He was the Rock! Though he makes mistakes he is still counted as a child, and friend, of God. How fantastic is that? There are moments that I think that God will never forgive me for. I feel that I am insignificant to Him. Why should I be counted? Why should I be given this amazing gift of His Son for my Salvation? But He did! He chose to die for me and I chose to follow Him. I am a Follower of The Way. And though I stumble like Peter, I can be someones rock as well. Choices are made and paths are taken. Peter made his decisions. I think he was a brave man. Not for denying Christ, but admitting to himself and God that he had made a mistake. Bad choices are made on a whim out of fear or anger. Good choices take guts and knowledge. Peter was a good man.
My project, though it didn't turn out exactly as I had planned, is finished. The three turning items represent the turning from Christ. It is interesting though that even though they turn away, they always turn back around the right way again. Circles are amazing, aren't they? The colors and textures I used in the overlapping styles are to show how we cover our beauty sometimes. Though we have rich bold colors of Christ within us, we tend to hide them away sometimes. They are such beautiful colors though, they are still seem. He shines through! The blue tiles I used were for a different purpose. In the earliest centuries of art they would only use blues when it was a painting or work of great importance. It was very hard to make and very expensive to use. I felt that a little blue for Peter would suit him nicely. The mirrors are to not only reflect the light, but to reflect you. We can all see ourselves in the stories of Peter. The good, the bad and the amazing. We are all rocks. We are all mirrors. We are all bright, vivid colors. We are all beautiful and amazing through Him our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Station V
V. Jesus is Judged by PilateJason Brown
crayon
In the past, I had always considered Pilate’s responsibility in the death of Christ as minimal, caught in a struggle of religious power between Jesus and the traditional corrupt Jewish religious leader. As I reflected on the Scriptures to begin my artistic representation, I began to realize that Pilate was much more responsible than I had first imagined. He knew that Jesus was innocent, and repeated tried to reason with a mob, created by the Jewish leaders. In every scriptural account, it stated that Pilate knew exactly why leaders brought Jesus to him, as a prisoner. At any moment, Pilate could have freed Jesus under Roman law. In Luke’s account, Pilate even sent Jesus to Herod, to be tried under the Jewish law, with the same proclamation of innocence from Herod. The responsibility of Jesus’ death was laid on the shoulders of Pilate. Pilate knew he was sending an innocent man to his grave. However, Pilate was afraid. He cowered under his political future, under the pressure of an angry mob. He was in a position of authority to protect the innocent, and instead released a murderer and condemned the innocent to death.
In my illustration, I depicted Pilate washing his hands of Jesus’ blood, with that knowledge he had sentenced a man to death because of his own cowardice. The blood washed from Pilate’s hands broke Jesus’ body, as Pilate ordered Jesus to be flogged as a criminal under Roman law. Pilate knew what a flogging entailed, the cruelty of his soldiers, the brutal violence they would inflict upon a human being for absolutely no reason. That knowledge is depicted by an evil presence initiating the washing of his hands, waiting with Pilate’s own chains. Those chains represent Pilate’s guilty conscience, his eternal condemnation, his inability to stand up as a leader in opposition to the evil and perform his just duty.
What Pilate did not know was the power Jesus’ split blood possessed. Jesus paid the price for Barrabbas’ crime with His own blood. Jesus is in a subordinate position, the silent Lamb of God, beaten and slaughtered, with complete acceptance of His just duty. The figure being released is Barrabbas, his chain’s broken by the power of Jesus’ blood. As I was drawing Barrabbas, I realized that he really represents those of us who have committed evil deeds, yet have found redemption through the work of the cross, through Jesus’ blood. Like Barrabbas, we should be the one’s paying for our multitudes of injustices. We should be beaten, tortured, mocked, spit upon, and slaughtered for our evil deeds. But we are freed by Jesus’ blood. I don’t know what Barrabbas did after he was freed, but I know the pulls on my own heart and soul, even with the chains broken and my debts paid in full. My question for you is, “What will you do with your freedom?”
