As Christians, we often contemplate upon the passion and death of Jesus Christ. While I was reflecting upon the crucifixion of Jesus one morning in prayer, a thought suddenly came to mind. What could Jesus have seen up there from where He was crucified? What did He see?
Somehow, I remembered that there was a painting that wanted to show just that, Jesus’ view from the cross.
I searched the internet to find out if I remembered it right, and I learned that there was indeed a painting like that, and it was from the French painter James Tissot. It was commonly known as “View from the Cross” or “What Our Lord Saw from the Cross”.
It was said that the painting was unusual in the sense that instead of showing an image of Jesus crucified, it showed His perspective from the cross. It showed the people below including His mother, John the beloved, soldiers and other bystanders who could have been there.
In a way, this can give us an idea of what the view must have been like.
If we contrast it to our view from below, we may think that we are only the ones looking at Him from afar. It may not even have crossed our minds that Jesus would be looking at us, too. And He sees us all very well.
He sees our pain just like He saw His mother’s sufferings. He knows our doubts just like the way that many down below felt doubtful about Him.
It may be that you are undergoing a difficult time right now. It may also be that even after praying, you find no answers to your prayers. Because of this, you may feel unheard and unseen, even insignificant to Him up above.
But the truth is that He sees you. And He sees you not only from a distance where He could no longer recognize you. He sees you very well, right at the very depths of your heart.
Did He not suffer Himself? Did He not feel the pain of betrayal and abandonment?
His perspective from the cross is not only that of an uncaring observer or spectator. His was a view that comes at the price of the sufferings of the cross, even death itself.
So He sees and sympathizes with all our weaknesses, doubts and hurts.
Whenever we encounter difficult times, let us remember His view from the cross. He watches over us, and He does so with true empathy, mercy and love.
“I saw a great radiance and, in the midst of it, God the Father. Between this radiance and the earth I saw Jesus, nailed to the Cross in such a way that when God wanted to look at the earth, He had to look through the wounds of Jesus. And I understood that it was for the sake of Jesus that God blesses the earth.” – St. Faustina
“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.’” – John 19:25-27 (NABRE)
You may also want to read “When You Feel That Your Sins Are Keeping You Away From Prayer”
Jocelyn Soriano is the author of Mend My Broken Heart, Questions to God and 366 Days of Compassion. She also writes about relationships and the Catholic faith at Single Catholic Writer.
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