On October 26, 2011, I had the wonderful privilege of hearing Makoto Fujimura give a
lecture about his newest project, the Four Holy Gospels Bible, which was
published by Crossway and released in January 2011. It was fascinating to hear
about his technique, Nihonga, which involves painting with pigments made of
prismatic minerals in multiple layers. One of the paintings he spoke of is
titled "Prodigal God", based on the story of the two sons in Luke 15.
The title is based off a book by the same title written by Fujimura's pastor,
Timothy Keller. I read this book over the summer, and it was very challenging. In
speaking of the book and his painting, Fujimura explained that in the days of
Shakespeare, the word prodigal had a good connotation and meant spend-thrift,
or spending everything for a cause. We often label the younger son as prodigal,
but the real prodigal, by the Shakespearean definition, is the Father. Keller
stresses this in his book as well. Both of the sons are wayward in their own
ways. The younger son runs after worldly pleasure. The older son gets caught up
in legalism, and despite both of the sons' mistakes, the father spends all on
them. He runs to meet his youngest, something which was not seen as respectable
for elders to do. For his older son, he leaves the banquet, a great disgrace,
to speak to his son and bring reconciliation. Our Father does this too. He sent
His only son, Jesus, to be disgraced for our sake, which is an incredible
picture of extravagant grace.
Makoto Fujimura leaves the viewer to imagine their own meaning out of his "Prodigal God" painting, but there are several little clues he gives to demonstrate this extraordinary grace. First of all, Fujimura used oyster shell pigments, the only opaque, transparent white pigment, to provide a vision of grace, which provides a stark contrast to the other side of the painting. And speaking of two sides, Fujimura informs his audience that splitting the picture is not recommended in the art world, but he intentionally employed this split to create a problem that humans cannot solve, which illustrates that grace does not equal doing stuff for God, but rather accepting His free gift.
I highly recommend reading Prodigal God (found at this call number in the library: BT378.P8 K25 2008) and meditating on its challenge to be a real prodigal who spends all they have to seek those who are lost in their sin. This is the challenge Fujimura is also trying to convey, and I believe it is crucial to embrace this grace and live it out.
~Allison Beyer
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