The Blood was Red, The Pain was Real

January 3rd, 2009

Reading: Genesis 5-6, Matthew 2

Everyone is familiar with the story of the Three Wise Men and Noah's Ark. While I was reading these stories from the readings, I couldn't help but think about certain artistic representations of them.

First of all, let's start with a simple nativity scene made up of the tiny figurines that you set up every Christmas. I'm sure most of you know that the manger and "no room at the inn" story is more of a romanticized story of Christ's birth than actual fact. I won't go into detail on this, but I have heard several biblical translators explain that "inn" does not translate the way we think it does.

Also, Jesus was probably two years old by the time the Wise Men found him, so putting them in a scene of Jesus' birth isn't really accurate either.

If you really wanted to do a nativity scene that is accurate with the Wise Men, then it requires a little more figurines. You are probably going to have to make figurines of Roman soldiers, and they would have to be killing babies. I would suggest a lot of red paint.

Yes, that is gross, and no one would want to see a nativity scene like that. It might be a good way to scare off unwanted guests at Christmas time, though.

Like the nativity, Noah's Ark doesn't seem to get represented correctly in Scripture either. Generally, you see it as a neat little boat floating in a beautiful blue ocean. Absent are the bodies of animals and people that should be drifting on the sea because of the horrendous deluge.

Surely, these artistic representations of the Ark and the nativity were made for our children, but they are sadly not realistic, and therefore not real. It reminds me of a song that Christian singer Dallas Holm once wrote called "The Blood was Red". I can't seem to find the lyrics online, but here is what I remember:

...Such a pretty picture,
soften it up, make it light
They can't seem to paint the cross of Scripture
They just can't seem to get it right

But the blood was red, the pain was real
I can't imagine how it must feel
to be nailed to the cross, such an unfair deal
but the blood was red and the pain was real

Think about every crucifix that you see, and you will usually find a woundless Christ with the exception of the red dots on the hands and feet. Yet this isn't want it was like. There was a reason why The Passion of the Christ was R-rated. Even that film, accurate as it was, was not quite accurate enough. If you had been at the crucifixion, what you would have seen would be beyond an X-rating.

My point is that the Bible is full of stories that have been made soft throughout the years by Christian artistic representation. As a result, the true impact behind these stories is made light, and the true moral is being denied. Both the nativity, the flood, and the crucifixion show how ugly the world truly is, and remind of our need for salvation from it. This is what Jesus has given to us, and why we need to share his message of hope to the rest of the world.