Isaiah 53 - The Man of Sorrows

A pencil drawing I did, which I call...

"Isaiah 53 ~ The Man of Sorrows"

"... For he bore the sin of

many, and made intercession

for the transgressors."

Last night, Holy Saturday, I had an interesting and vivid dream.  Not sure why I dreamt it, but perhaps it was because of the True Cross relic we venerated last night at a friend's prayer meeting.  Anyhow, the experience impressed me so deeply, that on the following afternoon, Easter Sunday, I reached for a #2 pencil on my desk and drew what I could remember about the dream.  I just felt compelled to do it and couldn't stop until the illustration was completed about six hours later.  The above image is the end result of my poor efforts.

In my dream I saw our Lord, Jesus Christ, walking down a dark path, shouldering a very large wooden cross. His face was bruised and his dark hair was matted as his head bled from wounds caused by a crown of thorns.  He was also bent forward and seemed to be in terrible pain and anguish, as the cross weighed heavily on him...

The whole thing seemed like a surreal scene from a traditional Passion Play... except when I was drawn closer to the Holy Cross, I noticed something very odd about it - I was surprised to see many, many small human faces embedded in the grain of the wood. They were countless and each face was different - male, female, young, old, etc.

As I scanned through the unfamiliar faces I saw my own face among the others and it both startled and humbled me.  I was reminded that I, too, had added to the weight of the cross through my personal sins... and I felt ashamed and sorry.  I think I would've been frightened, too, if not for the look in the Lord's eyes.  You see... as I was being slowly pulled away, Jesus lifted his head and fixed his gaze at me and the look I saw in his eyes transfixed me.  I saw Love, Mercy, and Sorrow combined into one remarkable expression, which was a stark contrast to the graphic nature of the scenario... and there was no trace of anger or resentment on His face, which would've been justified.

The above drawing is a representation of what I recall seeing in my dream, except the faces on the cross were much smaller and filled the entire cross; I couldn't depict them all on paper. I added special effects to the above copy of my drawing to simulate the faces appearing.  It's close to what I witnessed.

Some people may find the drawing eerie (one of my friend's did), but whenever I meditate on it, I get it and I thank Jesus for its rich symbolism and its meaningful message.  It's definitely a keeper drawing for me.

After researching Bible verses on the Internet, I decided to call the drawing, "Isaiah 53 ~ The Man of Sorrows", because that particular passage includes a prophetic description of the Lord's Passion, which I found highly appropriate (click here to read the Scripture Passage).  I sometimes also find myself silently repeating the short prayer below from the Stations of the Cross whenever I look at the face in the drawing.  Again, very fitting words:

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless

you... because by your Holy Cross you

have redeemed the world.  Amen.