Jesus-Mediator as the ‘Ladder of Perfection’ (India painting)

One of the lectionary readings for this Sunday was the story of Jacob’s ladder (in Genesis 28). Jesus references this image in John 1:51:  He said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway [ladder] between heaven and earth.”

Jyoti Sahi is one of my favorite artists of India. He created a stunning painting of the scene. My friend Victoria Emily Jones wrote masterful commentary on this painting in her earlier blog post at
https://artandtheology.org/2016/06/27/jesus-as-ladder-jyoti-sahi-and-ralph-stanley-in-conversation-with-genesis-28/

She’s in the role of my ‘guest blogger’ in this post. Almost everything below is reposted from her own marvelous blog post above.

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Jyoti Sahi is a prolific artist who runs an art ashram in Silvepura Village outside Bangalore in southern India. His paintings are infused with Christian spirituality, often depicting biblical narratives set on Indian soil.

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Jyoti Sahi (Indian, 1944–), Lord as Ladder of Perfection, 2014. Oil on canvas.

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Lord as Ladder of Perfection references Jacob’s dream from Genesis 28:10–22, wherein Jacob witnesses angels descending and ascending a cosmic ladder. This vision resurfaces in the New Testament, when heaven opens and angels are seen pressing in on the Son of Man (John 1:51), ministering to him in his passion and then heralding his resurrection.

By entwining Jesus in this ladder from Genesis, Sahi suggests that Jesus himself is our ladder—the One who connects earth to heaven, heaven to earth. By him, we can access God.

We are meant to identify with the figure in the bottom left corner of the painting, whose gender is deliberately ambiguous. In this figure you might see Jacob, or, as one friend pointed out to me, perhaps you see Mary Magdalene, who is often shown in art weeping at the foot of the cross. Or you might see the “sinful woman” who anoints Jesus’s feet with expensive perfume and tears in Luke 7:37–38. However we personally identify with the person at the bottom left, we are invited into the painting by this bent body, invited to worship Christ.

The cosmic implications of Jesus’s mediating role are suggested in a few ways. First, Jesus’s left leg is lifted in the pose of Nataraja (“Lord of the Dance”), an embodiment of the Hindu god Shiva. Nataraja’s dance destroys all obstacles on the path to liberation and prepares the universe for renewal, and here Jesus is grafted into that iconography. He dances, and the world is transformed.

Moreover, the four elements are present: earth, wind, fire, water. Earth forms the base of the painting, where the ladder, treelike, is rooted. Wind sweeps down in the form of a dove, the Holy Spirit. Fire burns at the bottom right, a biblical symbol for cleansing and refining, and appears to be setting aflame a bush, a reminder for us to be attentive to God’s call, as Moses was. Straight down the center, water bursts forth from Christ’s side wound, a river of life that washes over the worshipper.

At the top, the ladder branches out and flowers.

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You’ll find many examples of Victoria’s eloquent writing in her blog here, and I encourage you to subscribe:
https://artandtheology.org/

Her previous blog is also a veritable treasure trove of fascinating examples of all sorts of art from many cultures. You’ll find these many blog posts archived at
https://thejesusquestion.org/

Victoria speaks on faith and art at various venues including colleges and churches. I highly recommend her as a speaker, writer, and art curator for your online project or event.

Victoria has taken part in a seminar hosted by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. You’ll find an interview with her in connection with CICW at
https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/victoria-emily-jones-on-gazing-as-a-spiritual-practice/
‘Victoria Emily Jones on Gazing as a Spiritual Practice’

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