Original Drawing
The initial drawing for this Christian Mandala™ was done by another member of our small group. The drawing comes from Jesus’ I AM statement: “I am the resurrection and the life.” I’ve cleaned it up a bit and added color to create the image at top.
Each time I dig into the Parables of Jesus I am reminded that Jesus is an excellent teacher. He doesn’t always provide nice neat answers. His parable approach requires thinking on my part.
I believe Jesus used his “I AM the resurrection and the life” statement as an opportunity to teach. There are three mandalas captured in this week’s image. The mandalas do a really nice job of bringing in context and sequencing us through Jesus’ teaching.
The purple mandala in the lower left represents Jesus saying: “I am the resurrection and the life.” This is a big concept, especially for those who heard it prior to the actual resurrection event.
The cyan (greenish-blue) colored mandala in the lower right adds context to the I am statement. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus is not mostly dead; he is fully dead by Jewish standards. Jesus gives a partial demonstration of what he is talking about. As miracles go, this is very big. Had I been present with Martha, I would have begun to ponder Jesus’ I am statement within the context of the Lazarus miracle.
In the golden colored mandala at the top we see an empty cross and an empty tomb. After the crucifixion, Jesus comes back to life with a glorified body. He gives a full demonstration of his I AM statement.
Jesus used the raising of Lazarus to prepare his disciples and the others for a fuller revelation that was to come at Easter.
In Part 4 we move on to Jesus’ statement: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”