Jesus as Liberator
Basic Info
People trapped in some way by oppressive forces (warring, totalitarian, or economically exploitative) have turned to Jesus to aid them in their struggles for life and freedom. Several ideas emerge in artworks depicting this faith in the liberating power of Jesus. One notices Jesus’ special care for the poor and invites solidarity with the poor so that together, as the Body of Christ, we will love the neighbor enough to help him or her to live free from oppression. Another follows the logic that Jesus was crucified to free us from sin, the oppressor is sinful in how he / she / it treats us, so the crucified Jesus will be victorious over the oppressor. Still another line of thought melds the Jesus story with the Exodus story, wherein God, through Moses, led the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt.
The latter two of these threads are rooted in the oppressor’s preventing the people from worshipping God. Faith in God is part of the action of liberation. These threads are in keeping with other liberation themed artworks, such as those depicting Daniel’s surviving the lion’s den (Daniel 6) and the three young men surviving the fiery furnace (Daniel 3), which are likewise founded on persecution for the sake of faith in God and the liberating power of faith. The former thread above, though, relies on the Great Commandment wherein Christians are taught that loving God with all of one’s heart, mind and soul is inseparable from loving the neighbor as oneself. Thus if all Christians banded together in solidarity with the poor neighbor and exercised a preferential option for the poor neighbor, together we could free the neighbor from the oppression. Sometimes these three threads are combined.
Historical Notes
This theme is more prevalent in 20th- and 21st-century artworks than in previous eras, especially in the Soviet Bloc countries and Central and South Americas.
What to Look For
- Jesus’ authority and strength
- The depiction of what Jesus is overcoming
- What the people’s freedom will look like after Jesus liberates them
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
Does the artwork seem to emphasize Jesus’ power to overcome the oppressor, the liberating power of faith, the need for solidarity with the poor neighbor, or some combination?
Does the artwork seem more directed toward liberation from something or liberation for the sake of faith in God or worshipping God?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
How do you see your role in the liberation of the poor neighbor from oppression? Does the artwork affirm your stance, challenge it, or ignore your role completely?
What about the artwork attracts you? What repels you? What might that have to say about what is going on in your life right now?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
What was going on politically, economically, or socially during the artist’s time and place that might have inspired this artwork’s liberation emphasis?
