Gospel in Art: Peter said: 'You are the Christ of God'

Jesus, Prince of Peace, by Akiane Kramarik (born 1994), Painted in 2002, © Akiane Kramarik Art

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 23 September 2022
Luke 9:18-22

One day when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this question to them, 'Who do the crowds say I am?' And they answered, 'John the Baptist; others Elijah; and others say one of the ancient prophets come back to life.' 'But you,' he said 'who do you say I am?' It was Peter who spoke up. 'The Christ of God' he said. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this.

'The Son of Man' he said 'is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.'

Reflection on the painting

The artwork we are looking at today was painted by an eight-year-old girl! Quite remarkable. I must say that I don't particularly connect with this painting, but it is important to look at all types of art that are out there. I think this canvas, painted by an eight-year-old, merits a closer look as it is a remarkable achievement. Akiane Kramarik was born in 1994 to a Lithuanian mother and a Catholic American father. She is a self-taught painter and sold the present painting for $10,000 after she completed it, which led to news headlines across the world. In December 2019, this painting was recovered by Akiane's family and sold to a private collector for $850,000.

In today's Gospel reading Jesus himself is putting the question to his disciples and to us: Who do people say I am? It is a very personal question, inviting each of us to think who Christ is for us. Is he a father, a friend, a soulmate, a teacher, a judge…or a combination of all of these? As everyone's answer is so personal, portraits of Jesus by artists over the ages have also been highly personal.

When Jesus asked his disciples how they saw him, Peter gave a pretty good answer: 'You are the Christ of God'. Yet that only scratched the surface of who Jesus really is: Peter, who was so close to Jesus, didn't fully know who Jesus was. There is always much more to us than even those closest to us perceive. And the same is true of other people: in everyone we meet there is so much more than meets the eye.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/

Today's reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-9-18-22-2022/