Ecce Homo ~ "Behold the Man"

Ahhhh, Easter! What a wonderful time of year. It has a dual meaning for me...a parallelism of sorts. Signs of new life begin to appear, from the budding branches to the moistening of the earth. Last week I saw a man mowing his yard, not that unusual, except that I eagerly look for this particular sign to indicate spring has arrived. You can say "weird" out loud, it's ok! Do you know of anybody else who looks with such anticipation at where and when they will see the first mow of the season?

I'm also reminded of the new life I have. I'm encouraged that with all my abrasive thorns, gnarly limbs and frosty appendages, I am being renewed day by day!

So, on this Good Friday I ran across a beautiful painting from the hands of an artist by the name of Antonio Ciseri (you can google his name and click 'images' to see more of his work.) The title of this particular piece is Ecce Homo (pronounced ĕk'sē hō'mō ) and is Latin for "Behold the Man." It portrays the scene in the book of John where Pilate presents a thorn-crowned, purple-robed Jesus to the angry masses and declares, "Behold the Man!"

Did you know before this scene took place, Jesus was in the garden praying so intensely that his sweat was in the form of blood? Have you ever felt so intensely about something, so in anguish that you sweat so profusely? You and I will never see droplets of blood exude from our skin, it was a physiological phenomenon. Maybe that's why the only Gospel that mentions it is Luke, the physician, one who studied the human form.

This weekend as I put smiles on the faces of my kids through an overdose of sugar, and as I visit with family I love so much, I will also "Behold the Man" and remember all that He did for me...and you.

Happy Easter Weekend (Look for part 2, Sunday)