Art to Heart Benediction

Rembrandt: Jeremiah Contemplating the Destruction of Jerusalem

©2002 by Jeff Dugan

Rembrandt’s paintings are all about light and darkness.  Given this guy’s morose posture, you’d think he’d be hidden in the shadows.  Instead, he’s bathed in the brightest light, overpowering the gloom of the darkness that surrounds him.

The lighting is particularly surprising when we learn that “this guy” is the prophet Jeremiah, in the depths of his lament as Jerusalem burns in the background.  Solomon’s Temple is in flames, and King Zedekiah staggers by with his eyes gouged out, having just witnessed the murder of his children.  But Jeremiah doesn’t need to watch what’s happening, he’s seen it all too clearly in the visions God has given him for years.  Given Jeremiah’s misery, you’d think Rembrandt would have just buried him in gloom.

But for Rembrandt, the brightest light is a spiritual light.  The light that illuminates the prophet is the same light by which he’s seen the devastation so many times before.  Significantly, God’s wisdom outshines the light from the flames of the all-too-real, physical world in the background.

It’s a reminder that we, too, have seen a great light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.  But the world does not know this light, and so ignores the truth that the light reveals.

So which light will we follow?  There is a light that seduces us like moths, but which ultimately destroys us.  This light spreads only darkness.  But my prayer for you today is that your darkest paths will be illuminated by “the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every person.”