Go

Contact Us

  • Phone: (612) 338-6500
  • Email: 
  • Mailing Address: 1501 West 54th Street, Minneapolis, MN, 55419

 

 

Worship Arts

The Diversity of Christ

Posted by Lee Colvin on


Sadao Watanabe (1913-1996) is a Japanese artist whose subject matter is exclusively the gospel rendered in the mingei (folk art) style. This piece is titled Pentecost.

In the subject of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles (Acts 2:4) and this miraculous gift enabled them to speak in languages foreign to them but native to the many Jews from abroad who were gathered in Jerusalem for a festival of giving thanks to God. For the first time, the gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed to a global audience. Three thousand people came to faith that day. The Spirit is still at work in the dissemination of the good news today, breathing life into cultures all over the world and thereby building up an incredibly diverse body of Christ.

Though his art has hung in the Vatican, the British Museum and the MOMA he once remarked that he preferred that his prints hang in the ordinary places of life: "I would most like to see them hanging where people ordinarily gather, because Jesus brought the gospel for the people". Such is the mingei philosophy of art.

 

Comments