Wheat Kings
- Category:
- Artwork
- Medium:
- Acrylic painting on canvas
- Dimensions:
- 36" x 36"
- Date:
- 2007
One day my pastor talked about Peter denying Jesus. He described Simon's (now Peter) role and his transformation into the "rock" that Jesus knew he'd be. But this transformation, of course, was not without a breaking down and building up of character. He compared this to how a farmer would sift of wheat and break the kernels down to the grain. As he said, the grain is what bears fruit, but you have to get rid of the outer shell first. This sifting is a rough task of sticking a pitch fork into the pile of wheat and pitching it up in the air, over and over. This point was illustrated by a verse in the Bible where the devil asks Jesus if he can sift Simon as wheat:
"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
- Lk. 22:31-32
With this verse, I began thinking about the process of building character. And what it meant to be a follower of Christ. After listening to The Tragicall Hip's song "Wheat Kings," I sort of put my pensive mood to the name. However, the painting has nothing to do with the song (although a favorite of mine).
This all created a chain of thoughts on character, kings, King David, and servanthood. What is Christ's message about this? Well, I feel it's best illustrated in the following verse:
"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."
- Jn. 13:8
I'll let the viewer put the rest together.