29.01 | Painting Upside Down
Matthew 17:14-27
“And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me.”’
Matthew 17:17
Funnily enough, Michelangelo didn’t want to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
In the Renaissance period, artists, sculptors and architects were superstars, and Michelangelo was among the elite. But he saw himself primarily, not as a painter, but a sculptor, and viewed the thankless task of endlessly painting a massive ceiling as a plan likely concocted by his rivals for their amusement.
Nevertheless, Pope Sixtus IV was adamant: he wanted Michelangelo. And so, reluctantly, Michelangelo agreed, starting with a modest project of 12 apostles in the ceiling niches, with a group of assistants joining him.
But suddenly something changed. Michelangelo, apparently caught with a vision of what could be accomplished in this space, abruptly dismissed all of his assistants, and shut himself up in the chapel to complete the work. Now, fresco painting is challenging at the best of times—requiring the painter to plaster the wall (or in this case, the ceiling), and paint the picture while the plaster is still wet. But this was challenging on another level—the sheer size and scale of the project being wildly beyond what most painters would even contemplate attempting. The project in the end took Michelangelo four years. Four years of sketching, plastering, and painting, alone, and lying on his back at the top of a massive scaffolding in this cavernous space.
And yet he did it, and the beauty of what he created continues to stun visitors to the Vatican. When I visited, I stared at the immensity and beauty of what he made until my neck ached.
And yet four years of lying on his back had an impact on him. It is said that during those years, Michelangelo became so used to working on his back, that when he received a letter, he had to hold it above his head and lean over backwards to read it.
He’d become so used to working upside down, that he could no longer operate the right way up.
Our passage today describes Jesus coming down from the mountain, to interrupt a chaotic scene. A man has a son, oppressed by a demon, that causes the boy to have fits. Jesus’ disciples have attempted to dismiss the demon, but it isn’t budging. When Jesus hears this report, He has some words for His disciples:
“O faithless and twisted generation…”
Faithless. Twisted.
It seems harsh. It seems like a criticism. It feels insulting.
But look at what Jesus is actually saying.
He is saying that He knows His disciples can attain to driving out this demon. In fact, that it should be simple and easy for them. Their faith should lead them to move mountains, let alone demons, from their place.
It’s not an insult. It is a diagnosis. He knows they were created for more than this.
A clue is found in one of the words He uses: “twisted” (or, in some translations, ‘corrupt’ or ‘perverse’). The Greek word that Matthew used to originally write this more literally means ‘to be turned around the wrong way.’ He could as well have described them as ‘upside down’.
Their lack of belief in the power of God to intervene is like living upside down.
Their lack of vision for this boy living free of his affliction is like living upside down.
Their lack of understanding for the kind of trust and authority God wants to put upon their lives is like living upside down.
It’s like they’ve spent a lifetime lying on their backs, and they can no longer read the world the right way up.
Faith is like this. But it isn’t backwards or unnatural for us. Rather, it is turning life the right way up again in a world where every way of thinking is upside down. It is anticipating healing when the learned doctor says the game is up, provision when your bank account says zero, and resurrection when all that is in front of you is a corpse on a cross.
Faith takes us off the scaffolding, and puts us back on our feet. Faith teaches us to see everything again through the lens of the ever-present goodness of God. Faith teaches us to see with the very eyes that we will have when we stand in glory with Jesus in His eternal Kingdom.
Faith is not fantasy. It is reality. It is the way we were made to be.
The right way up.
And with no mountain an obstacle beyond the ability of our God.
Reflect:
Have a look at your day today. Look at the challenges and look at the opportunities.
How would these things look when you look at them as the rest of the world does, lying on your back?
How does your vision change when you join Jesus in turning your way of looking back the right way up?
Pray:
Lord Jesus
I love how you look at the world;
It is so beautifully, wonderfully, non-anxious.
It is creative
It is kind
And it is so good.
But I feel like I’m with those disciples,
And that I’m so used to living upside down that I’m struggling to see things the right way up.
Holy Spirit, I give you permission,
More than this—I call on you
To realign the eyes of my heart
So that I may see as you see
Turned around the right way up again
That I may walk with untouchable peace,
Bring perspective to the fearful,
Heal the afflicted,
And that the mountains before me may be moved
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
Exodus 9-10 | Psalm 17