December 28: Christ Mocked
♫ Music:
Day 30 - Monday, December 28
Title: CHRIST MOCKED
Scripture: Psalm 22:7-8
All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn: they shoot out their lips, they shake their heads, saying, “He trusted in God that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, if He delighted in Him.”
Psalm 52
by Patrice de la Tour du Pin
(Translated by Jennifer Grotz)
To the one who waits for me where the desert ends,
and sardonic, mocking, interrogates me about
manna:
Without it, would I be here, with an open book?
Remember that I was undertaking my quest
for him, for me, for God also...remember:
can’t one search for joy?
But everything gets muddled in my head…
death suspended from the head,
who could actually run after joy?
Every way leads to agony, of course!
The future is clear:
little by little all dreams are broken.
So where should I have gone instead?
You showed me your doorway to the future,
perhaps imprudently, my God!
It’s you who lead me ahead into the desert.
Ahead? Yes, of course, it wasn’t yet time
for me to surrender my flesh.
Ahead? But you alone can lead my flesh forward!
Yes, of course, I understood nothing, I was throwing
myself
against your wind that murmured:
“Come, it’s still a time of crusade on earth,
not to the places of unbelievers from another time,
but to the seal of death man carries inside himself.
“Come: don’t look any longer for my tomb on earth.”
Ah! It takes so much time to see oneself as a tomb
and how slow the age of the Church is to break it!
Somehow, I lived through this exodus.
Perhaps imprudently, I even described it…
What? Did I keep my book? Here it is.
CHRIST MOCKED
When reading this Psalm, I’ve tended to focus on the passive innocence of Christ—his trust in his Father derided and mocked. Considered with Walke’s painting, however, what emerges isn’t just the sarcastic cruelty of Christ’s mockers, but the way that mockery transforms both the victim and the perpetrator. While Christ is demeaned, his mockers become grotesque: “they shoot out their lips”—a phrase that appears in several other translations. Walke’s painting seems to fixate on this physical distortion, rendering a scene full of figures that have been deformed and made monstrous even as we recognize their emotions, and consider their invitation.
The hands that pantomime prayer seem abnormally large and belong to a company whose expressions so embrace caricature as to seem more like masks than faces. The woman immediately to the left of Christ contorts her mouth with the crude mechanics of a ventriloquist’s dummy. Opposite her, in the lower right corner of the painting, a man with monkish features (a brown robe and backslidden tonsure) gestures both in her direction as well as Christ’s. But his head turns and fixes his gaze on other unseen spectators—a move that implicates or challenges the viewer. His solicitous regard will soon return, and we must approve or condemn his blithe sneer. Walke’s distortion of the mockers seems further amplified by the diminution of Christ’s suffering. His face, by comparison, seems merely weary; his expression downcast. It’s only upon closer examination—amid the comic ugliness of the attending mob—that we notice the slender crown of thorns, further hidden under Jesus’ hair, drooping like his hands.
These ugly faces mask yet uglier spiritual maladies—hearts that have rejected Christ’s invitation. They are unwilling, or unable, to embrace his kingdom and his laws; unable or unwilling to share his kingdom with the neighbors they have been commanded to love. These are the faces of those who cannot, or will not, reconcile themselves to the long and difficult exodus of du Pin’s pilgrim: “…can’t one search for joy/ …Every way leads to agony, of course / …It’s you who led me into the desert.” A similar sensibility animates one of today’s songs by Liturgical Folk. An organ drones in the background while the drums keep a hushed shuffle like the feet that must carry on—and suffer much—before attaining to that kingdom which faith and grace must apprehend. The chorus returns to this refrain: “And knowing you, not shun the fearsome trail.” Liturgical Folk and du Pin unite in their shared vision of a king who comes down not to merely rescue us where we are, in the midst of our terrestrial problems, but to rescue us by leading us out and away from ourselves. It is our refusal of this invitation that distorts not only the spirit, but, by turns our bodies, relationships, and communities as well.
I look back over this year I’m so eager to leave behind—full of calamity, distrust, and discord. In trying to survive it, I have resorted more than once to mockery—often as a defense against shock, disbelief, or impatience. I think of the old hymn with its all too-telling line, “Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice / call out among the scoffers.” What does this mockery disguise? What are those things—who are those people—whom I fear or despise? How may Christ be more made Lord over that hidden sneering face that will not submit; that uncertain or wounded care?
Prayer:
Almighty God, we confess we resist recognizing your lordship. We are deaf to your pleas and commands when they do not suit us or flatter our ambitions. We dismiss as invisible, unworthy, or wicked those whom You command us to love. And we are blind, most of all, to our own sins and depravations. Have mercy on us, mired as we are in old habits, and reign as rightful king over all that we do, all that we are, and all we shall become.
Phillip Aijian, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Jesus Mocked
Annie Fearon Walke
c.1935
Oil on canvas
91.5 x 79.2 cm
Royal Cornwall Museum
Cornwall, England
Photo credit: Royal Institution of Cornwall
As He walks with dignity and the full knowledge of His fate, Jesus is surrounded by the crowd of bystanders. You can almost hear the voices of some people actively jeering and mocking Christ as He walks silently in perfect humility and submission. Strong diagonal lines within the simple landscape highlight the gestures of the hands in the composition: those of submission, those of accusation, and those of prayer.
