The dating is uncertain, maybe the third century.
The drawing (discovered in 1857) looks like something done
by a child on an Etch-A-Sketch. A man is looking at a cross on which hangs a
human form but with the head of a donkey. The artist has scratched across his
artwork a description in Latin which is usually translated: "Alexamenos worships
his God."
The artist was mocking the Christian admission that Jesus,
Son of God, was crucified!
We who have grown accustomed to seeing images of the
crucified Lord can scarcely imagine the shock and disdain with which both Jews
and Gentiles heard the Christian claim.
Paul acknowledged that preaching a Christ crucified was
"a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Cor
1:23).
It would bother us today if Jesus were depicted in an
electric chair or with a noose around his neck. I suspect our repulsion at such
an idea would fall short of the reaction of those who first heard Paul's
preaching.
Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe has concluded that it
took the Church 400 years to dare to portray Christ on the cross, on the door
of S. Sabina (a church on another one of Rome
Christians are not ashamed of the thought and image of a
crucified Lord. They see it as a sign of the depths of God's love, a clear
indication of how much God identified with the sinfulness of the human race so
that he might restore them to innocence. It is said that Jesus paid the penalty
which was due our sins.
Our ease with looking at a crucifix, our appreciation for
Christ's sacrifice, however, must not keep us from recognizing that those who
follow in Jesus' footsteps are expected to pick up a cross and walk behind him.
From the start Christians have likewise been crucified.
Some, like Peter, were actually nailed to cross beams. Others have been
executed for professing their faith. Still others (the majority of Christians)
have had to lay down their lives in order to live according to the Gospel.
When I feel the pinch of being Christian I must remind
myself of the example Jesus gave. At that point a cross or crucifix ceases to
be an icon or a piece of jewelry and becomes the sign of a true disciple.
I like the story of the man who complained to God that his
cross was too much. So God invited him into heaven's "cross room"
and told him to lay down his cross and select another from the many models
hanging around the warehouse.
The man tried several on for size. One was too heavy, one
had beams too broad for the man's shoulders, and other had such rough and
splintered wood that the man thought it worse than his original.
Finally he selected a cross, and told Jesus, "This is
the one!"
Jesus smiled, "Good," the Lord said, "I am glad
you found one that fits. I must tell you, however, that the cross you chose is
the one you came in with!"
No Christian escapes his cross. Once we acknowledge that
little bit of wisdom (and make friends with the cross we have) the Christian
experience becomes a good bit easier.
I don't know who Alexamenos was, but I trust he didn't let a piece of graffito dissuade him from following Christ.
There is the story of Joseph, the carpenter, informing his apprentice son, that with the failing economy and the drop in orders at the shop, Jesus should start "cross training". The rest is history.
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