What Does the Chosen, The Last Supper, and the Olympics Have in Common? They are all blasphemous.

Introduction

What does The Chosen, the Last Supper, and the Olympics have in common? They all are blasphemous. They are breaking the Second Commandment. The Olympics opening ceremony of the Lord Supper opened the eyes of many that France (and much of the West) hates Jesus. Likewise The Chosen TV show gives a relatable but not an authentic Jesus. The painting we know as The Last Supper, though probably not intended to be blasphemous still breaks the Second Commandment. Therefore, we will examine the Second Commandment and see why these are blasphemous.

The Second Commandment

The Second Commandment states,

⁴ “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. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:4-6, ESV).

Implications

The Lord thought it necessary to write in stone, “you shall have no other gods before me” and “you shall not make a graven image.” Why is this blasphemous? God is Holy. To be Holy means to be separate. Therefore, God is above and beyond anything in the created order. God has no beginning; He is the beginning. The universe is finite and passing away. On the other hand, the Lord is infinite and eternal. God made the world to serve him. Therefore, an idol would make God to serve man. There is only one thing that God allows to be an image of Him, humans.

•  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27, ESV).

Christ as the Express Image of God

God let humans be His image bearers. However, since the Fall, humans have been corrupted by sin and no longer accurately represent God. Therefore, humans needed a substitute. That substitute is Jesus Christ. As Paul says,

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (Colossians 1:15-20, ESV).

Also John says,

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known (John 1:14-18, ESV).

Implications

Since Christ is the only true express image of God, it would be wrong to make any image of Him for the following reasons.

• It would not be a perfect representation of Christ. Whether it be an actor or image, it would be marred by imperfection and sin.
• God did not leave a perfect picture of Jesus except in the Bible.
• If God did leave a picture of Christ, it would be copied and mocked, as seen in the Olympics opening ceremony.

What One Great Theologian Taught

John Calvin once said,

“Pictures of Christ are in principle a violation of the second commandment. A picture of Christ, if it serves any useful purpose, must evoke some thought or feeling respecting him and, in view of what he is, this thought or feeling will be worshipful. We cannot avoid making the picture a medium of worship. But since the materials for this medium of worship are not derived from the only revelation we possess respecting Jesus, namely, Scripture, the worship is constrained by a creation of the human mind that has no revelatory warrant. This is will-worship. For the principle of the second commandment is that we are to worship God only in ways prescribed and authorized by him. It is a grievous sin to have worship constrained by a human figment, and that is what a picture of the Saviour involves.”[1]

Conclusion

God should not be mocked. Either by the false Jesus of the Chosen or by the LGBTQ+ community of the Olympics. Nor should one portray God as anything that is not Scripture. Therefore, one should not make a painting of Him.

God will not allow people to mock Him continually. There will one day be a day of judgement.

⁶ He will render to each one according to his works: ⁷ to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸ but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹ For God shows no partiality (Romans 2:6-11, ESV).

God calls all men everywhere to repent and to trust in Jesus Christ, who He has sent. That is the Jesus of the Bible.

More From Striving for Eternity

If you want more information on studying the Bible and how to interpret it correctly, check out the store section at strivingforeternity.org/store. There are tons of resources to help you get started on your journey to interpreting the Bible better. Also, invite Andrew Rappaport and Aaron M. Brewster to come to your church and teach you biblical interpretation with their Biblical Interpretation Made Easy Seminar. Andrew Rappaport, Aaron M. Brewster, and other guests on Apologetics live would also enjoy answering your questions on the live show on Thursdays from 7pm–9pm CST with the link to the stream yard at strivingforeternity.org/apologeticslive. Lord bless you and strive to make today and eternal day for Christ Jesus.

[1] Three Reasons Images of God are Idolatrous – Purely Presbyterian