About the Artist:
Annie Fearon Walke (1877–1965) was an English artist and poet. Walke grew up in Banstead, Surrey. After completing her studies at the Chelsea School of Art and the London School of Art, she and her sister furthered their studies in Dresden, Germany. Fearon and her husband Nicolo Bernard Walke, who became a vicar, settled in Cornwall where Fearon established a studio. The couple were close friends with many of the ‘Lamorna Group’ artists, and Walke invited several of them to decorate parts of the church interior with religious panels and altar pieces. Walke frequently painted religious subjects and one of her commissions was the altarpiece triptych for the Jesus Chapel in Truro Cathedral. Her work has been exhibited in England, Paris, America, and South Africa. In the latter part of her life Walke also became a published poet.
https://www.royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk/5womenartists-annie-walke-1877-1965
Music #1:
“Advent 2: The Fearsome Trail” from the album Advent
Lyrics:
Your Word has come in very many ways:
Through prophet, sage, and Virgin Mother’s song,
In mountain cold or fiery desert blaze,
By infant voice or mighty angel throng.
An ass disclosed your will to Balaam’s eye,
A desert bush drew Moses to your place,
Old Anna said the promised time was nigh,
And John saw through the clouds of time and space.
May Word and Sacrament your presence show
A glimpse of loving-kindness through the veil,
Or point the way of truth that we may know,
And knowing you not shun the fearsome trail.
Let none pass by and scorn your bleeding word.
For, nailed to cross or humbly spoken out,
Or wrapped in shroud and in a tomb interred,
The Word is God in whisper or in shout.
Let sages’ word and holy prophets’ call
Your Church uphold, your people keep in peace.
Let Gospel hope and worldly kingdoms’ fall
Our faith confirm and loving trust increase.
Composers/Lyricists:
Nelson Koscheski and Ryan Flanigan
Nelson Koscheski (b. 1941) was a poet and priest in the Anglican Church of North America. A lifelong Texan, Nelson's collaboration with Ryan Flanigan began in 2015. Nelson’s poetry is saturated in his life experiences, West Texas imagination, and lifestyle of contemplative prayer. His poetry takes the listener through some of the darkest places of human despair and into the presence of goodness, truth, and beauty.
https://www.liturgicalfolk.com/about
Ryan Flanigan (b. 1979) is a songwriter, church music director (All Saints Dallas), and curator of new songs for the growing liturgical renewal movement in America. As an artist rooted in the Christian story, Ryan works to create beautiful and believable sacred music for the sake of the world. He believes the Church can be a credible artistic witness of God's goodness, truth, and beauty to the whole world and not only to Christians. Ryan’s melodies are accessible and rooted in the inherently joyful sounds of the American folk tradition.
https://www.liturgicalfolk.com/about
Performers:
Liturgical Folk, Lauren Plank Goans and Resound
Liturgical Folk began as a music project centering around Nelson Koscheski’s religious poems set to Ryan Flanigan's folk tunes. Since writing their first hymn in early 2015, Liturgical Folk has gained the support of producer Isaac Wardell, who has worked with many spiritually minded songwriters, including Sufjan Stevens, Sandra McCracken and Josh Garrels. The hymns range from mournful lamentations to spirited carols. Most wrestle with substantial themes such as sorrow and hope. The collaboration of Flanigan and Koscheski is also a unique cross-generational pairing of two men united by a belief that when music is honest and refined it can be a credible, positive witness for the church.
https://www.liturgicalfolk.com/about
Lauren Plank Goans is a folk singer and visual artist. Together with her husband Daniel, they form the duo Lowland Hum. Lauren has always had a passion for creating art as well as music and her artistry appears on the cover of their CD. Their music is mostly unadorned and pure, with considerable attention to detail. Together, they have one album called Native Air.
https://first-avenue.com/performer/lowland-hum/
Jessica Fox, Joseph Clarke and Mariah Hargrove form the gospel a cappella trio Resound. Hargrove comments that, “We are all devout Christians; we love Jesus and the Christian lifestyle. That’s where our heart is; that’s what we know. Gospel music spreads hope and joy, and that is what we need in this life right now. When so many people are oppressed, people need life and light, and it is very important that the Gospel is being shared across the world, because Jesus is the best light to be shared in these dark times.”
https://www.officialresound.com/
https://richmond.com/entertainment/music/markus-schmidt-how-richmond-gospel-trio-resound-became-an-internet-hit/article_8b063ff7-1fef-5901-936f-a2ba3b99b0be.html
Music #2:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: 4. All They That See Him
Lyrics:
All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn: they shoot out their lips, they shake their heads, saying,
Music #3:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: 5. He Trusted In God
Lyrics:
“He trusted in God that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, if He delighted in Him.”
Messiah Performers/Musicians/Lyricists/Composer:
Unless otherwise noted, all Messiah performances are by Margaret Marshall, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Robert Hale, Charles Brett, Saul Quirke, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Biographical information for the performers and musicians can be found by clicking here.
About the Poet:
Patrice de la Tour du Pin (1911–1975) was a major French, Catholic poet of the mid-twentieth century. As a poet, he achieved fame for individual collections of poems as well as Une Somme de Poésie, a three-volume multi-genre work he wrote and continually revised throughout his life. Late in his career, de La Tour du Pin distilled and collected his most powerful lyrical poems, written in the form of psalms, into Psaumes de Tous Mes Temps. These psalms trace de La Tour du Pin’s combined interest in poetry and religion and articulate his struggle to find poetic authority and spiritual meaning in the midst of world war and modern tumult.
https://blackbird.vcu.edu/v9n2/poetry/de_la_tour_du_pin_p/index.shtml
About the Devotion Author:
Phillip Aijian, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Phillip Aijian holds a PhD in Renaissance drama and theology from UC Irvine. He teaches literature and religious studies and has published in journals like ZYZZYVA, Heron Tree, Poor Yorick, and Zocalo Public Square.