The Way of Sacrifice

Another season of Lent, another 40 days living with Grunewald's altar piece.

The path of discipleship is one of offering ourselves as living sacrifices to the sacrificed Saviour. Sacrifice is a choice:
> a choice made by the Saviour who humbled himself, learning obedience even to death on a cross;
> a choice made by the Father who received the sacrificial offering made by his one-of-a-kind Son;
and now,
> a choice made by those who would follow the way of sacrifice, follow the way of the Christ.

Our world knows little of freely made self-sacrifice. Lent is not the way of the world, but the way of sacrifice.

Lent

One of the things I do at Lent is to change my desktop picture. This is the Grunewald Crucifixion from the Isenheim altarpiece, from 1515.

Unlike other works of art from this period the artist is not searching for a portrayal of beauty, but has given over his work to provide 'a sermon in pictures'.

The figure of Christ upon the cross is in agony, suffering all the torments of this moment, notice the gesture of his hands.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is in widow's clothing, Mary Magdalene, with her jar of ointment is wringing her hands in sorrow. John the Baptist stands beside the ancient symbol of the Lamb that was slain, proclaiming, 'He must increase, but I must decrease.'

I read somewhere that Karl Barth had a print of this altarpiece above his desk.

It is towards the cross, that place of atonement where by his sacrifice Christ turned onto himself all the wrath of God, that it might not fall upon us, towards the cross every figure in this work looks, and we journey there during Lent.