Imaging of Jesus on Sexual Immorality and Crucifixion - Essay Sample

In the 20th and 21st century sexual immorality has been a key issue for the people of the world today. The New Testament has adversely mention sexual immorality at many instances.

Jesus and his disciples have spoken against sexual immorality; He indicates that whoever put away his wife shall have caused fornication and causing adultery. He also continues to say that whoever marries a married wife shall have committed adultery (Mathew 5:32).However, controversies have raised the issue of sexual morality, and the image of Jesus has been the center of theological study among many Theologians and philosophers (Kingsbury 20). This paper will undertake some of the artwork that shows sexual morality relating it to the way Jesus thought on sexual morality. It will also discuss the artwork by Sue Coe in Jesus crucifixion and the impact on the Christian faith today.

Theological work on sexual morality and crucifixion.

In a graphical artifact by Sue Coe, he releases the art called the Bedford Rape in 1984. The artwork is about a twenty-one-year-old woman who was raped in New Bedford, Massachusetts (Smagorinsky, Leslie & Patty 5). Twenty men, revealing the subject of rape, rape the woman. It has a depiction of rape and eliminating the act rape to our society. Sue Coe represents the image of a naked woman, spreading his arms and legs on a pool table. On the top end of the woman, two men are holding down her arm while another one is holding down her hair. On the other end between her legs, there is a row of men who are preparing to rape the women while undressing themselves. However, around the pool are men watching while remaining impassive as if nothing is happening on the pool table. The way the woman appears shows the same way Jesus was crucified. The fingers are replicating in the exact form of how hands and fingers of Christ were during the crucifixion. The artwork has been considered too much controversial due to its graphic content (Barrett 42).

The depicting on the artwork was that she went to Bradford to buy some cigarettes. Some men the followed and attempted to flirt her. She eventually turned down their request which made her being grabbed and forced to the lie on the pool table. The lady was raped by four men while the other twenty watched her being raped. Due to the evil society, we live in the other men are seen as if they are shouting and laughing. Theology has tried to view the artwork in al dimensions (Barrett 14). The artwork can be seen as an image of Jesus to the suffering he faced during His crucifixion. Many people were laughing at him while He was tortured and mistreated. The woman in the art represents the image of Jesus Christ during his suffering.

Theologians have mainly been concerned on how the crucifixion of Jesus occurred. There is a mutual illumination between the Bible and the kings of the contemporary world. The Bible illuminates the contemporary world while the contemporary world illuminates the gospel helping us to understand it even better. Theologians have urged about how the crucifixion of Jesus did occur, some have said that the crucifixion was marred by torture, execution, and sexual abuse of Jesus Christ (Edwards, Wesley, & Floyd 10). In the society we live in today, there is a ramped brutality using the culture of rape. Others have been comparing the act of abuse to the "act of God" showing how rape is in the mind of our society. This graphical representation shows how an artwork can be used to display how rape is not a laughing matter showing its presence in the society we live in today.

According to Kazantzakis, the Bible talks much about the sexual morality mainly touching on the act of rape. The book of Mathew, Jesus, and the apostles talks about sexual morality offering it justifiable even on the ground of violation (Kingsbury 20). Romans 13 says that rape is not only a crime but also wrong according to the laws of the land. One found to have committed the offense the punishment should be arrest followed by imprisonment.

Following Jesus means that one should help those that are in the vulnerable situations. Jesus Christ taught Christians that they should be able to help the victims of rape in any way possible. Everyone is responsible for the sin they commit. Including rape, indicating that rape is beyond God's grace. One should repent to the evil ways since God extends a hand of forgiveness to those who have committed evil. Authors have expressed their issue about the connection between torture and sex abuse. Using the gospel accounts, they are disturbed if Jesus Christ was a victim of sexual abuse during his crucifixion (Zugibe 7).

During the crucifixion, there is some evidence showing some sense of sexual harassment. Jesus Christ was stripped off his clothes and mocked on several occasions. It continues to show how Jesus was flocked showing some possibilities how he was naked while being beaten. Theologians have seen that in the New Testament Jesus was not sexually abused. There must have been a down play in the sexual abuse that took place. In Mathew 27, it states how Jesus was crucified. He was crucified with two rebels beside him. Before his crucifixion, he was offered a drink but after tasting it, he refused to drink it (Zugibe 6). They then move on to crucify him dividing his clothes by casting lots. From this argument, it brings many theological and pastoral implications. First, it deepens the understandings of the revealing of the depths of evil that Jesus Christ experienced during his life. This would suggest that the Christ victim of sexual violence indicates Christology that refuses fullness of incarnation. Pastorally it suggests the contribution of Jesus to the liberation of sexual abuse a way that Jesus shared the human experience.

