Jesus: God’s Illustration of Himself

Posted by laurieetta on July 28, 2025 in Being Human | 3 Comments

Imagine a children’s Bible—one of those with bright pictures showing stories like Adam and Eve in the garden, or Noah’s ark floating above the flood. Now, imagine a Bible where there’s an illustration not just for each story, but for nearly every few lines of text. And then imagine another layer—another text added to interpret the first one, with even more illustrations to explain that. Thousands upon thousands of visual explanations—all in one book. It’s kind of mind-blowing.

What you’re imagining actually existed.

It’s called a Bible Moralisée, or “Moralized Bible,” and this particular one comes from the 13th century. The page you’re looking at is from one of these richly illustrated Gothic manuscripts. There were several like it, and collectively they were sometimes called biblia pauperum, or “Bibles of the poor.” Not because they were cheap—these were extremely expensive to make—but because they were created for people who couldn’t read or write. These visual Bibles told the stories of Scripture through images, so that even the uneducated could become familiar with the Word of God.

The image on this page sits beside the opening words of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him…” (John 1:1–3a)

It’s a picture of Jesus creating the world.

In the Middle Ages, science and faith weren’t seen as opposites. In fact, disciplines like astronomy and geometry were understood as ways to understand God’s design. People believed the universe was created through divine logic—shaped with geometric harmony and cosmic balance. To study creation was to study the Creator. So a compass in Jesus’ hand—used to measure and shape the world—made perfect sense.

John’s Gospel goes out of its way to connect Jesus to that creative act. He calls Jesus “the Word”—or in Greek, logos. It’s a loaded term. Scholars have long debated its full meaning, but many agree that John’s usage suggests that Jesus is the living, breathing, personal expression of God. Not just someone who talks about God, but God himself made visible.

In other words, Jesus is how God introduces himself to us.

Think of it this way: if I pass someone on the street every day but never speak to them, I don’t really know them. I might know what they look like or what kind of coat they wear, but I don’t know them. It’s only through words—through conversation—that real connection happens.

The same goes for God.

When Jesus came into the world as “the Word,” he came to start that conversation. He came to make God known—not in mystery or in abstract ideas, but in flesh and bone, in actions and stories we can see and understand. He came speaking, healing, laughing, weeping, eating with outcasts and standing up to the powerful. In Jesus, we don’t just learn about God—we meet God.

Being Human Connection: Words are how we connect. They’re how we get to know one another. And Jesus—the Word—came so we could get to know God. So maybe the Bible Moralisée was onto something. Maybe we do need illustrations to help us see. Because in a very real sense, Jesus is God’s illustration of himself. He is the image that brings the unseen into view. He is the Word that invites us into relationship. And he is the conversation God has always wanted to have with us.

Featured print: God as architect of the world, folio I verso, Bible Moralisée, Paris, executed between 1220-1230; ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum. © Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna