It was a bizarre scene in the Louvre Museum in Paris on May 29. A crowd was viewing Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Mona Lisa” painting. One elderly woman in a wheelchair suddenly sprang to her feet and began punching the bullet-proof case in which the painting is displayed. When he (it wasn’t a woman after all) saw he couldn’t crack the glass, he smeared it with a cake he was holding. His attempts to hold off security guards by throwing roses at them (?!) were unsuccessful.
There have been other attempts to damage or destroy this masterpiece. While on display in Tokyo in 1974, a woman used spray paint to deface the art, but by this time the bullet-proof case had been installed. In 2009 an upset Russian woman who had been denied French citizenship threw a souvenir teacup at the painting, but her tactic failed, too. No one will claim that “Mona Lisa” cannot be destroyed, but it seems it would take something close to a bomb to accomplish it.
Numerous attempts to damage or destroy have been made on another priceless image. This “image” now under consideration is a person; in fact, He is Jesus Christ. Paul wrote of Him in Colossians 1:15 that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
Early in Jesus’ public ministry scribes came to Galilee from Jerusalem to investigate Him. They had already made up their minds that Jesus was not from God, but how could they discount the miracles He was doing? “And the scribes … said, ‘He has Beelzebub,’ and ‘By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons’” (Mark 3:22). They had no cake, but they wanted to smear Jesus’ reputation.
Even the great apostle Paul had engaged in the smear campaign against Jesus. After his conversion he wrote, “I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ, but they were hearing only, ‘He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy’” (Galatians 1:23). Efforts by Saul of Tarsus (aka “Paul”) to smear the Masterpiece were unsuccessful.
The campaign has continued since the first century. There are many who wish to see the extinction of the name Christ and all of His followers. Is this surprising? Not to Jesus who said, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20). Open ridicule and vicious attacks on the Lamb of God seem to be increasing in today’s world.
But the image of the invisible God is “bulletproof”. All attempts to put away Jesus are doomed to failure: “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5). [The English Standard Version translates this as “… the darkness has not overcome it”.] This Masterpiece isn’t capable of being stolen, damaged, or destroyed.
Let’s not stop with the simple claim of Jesus’ invincibility; notice also the consequences of opposing God’s Son: “And whoever falls on this stone [Jesus] will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder” (Matthew 21:44). Attempting to smear Jesus Christ, the Masterpiece of God, has severe consequences. (See Psalm 2 for a prophecy of this truth.)
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2022, Timothy D. Hall