"Why would Jesus have violated the 2nd commandment regarding religious images?"

Daryl

Thanks again for your comment under my 2014 post, "Shroud of Turin depicts a Y-shaped cross?." As I explained in my reply comment, "I will

[Above: The Face of the Man on the Shroud[1]

"`Were those the lips that spoke the Sermon on the Mount and the Parable of the Rich Fool?'; `Is this the Face that is to be my judge on the Last Day?'"[2].]

respond to it in a separate post, when I have finished my current multi-installment post, "The 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Turin Shroud was the result of a computer hacking #3." Here now is part #1 of my response. Your words are prefaced by ">" and in bold to distinguish them from mine.

>Why would Jesus have violated the 2nd commandment regarding religious images?

The second commandment in Ex 20:4-5:

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them ..."

and Dt 5:8-9:

"'You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them ..."

prohibited Israelites ("You") from: 1) making an "image" or "likeness" and 2) bowing down in worship and/or serving it.

Leaving aside that the Mosaic law never did apply to non-Jews (like me) (Romans 2:14); and to those (like me) under the New Covenant (Jer 31:31; Lk 22:20; 1Cor 11:25; 2Cor 3:6; Heb 8:8,13; 9:15; 12:24), to whom the Old Covenant (2Cor 3:14) is "obsolete" (Heb 8:13), having been nailed to Jesus' cross (Col 2:14-15); and that those who claim any part of the Law still applies are obliged to keep the whole Law (Jas 2:10; Gal 3:10; 5:3) with its 613 commandments. There are New Testament warnings against idolatry (1Cor 5:11; 6:9; 10:7, 14; 2Cor 6:16; Gal 5:20; Eph 5:5; Col 3:5; 1Th 1:9; 1Pet 4:3; 1Jn 5:21), but significantly, none of them cite the second commandment. However, none of this applies to the Shroud

First, the Shroud's image was not made by man. The evidence is overwhelming that the Shroud is authentic and was made by God as a by-product of Him raising Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:24, 32; 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 37; Rom 10:9; 1Cor 6:14; 15:15; Gal 1:1; Col 2:12; 1Pet 1:21), i.e. a "`snapshot' of the Resurrection":

"Even from the limited available information, a hypothetical glimpse of the power operating at the moment of creation of the Shroud's image may be ventured. In the darkness of the Jerusalem tomb the dead body of Jesus lay, unwashed, covered in blood, on a stone slab. Suddenly, there is a burst of mysterious power from it. In that instant ... the body becomes indelibly fused onto the cloth, preserving for posterity a literal `snapshot' of the Resurrection." (Wilson, I., 1979, "The Shroud of Turin: The Burial Cloth of Jesus Christ?," p.251).

One of the earliest descriptions of Jesus' image on the Shroud was "acheiropoietos," which is Greek for "not made by hands" (Mk 14:58; 2Cor 5:1; Col 2:11).

Second, no one, as far as I am aware, bows down before the Shroud in the sense of worshiping and serving it. To the extent that those who see the Shroud directly (I haven't) bow down before it, they are doing that before the God-made imprint of the body of Jesus on the Shroud. They are therefore bowing down in worship and service to Jesus, who is the image of God (2Cor 4:4; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3). And Jesus never rebuked anyone for worshiping Him (Mt 8:2, 14:33; 28:9, 17; Lk 24:52; Jn 9:38), because He is God in human flesh (Mt 1:23; Jn 1:1,14; 20:28; Acts 20:28; Rom 9:5; Php 2:5-6; Col 2:9; Tit 2:13; Heb 1:8; 2Pet 1:1; 1Jn 5:20). And Jesus Himself said in John 5:23:

"... all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him." (my emphasis)

Continued in part #2, "Wasn't Jesus wrapped like a mummy like Lazarus?"

Notes
1. "Shroud University - Exploring the Mystery Since 33 A.D.," Shroud of Turin Education Project, Inc., Peachtree City, GA. [return]
2. Wilson, I., 1991, "Holy Faces, Secret Places: The Quest for Jesus' True Likeness," Doubleday: London, p.189. [return]

Posted 28 September 2015. Updated 24 October 2024.