I continued thinking about the Rublev this morning. The character seated in the center is our brother Jesus.

Poor Jesus. I don’t know how he puts up with me. I am confused and unfocused most of the time. I can barely get through Lauds without thinking it’s a little boring. I only slog it out until Compline when I debate whether or not I’ve prayed enough for one lifetime. And, yet He can’t quite get rid of me.

Jesus, ever looking toward His Parent, is covered almost entirely in blue. He has put flesh all over himself. Had to do that in order to live among us I guess. His undergarment is the color of dust. The dust Adam was made from. It’s the dirty-red color of blood actually, perhaps indicating that Jesus knew what a bloody hard struggle the whole incarnate enterprise can be. The only indication of his Heavenly status is a little band of gold on the shoulder. It’s toward the Parent. Unobtrusive but clear.

In this icon, Jesus doesn’t have the traditional Trinitarian nimbus. Not necessary. There is the Parent and the Spirit right there with him.

Jesus has one hand on his staff, quite firmly. The other hand is on the table. In other words, while He has the full authority of the Parent, he also has a hand in the affairs of earth. The hand on the table is explaining His two natures. It may even be pointing to the chalice on the table, not sure. In any event, Jesus’ work is in Heaven and on earth.

One of the Oaks of Mamre is shown behind him. The tree he will die on? Maybe. Probably that is what Rublev intended. But, in a universe of possibilities, it might be another kind of tree.

• Maybe it’s the tree Zaccheus climbed up into, reminding us that those who seek will find. Even first century wheeler-dealers, taking from the government and from it’s citizens too, may truly find and know The Lord just by looking for Him. This is Jesus telling us not to be too judgmental about the rich corporate raiders who fill our white-collar prisons. Those are His friends. This is Jesus telling us that He is not too interested in the crowd but He seeks out the ones who seek Him.

• Or, could it be one of those Cedars of Lebanon? Jesus later replaces this image with an image of mere mustard weeds. Speaking to us of the reality of the Kingdom Of God, Jesus says forget the mighty cedars, rather be prepared to stick out like a weed in a perfectly manicured lawn. This is the Jesus who does not call us to greatness but to absurdity: We are to be peacemakers in a world of warriors, giving in a world of takers, meek in a world of the mighty.

• Could it be the tree that sweetened the waters at Marah? With all the bitterness in this world, from the tempest in my own heart to the wars raging across Africa and the Middle East, isn’t this a message we can all rejoice to hear? Even the bitterest waters may be made sweet again. There is hope that we will not die drowning in a sea of our own bitterness. It is possible that our bitterness can be made sweet again. I don’t know how. But, I have proof that it’s possible.

There are a lot of trees it could be. Just as there are a lot of things Jesus’ hands could be saying, his eyes, his clothes.

The point of being with an icon is not to determine what it is saying. Even in this little bit I feel I have stepped too far over the interpretative line. The point is just to be with the icon. How it works, why it moves the heart, I don’t know. I have no idea at all and I don’t know anyone else who knows either. And more and more it just doesn’t matter.