Station VI
VI. Jesus is Flogged and Crowned with ThornsJennifer Brewer
Light Shines in the Darkness
paint
…But the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5)
In this piece, Jesus is represented on His knees, in humble submission to the will of His Father. He was beaten and bruised; scorned and rejected by those He came to love.
The overgrown mess of thorns tangled around His legs symbolizes the mockery He silently endured, but which did not overtake Him. The crown of thorns was a cruel way of mocking the very truth of who Jesus was. He was spit on like an animal by those He loved; their ferocious saliva puddles beneath His knees. His right arm, symbolized in scripture as an image of God’s power, is raised not as a shield for Himself, but for us. His left hand is refuge and comfort, reaching deep into the darkness.
Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit. (John 12:23) This is illustrated through a single dead dandelion, whose seeds are blowing into the darkness, producing an endless harvest.
The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. (Isaiah 53:5)
Station VII
VII. Jesus Carries His CrossJulia West
pencil
The reason why I chose this particular part of Jesus' crucifixion is because it means so much. He was in so much pain, all for you and me. It must have been terrible to be crucified by the people he loved, because they wanted it. I couldn't get the image out of my head.
There were those that mourned, as symbolized by the eyes in the top corners of the picture. There were those that didn't want him crucified. The heart on the bottom symbolizes Jesus' heart feeling brushed away and broken, because of what his people were doing to him. The two red flowers stand for the hope of Jesus returning to life in three days.
Drawing this scene meant a lot to me. Jesus died for me and I carry his story in my heart. This picture was an act of worship and a show of my love. I feel such indescribable gratitude for his heroic deed.
Station VIII
VIII. Simon of Cyrene Helps Carry Jesus’ CrossJoshua Ballard
Wood
While unloading a bunch of building materials that were donated to us by the original nuns of Poor Clare, I came across a piece of 4˝ x 6˝ I thought would make a fantastic “something.” A fantastic what, I didn’t know. I made plans for a stand-alone shelf, several hanging shelves, a balance beam for my daughter, but none of those things really struck me as “the” thing to create with this piece of wood. When approached as a potential artist for this exhibit, I immediately had a flash of that piece of wood fashioned into a cross. I volunteered and selected the station “Jesus Carries His Cross.” After all, I already had a cross.
I don’t have carving skills, so I planned out a stick Jesus I could create with smaller pieces of wood. When I started the construction, I realized that I had a huge, heavy cross and a small, fragile frame of a man that could never support the cross by itself. It struck me then how much that reflects Jesus’ death on His cross. He was fully human carrying a burden that was far too heavy for any man to bear. Not only was he physically beaten and emotionally thrashed, he had to carry this tremendously heavy cross to the place of his death, get nailed to it, hang and die. He bore the full burden of my sin and all the sins of humanity. He carried a cross that I could never carry.
Station IX
IX. Jesus Meets the Women of JerusalemJoe Zug and Maggie Bain
pencil
The number of people following the procession has increased. The women kept coming and Jesus could hear them sobbing, crying and even wailing for him.
He was familiar with these scenes. They were common when disaster struck or a beloved one died. He had heard the wailing during the years he spent in Nazareth. He heard it again when he went to the house of Jairus in Cafarnaum (Mk 5,38-40) or to Bethany when Lazarus died.
The shrill pitch of the wailing made him stop. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children" (Lk 23,27).
They were stunned by his words. They could not reply. They did not understand what he was saying. Jesus, even in this terrible moment, is not thinking only of himself, of his suffering, of his drama. He is concerned with the drama of humanity, of all human beings. He prophetically saw another human drama opening in front of his eyes. And these wailing women had to change their lives.
And he continued "For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then "they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, 'Cover us!' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?" (Lk 23,29-31). They are taken aback.
How many times had he repeated this while preaching in the land of Galilee or Judea? How many times he shouted over wind and tempest, over desert and plains: "The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mk 1,15).
He was again telling them, and through them those who were following him with a smile on their face: "the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit" (Mt 21,43) because "the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins"(Jer 9,19).
In our piece, Joe interprets this his own way. He draws a picture of a woman crawling on the ground next to Jesus, as he walks and carries His cross up to the mountain. He shows the crying woman and Jesus crucified. He also draws his own interpretation of the Kingdom of God, as a castle atop of the clouds, pouring water down to fill the barren land, which in turn really means the barren women who cried for Jesus.
