REMBRANDT PAINTED AT THE HEIGHT of the slave trade. Every year the Dutch ships brought hundreds of thousands of slaves to the Americas from Africa. While the ship captains would read their bibles at night and in rough seas the crew would shoot muskets into the air to wake up heaven to their plight, they saw nothing wrong with stealing people away from their homes half a world away to make slaves of them.
Rembrandt knew about this exploitation and greedy profit. His image of Jesus reflects this numbing sadness. Jesus' muscles are useless here and his body is even deformed, unlike the pumped up, idealized bodies of sculpted Greek gods. Rembrandt isn't saying, Jesus is useless. Rather Jesus, God humanized, has entered our world of decay and deforming choices.
Saint Paul writes to us:
"Who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:6-8)
Our Father Who Art in Heaven...
Hail Mary full of grace...
Glory be to the Father...
