students of jesus

vanGogh: Good Samaritan (c. 1890)

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead . . .

It's inspired: Jesus refuses to use the scripture as a rule-book. Instead he lets the word of God fund his imagination. The Lord is doing more than telling us a story, he is showing us how to interact with the Law.

Rembrandt: Return of the Prodigal Son (c. 1667)

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable:

 “There was a man who had two sons . . . “

Who settles disputes by telling a fairy tale? The smartest guy in the room, that's who.

Thomas Hart Benton's The Prodigal is a Midrash on canvas: what it the family could not survive without the younger son? What if he returned too late?

What about you? Is there a painting that moves your heart or reveals more of God's word to you? Leave us a link!