Jesus was like us in every respect-in body, heart, mind, and will-except for sin. It has

always amazed me that the divine Son of God would not just take on part of our humanity,

but all of it. And then take that true humanity all the way to the cross for us.

 

Without becoming a man in His emotions, He could not have rescued our hearts. And without

taking a human will, He could not save us from our destructive use of the free will He gave us.

 

It is beyond our experience and understanding, and beyond what we will ever know as mere humans. Jesus is truly a wondrous person. He was, and is, fully God and fully man. Gregory of Nazianzus said, "That which he has not assumed he has not healed." He became a man in full so that he might save us in full. It is a great mystery, but where it leads for those who call Him Lord is not a cause of confusion, but worship of Jesus

without reservation as their Savior.

 

He laughed as a human; he cried as a human, and was anguished as we are at times. He

even got mad and angry. At the temple courts, He drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers, took a whip, and chased them out of the Temple. That must have been a sight. Their Lord and Savior is showing such emotion. He said it was written that "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers." Wow! In that day and time, it was a big deal and did not go unnoticed by the powers that be.

 

That is why this picture of Jesus laughing had such a profound effect on me. It took me

weeks to try to capture the picture I saw while going to AA. I was given a card for my

wallet with the Serenity Prayer and Jesus laughing. I can tell you that drawing the hair,

beard, and such was really tough for me. I remember making the hair dense, stroke after

stroke. I came close, but no cigar, because in my mind, I always fell short of being able to

draw such a Man-God. One I drew was a Salvador Dali, one on my own, with a scowl on

the cross. Which, I might add, caused a commotion among the other inmates as being

sacrilegious. Art can be seen ... it is up to the beholder to judge what he feels about it.

 

I sold many copies at the institution and gave away others to all I considered friends. It is one of my most loved drawings. I know it was transformative for me. Soon after I drew the picture, I began studying comparative religion for almost a year. It was the start of my journey to seek MY truth from my Lord.

 

I am upset that the original I had was confiscated along with many other drawings that are lost to me forever by the Texas Department of Corrections. A penalty/punishment for being

out of bounds while locked up. Grrrr.

​

-Peter