Station X
X. Jesus is CrucifiedAdam Carrier
Scapegoat
pencil
“…the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”-Isaiah 53:6b
I read the passage above and meditated o what it might have looked like if what God the Father had done judicially on Calvary was carried out in a physical reality.
What would Golgotha (the Place of the Skull) have looked like with out sins laid on Jesus, the crucified Son of God?
I think a good answer comes from Leviticus 16:21-22:
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of a live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabitant: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
To pass the sins of the children of Israel onto the goat, Aaron was to lay his hands on the goat’s head and confess them out loud. The goat was to be led out to the wilderness and let go. Without human care in the uninhabited land, the goat would die having taken the nation of Israel’s sin with it. This sin offering is where we get the term “scapegoat”.
Jesus was our “scapegoat” at Calvary, being crucified outside the city (cf. Heb. 13:13). To enact the literal passing of sins to Jesus the Scapegoat, I drew people in chains climbing Golgotha to lay their shackled hands on the Savior.
Station XI
XI. Jesus Promises His Kingdom to the Good ThiefJesse Sargent
paint, tile
This Station of the Cross is most defined to me by the forgiveness displayed by Christ and the compassion that seemed necessary on both Christ's part and the Thief on this right side. This piece to me puts a separation between the characters displayed, and while the thief on the left of Christ is looking away in disgust after having just been rebuked by the other thief, Jesus is turned towards the thief on his right showing favor and His compassion. As the look on each other, I feel the sense of peace, as the future becomes much less dark and harrowing to the thief who has just found forgiveness. All he had to do was to utter a kind word towards Christ, and forgiveness came so quickly and easily.
Station XII
XII. Jesus Speaks to His Mother and DiscipleJennifer Brewer and Mandi Rooker
Behold Your Mother
paint, ink
The woman represents Mary the mother of Jesus, and what must have been Jesus’ last view on this earth; as He gave away the very last of His treasures— His mother, and His best friend John. If you look closely at her eye, gazing at her dying son, there is a reflection of His first day on earth. His blood runs over her, creating new life from her unspeakable grief. The shroud represents the helplessness and abandonment she must have felt in that moment; which obscured her view of God’s power and plan for good.
Station XIII
XIII. Jesus Dies on the CrossSteve Lanning
photograph
This work was inspired by a simple comment in a sermon, "God turned his back on Jesus as he died on the cross." This caused me to consider what God's view of the crucifixion might have been. Thus the view from above the cross.
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The images on the top are an effort to tell the story of what His sacrifice can mean to us. The images on the left represent mankind's sin with the blue representing the Living Waters that cleanse us. The center image of Thomas reaching into Jesus' side represents belief. The image on the right represents being born again (the red in the image representing the blood of Christ). The dove represents the freedom we experience through forgiveness.
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To live my life as a personal response to this unbelievable act of love, that I cannot understand, is my goal.
Station XIV
XIV. Jesus is Placed in the TombElizabeth Saalbach
ink
I wanted to show the burial of Jesus from inside the tomb. It was kind of hard to find just the right way to accomplish this but ink and Xuan paper seemed to be appropriate. The black ink was used to reflect on the mood and the white paper was used to give emphasis on the body of Jesus and the stone being put into place. I used no colors in it because this was a very somber event and I didn’t want to change that.
Station XV
XV. Jesus is Raised from the DeadCarl Aude
pencil
Since this last station is the only station to portray the triumph of the passion, I wanted to portray it clearly, and although the verses I was given only portray the empty tomb, and hence, Christ having been raised, I wanted to portray Christ himself.
This is image is a bit of a mixed metaphor since the Christ-figure of the C. S. Lewis book, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, that rises from his death on the Stone Table is the Lion. Among my reasons for using the Narnia image, I saw it having more visual impact than Christ stepping out of a hole in the ground, with Roman soldiers strewn about like dead men and an angel sitting around (Matthew 28:2-4). I also see the Stone Table as reminiscent of the tablets that the Law was written on.
He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13a-14, NIV
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