This image appeared at the top of the Easter Intercessions recently and a friend wrote asking if we could talk about the meaning of the icon. Many Western Christians have never seen anything like this before, having grown up with the traditional Western, Easter depiction of Jesus, dressed in white and coming out of the tomb carrying a banner with a red cross. The only people in that scene are the guards who the Gospel tells us became like dead men.
The Gospels are silent about the moment of Jesus' Resurrection, so we are left to our imagination as to what happened historically, but all the more, what does it all mean?
The Eastern Christian icon shown here might be titled: Jesus Raising the Dead or The Descent into Hades. Hades is not hell, but our underworld of death. And death is not just what places us all in the grave, but the loss every person experiences while on this planet. But death (loss) can be relational, cultural, spiritual, physical, psychological. Death can be personal but also national, ecclesial, global. Can you name it for yourself?
And look! Jesus is running towards that condition of loss. He had knocked down the well-secured gates that are set up to keep us trapped in the underworld of death and loss. Notice the nuts and bolts, screws, locks and keys that are flying through the cavernous, murky darkness and even the gatekeeper (who is not Satan) has been pressed down. Some icons show him shackled or tied up.
But notice this too, unlike the Western image, which is a Resurrection of Jesus only and which leaves me simply a dazzled admirer, the Eastern icon shows Jesus having yanked up a whole planet of people: Moses, John the Baptist, David and Solomon and all those behind them. Some icons show the prophets Elijah and Jeremiah. The icon in the chapel here has the three "wise men" from Matthew's Gospel. And the last to be freed and drawn out of the Kingdom of Death, the kingdom of dark-losses, are Adam and Eve.
Adam and Eve symbolize humankind - every human person who has lived on this earth, or who will live on this planet while it exists. The Resurrection of Jesus is universal. God is not a loser!
The website for the Buddhist Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, N.Y. bears the title: To All Seeking Refuge. Sounds like the title for an icon of the Mother of God. The page reads:
In this time of challenge and heightened uncertainty, Zen Mountain Monastery invites and welcomes every person seeking refuge in the ancient teachings of wisdom and compassion to practice with our Sangha (community).
If you are black or brown, white or any other race or color, you are welcome here.
If you're Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, Native American, or any other nationality or ethnicity, you are welcome here.
If you're Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Pagan, Wiccan, Atheist, or other, you are welcome here.
If you're a citizen or a resident, documented or undocumented, a refugee, you are welcome here.
You are welcome if you're liberal, conservative, or apolitical.
You're welcome if you're gay or straight, bisexual, trans or undefined.
If you're rich or poor, big or small.
If you're sixteen, thirty-five, sixty-five or eighty, you are welcome here.The Easter Icon with its universal theme suggests the Christians ought to be the world's welcome experts. Some people will want to tease out scripture verses which insist on exclusion. Some people will want to jump ahead to the Communion line citing who can and can't receive the Eucharist.
But the icon proposes a universal welcome which is first and foremost a conditioning of our hearts. The national wave of bullying suggests this conditioning is sorely needed, as there are still plenty of people out there who are exclude-rs, dividers - even eliminators.
