“For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” (Luke 9:56)
Cathedrals have marveled the world for several centuries. These medieval structures stand out from their surrounding buildings with the many artistic features that define it. On its exterior, statues of terrifying creatures called gargoyles, carved from smooth and elegant stone, stand guard dissuading any intruder from doing so. The interior, decorated by several elegant paintings where the artist attempted to bring to life certain stories from Holy Writ. Without a doubt, the designs of these buildings are intended to mesmerize with its artistic beauty. Yet, one feature from these buildings has typically been the most memorable from the rest because of its elegance and symbolism. The stained glass of the cathedral is a unique way of combining the building’s exterior and interior. This fascinating combination of different pieces of colored glass to create portraits as the windows of the cathedral, was a creative way of the artist to also tell a story. Interestingly, it has been very common for artists to use their stained glass art to show the four Gospel scribes. It has been suggested that the popularity of using their books as the inspiration is because each one presents a different angle of the Master. This theory becomes stronger when it is noted that each Gospel book is identified by a symbol that is meant to illustrate the focus of the book. Architectural history denotes that those artists who have opted for including the symbolism use the calf to describe the Gospel account of Luke. Art historians believe that the purpose for using this symbol to identify Luke’s account of the Gospel is found in the burnt offerings ordained by God to the Levite priests. In presenting his burnt offering to Jehovah God, in accordance to His commandment, “Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself” (Leviticus 9:8). This pericope illuminates the artist’s intention of linking the calf as a sin offering to Luke’s description of Jesus as mankind’s sin offering. However, let us recall that Luke is solidly establishing that He did so in human form. Luke was wise in understanding that Jesus’ sacrifice cannot be devalued due to His Divine origin. He was well aware that allowing this tragedy to happen would suggest that God cannot sympathize with humanity since He never lived like one of us. Therefore, the beloved physician took it upon himself “to write to you an orderly account” proving that God is able to sympathize for humanity because His Son, Jesus of Nazareth, descended from the heavenly realms to dwell among us as a Man (Luke 1:3, 19:9-10). Sympathy is defined as “an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). This means that a person who sympathizes with another is able to do so through empathy because He has had a similar experience and can relate to that person’s situation. Empathy and sympathy are powerful human emotions because they do not stem from a suggestive thought, rather they originate from an experience triggered by memory. In other words, instead of the person trying to imagine what it must feel like, due to their personal experience they know what it feels like. In that moment, the mirror experiences creates an extraordinary bond forged from sympathy. This, is why God sent His son to this world to live as a Man, but more importantly to die as one. The use of the Messianic title Son of Man in the Gospel books is split by Biblical scholars into three general categories: the eschatological (or apocalyptic) use (i.e. Luke 12:40), references to His suffering on the cross (i.e. Luke 9:22), and when related to His present ministry during His tenure on earth (i.e. Luke 19:10). This final category is the pattern Luke had in his mind’s eye as he penned his Gospel account. The main purpose of the inspired scribe was to illustrate Jesus as the Son of Man by the sympathy He constantly displayed toward the Samaritans, women, and particularly, the poor. The poor were deplorably discriminated against and ignored by all civilizations during those turbulent times. Due to their poverty, philosophers and Pharisees deemed them unworthy of religious instruction and were apathetically cataloged as ignorant. It was Jesus of Nazareth who first put His eyes upon them and sympathetically tended to their needs. As he was in prison, John inquired of Jesus “are You the Coming One, or do we look for another” (Luke 7:19)? The Master confirmed His Messiahship by pointing to His ministry where “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them” (Luke 7:22). Indubitably prophets prior to Jesus had healed the sick before, but Jesus includes the poor among the list of the sick. Incredibly, Luke had previously pointed his spotlight to this particular part of the Messiah’s prophetic mission in his recount of the Lord’s rejection at the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30). According to Luke’s inspired words, it was at this synagogue where the Master “was handed the book of Isaiah. And when He opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recover the sight of the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed’” (Luke 4:17-18). Let us take notice that the poor are again included in a list of infirmities, but also that after reading from Isaiah 61:1-2, the Carpenter from Nazareth reveals to His audience “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 7:21). Luke, however, does not detail of any physical infirmity being miraculously healed after Jesus read the Scripture. Secondly, not all those in attendance at the synagogue were poor; rather history suggests that a great number of them were wealthy. The answer to these apparent contradictions is found in the Master’s final words, “in your hearing.” With these words, the Son of Man is pointing out the real poverty that was plaguing humanity. Therefore, as the Great Physician, He put it upon Himself to journey to the home of the sick and provide the cure for human apathy. To be continued…