Impact to Christian life today

The artwork by Sue Coe has brought out the subject of rape in an open end. In the Christian life, today rape is no longer considered as a point to be discussed. The culture of rape is in the mind of everyone we live with today. Women see rape as a terrible thing men see it as something that they can joke about. The culture of rape should be removed in the minds of everyone in the society today. This kind of art when presented to the public, people may see that rape is not something that one can joke about. This should, however, bring rape culture to its end.

The New Testament has brought this into light saying that Christian s should obey the laws that govern the authority Romans 13. Christians today have shown some care and compassion to the victims of rape. They help those in need and vulnerable situations. Christians have achieved this by ensuring that they help the victims of rape in any way possible. Through the experience that Jesus faced during his crucifixion, he has remained faithful to Christians. One, through the experience he went through He has been able to show that the act of brutality and sexual harassment is not an excellent voice to the society. Through his suffering, Christians have been forgiven all their sins. Secondly, it has enabled the Christian to show the connection between the Christ crucifixion and the act of violence. The Christ suffering has helped us see how Jesus Christ suffered crucifixion and how sexual abuse is in today's generation and the church (Zugibe 14).

Personal views

From the above artwork, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ raises some concerns in Christian lives to believe in the work of the bible and how Jesus fought for their sins. Jesus suffering was both emotionally and spiritually. Suggesting that Jesus may have been raped is not right. Jesus may have been tortured and victimized, but it did not reach to the extent of being abused as evident in the bible. In my point of view, Sue Coe has used his artistic work to show how Jesus faced some challenges for Christians sin. Jesus suffering and death cannot be expressed even in words. There is need to preserve the boundary so that we can learn more about crucifixions relating it to the suffering of Jesus Christ.

Sue Coe has made some statement about the piece saying how the girl went through some ordeal. This image can be used to change the society we live in today. The painting has discussed the issue of rape more vocally. This work can change how people think about the issues surrounding rape. I have also been changed on the way I see a woman. It enables one not to ignore the social issues that are affecting a society like rape. The society usually ignores the important issues raises by artists. However, she had used the image properly to show the society that there are more serious issues in the society that individuals should consider looking at. This image is a true reflection of the reality what happens today in the society we live in. Coes piece is based on a true story, something that took place. It has expressed the horrifying emotions that the victim of violence faces.

Through the image, Christians should relate the suffering of the woman on how Jesus Christ went truly during the crucifixion. They should be able to see how Jesus Christ loved them to the extent that he died for their sins. The artist has used the image to express the suffering of Jesus

Christ before he was crucified. Jesus Christ was beaten, associated with bad people (thieves) so that the sins of Christians can be washed away. Jesus Christ went through much torture so that Christians can be forgiven their sins. The artwork has tried to magnify how the suffering was through rape. The four men raping the woman is an indication of how one faces when he or she is torture. To that effect, Christians should have strong faith in Jesus Christ for he died because of their sins.

Work cited

Barrett, Terry. "Criticizing art." Mountain View, CA: Mayfield(1994). This article explains the in-depth analysis of the image used by Sue Coe. It elaborates how, who and why the woman was raped. The artwork components have been well explained. The image has received much criticism for this article citing its bad image to the society.

Crossan, John Dominic. Who killed Jesus? Exposing the roots of anti-Semitism in the gospel story of the death of Jesus. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995. This article explains how Jesus Christ was crucified. It tells us more about what they did to Jesus until his death. Much has been explained from what has been written from the bible.

Edwards, William D., Wesley J. Gabel, and Floyd E. Hosmer. "On the physical death of Jesus Christ." JAMA 255.11 (1986): 1455-1463. The death of Jesus was not only caused by the crucifixion, but it was also caused by the beating and mistreatment that Jesus faced before his death. This article tells more about what happened until Jesus died after the beatings.

Kazantzakis, Nikos. "The last temptation of Christ." New York (1960). (Kazantzakis). The last temptation is about the temptation that Jesus went through before he was crucified. Jesus went through many temptations before his death. However, this book explains further the cause of death through crucifixion.

Kingsbury, Jack Dean. The parables of Jesus in Matthew 13: a study in redaction-criticism. John Knox Press, 1969. This article expounds more about the parables that were there in the book of Mathew. It expounds more on the sexual issues that have been explained by Jesus Christ. The issues of adultery as a sex offence is much dealt in this article and their consequences.

Smagorinsky, Peter, Leslie Susan Cook, and Patty M. Reed. "The construction of meaning and identity in the composition and reading of an architectural text." Reading Research Quarterly 40.1 (2005): 70-88. The artwork done by Sue Coe had some hidden meaning. This book explains further the hidden meaning that has been brought by the work of...