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Tattoos for Jesus

Lauren

I know a few people who have quite literally gotten tattoos for Jesus, but this?

The tattoo is as old as Cain. In Jesus’ time, condemned criminals were tattooed. Tattoos have marked those set apart or condemned as recently as World War II when our Jewish brethren perished.

In the last few centuries tattoos have become more of an art form dedicated to some person or ideal.

“Mom” was the most famous tattoo in history. It seems obvious that if Jesus were to shock the status quo in the 21st Century with a tattoo that it would say “Father”.

We should be quick to love and slow to judge, Anxious to forgive and repulsed by self-pity, Curious to understand and cautious to resent. There is no box in which we can place Jesus merely by his appearance. As we do good to others, let us not reserve our kindness only for those who look “safe” or “beautiful”. However alarmed we might be at another person’s appearance that is our problem. Tragically we too often make it the other person’s problem as well.

This, however, is even cooler.

I can think of a few people who would kill for this poster. Namely me.

via Chaos Theory

31 thoughts on Tattoos for Jesus

  3. That looks like Jesus trying out for the role Patrick Swayze got in Roadhouse. According to the Gospels, “And as Jesus was nailed to the cross, he was heard to utter ‘pain don’t hurt.'”

  5. “And as Jesus was nailed to the cross, he was heard to utter ‘pain don’t hurt.'”

    I’m totally stealing that, but for what I don’t know.

  7. Jesus would not have gotten a tatoo as it was proscribed by the Jewish religion (to which he adhered); specifically, the proscription lists tatooing for the purposes of honoring the dead (which was a custom of some other religions at the time). The ultimate irony for a Christian would be to have a tatoo of Jesus to honor him as they have a tatoo that would be considered a graven image.

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  9. Oh Jesus, why are you always so damned sexy?!

    I have to say that my favorite part of the painting is the holy hair band glow. It manages to say “divine” and “trashy” better than even the lascivious eyes…

  10. Two things:

    Why does the lord look so much like Billy Ray Cyrus?

    and second:
    does this whole article remind anyone else of that Flannery O’Connor story “Parker’s Back”?

  14. Scariest tattoo I have ever seen was on a fellow customer at a Target store in rural Virginia. A woman in her forties had a crown of thorns tattooed across her forehead.

    No joke.

  17. There aren’t that many things we can say with certainty about Jesus. One thing we probably can say, though, is that he wasn’t a white guy.

  19. Arrgh! Jesus was not white! How fucking long is it going to take you Christianist morons to figure that out?!

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  23. sure, G-d whispers in Mary’s ear & knocks her (no O to boot) up so she goes through pregnancy, labor & delivery and who’s the kid giving props to? dad. typical

  24. Lauren Your web site is sweet. The pic of the guy with the tatoo looks like my friend. Tates

  26. OK, Lauren, you can steal this one too— reimagining the clearing of the moneychangers from the temple, but using Patrick Swayze’s bouncer advice as gospel substitute:

    “If some moneychanger gets in your face and calls you a cocksucker, I want you to be nice. Ask him to walk. Be nice. If he won’t walk, walk him. But be nice. If you can’t walk him, one of the others will help you, and you’ll both be nice. I want you to remember that it’s the Lord’s will. It’s nothing personal.”

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  28. According to the Gospels, “And as Jesus was nailed to the cross, he was heard to utter ‘pain don’t hurt.’”

    several years back the Promise Keepers staged one of their gatherings in Seattle & i was lucky enough to behold many of them wandering about in their macho Xtian finery, including one t-shirt that featured ol’ JC doing regulation push-ups with a whomping cross on his back & the slogan (i am not making this up): “No Pain, No Gain”

    yeah, baby! if that ain’t a class act, i don’t what is!

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