May-June 2024 - He Was Received Up into Heaven

He Was Received Up into Heaven is a depiction of Christ’s ascension from the human, temporal realm to the divine, eternal one, as described in Acts 1. Jesus told the disciples to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit which would empower them to spread his gospel to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:9 says, “When he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (KJV). 

The belief that Jesus “ascended into heaven” was expressed in the earliest forms of the Apostles’ Creed and in Christian art as early as 400 CE . Images of Jesus’ exaltation appeared in sixth-century illuminated gospel books and later on the interior domes of medieval churches. The Ascension remained a popular subject for Renaissance and Baroque painters. 

But Malaysian artist Hanna-Cheriyan Varghese chose the ancient craft of batik, an exacting process using wax and dye to create a bold and colorful Ascension scene on fabric. 

Varghese’s composition is divided into two zones. In the upper half, a glorified Jesus ascends heavenward through a cloud. Below, his earthbound disciples raise their arms in celebration as they bear witness to his divinity. 

In reflecting on her career as a Christian artist in a predominately Muslim country, Varghese explained, “This is my way of witnessing for Christ for the gift I have been blessed with.”* How might we use our gifts to bear witness to Christ today?

* * https://www.asianchristianart.org/profile/HVarghese/HVarghese.html

Cover image courtesy of Hanna-Cheriyan Varghese Family. © Hanna-Cheriyan Varghese Family. Prints of cover art are available from 
www.hanna-artwork.com