Sheep Gate
Sheep Gate by John M. Robertson
Materials: discarded solid wood door, typeset, ash of discarded hymnal, ground plastic from discarded toys and wheelchair and other trash, discarded wheelchair parts.
Dimensions: 5’x10’
Date: 2010
This piece is my interpretation of one of Christ’s many healing miracles, described in John 5:2-9
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
In most of the healing miracles, Christ is asked to heal someone. The part unique to this miracle was that Christ asks the infirm man “Do you want to be made well?”. At first, the question seems almost rhetorical, the answer an obvious “yes”. But, after pondering the circumstances of the infirm man, the response does not seem so clear cut.
This man was a beggar. A beggar with a visible handicap would likely be given more out of pity than a beggar who appeared healthy. Healing him may have effectively rendered him jobless. In addition, this man had been ill for 38 years. Life with illness was the only life he knew. Healing meant radically changing his entire life. Change, even change for the better, is often frightening and difficult.
The infirm man could not heal himself, of course. He could only choose to accept or refuse the healing offered him. He could even request healing, but could not accomplish it himself. I started from the analogy of Christ as a door (John 10:9), meaning, through Him we connect with God. I imagined a door with a knocker and a latch but no knob or handle that opens out toward the viewer. The knocker could request the door open, the latch could keep it closed, but there is no way for the viewer to open the door. It can only be opened by someone on the other side. The knocker and latch are made from discarded wheelchair parts because it is often through our infirmity that we cry out or cry out against God.
The passage from John 5:2-9 is engraved in a manner reminiscent of an illuminated manuscript. The first letter “N” is surrounded by the illustration of a man leaping through a doorway towards Christ, fleeing a demonic figure. The colored inlay is made from ground discarded plastic toys. The grey inlay of the demon comes from the ash of a burned, discarded hymnal.
Selectively colored letters in the passage spell out the message “I am the door” (John 10:9). There are twelve hinges representing the twelve apostles that carried the message of the Gospel to the world. The edge of the door is painted red in reference to the lamb's blood of the Passover (Exodus 12:7, 13). The door is freestanding and displayed in a corner. It is illuminated by a light source from behind, shining light on the walls and ceiling around it. This is meant to suggest the bright and good land of Heaven awaiting those who walk through the door that is Christ.
This piece was created for the 2010 Holy Week Art Show at Houston’s First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. The theme of the show was The Great Exchange and the artwork was made from discarded items or trash. The specific subject of each piece was a miracle of Christ. It was also exhibited at Poissant Gallery in Houston Texas for The Art of Recycling by the Clean Economy Network from August 19th to September 5th 2011.
This work would never have been finished if not for the help of Julie Robertson, Michael Robertson, Jack Potts and Jackson Potts. Door knocker, sliding latch, and stand were created by Eric Ober.
Dimensions: 5’x10’
Date: 2010
This piece is my interpretation of one of Christ’s many healing miracles, described in John 5:2-9
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
In most of the healing miracles, Christ is asked to heal someone. The part unique to this miracle was that Christ asks the infirm man “Do you want to be made well?”. At first, the question seems almost rhetorical, the answer an obvious “yes”. But, after pondering the circumstances of the infirm man, the response does not seem so clear cut.
This man was a beggar. A beggar with a visible handicap would likely be given more out of pity than a beggar who appeared healthy. Healing him may have effectively rendered him jobless. In addition, this man had been ill for 38 years. Life with illness was the only life he knew. Healing meant radically changing his entire life. Change, even change for the better, is often frightening and difficult.
The infirm man could not heal himself, of course. He could only choose to accept or refuse the healing offered him. He could even request healing, but could not accomplish it himself. I started from the analogy of Christ as a door (John 10:9), meaning, through Him we connect with God. I imagined a door with a knocker and a latch but no knob or handle that opens out toward the viewer. The knocker could request the door open, the latch could keep it closed, but there is no way for the viewer to open the door. It can only be opened by someone on the other side. The knocker and latch are made from discarded wheelchair parts because it is often through our infirmity that we cry out or cry out against God.
The passage from John 5:2-9 is engraved in a manner reminiscent of an illuminated manuscript. The first letter “N” is surrounded by the illustration of a man leaping through a doorway towards Christ, fleeing a demonic figure. The colored inlay is made from ground discarded plastic toys. The grey inlay of the demon comes from the ash of a burned, discarded hymnal.
Selectively colored letters in the passage spell out the message “I am the door” (John 10:9). There are twelve hinges representing the twelve apostles that carried the message of the Gospel to the world. The edge of the door is painted red in reference to the lamb's blood of the Passover (Exodus 12:7, 13). The door is freestanding and displayed in a corner. It is illuminated by a light source from behind, shining light on the walls and ceiling around it. This is meant to suggest the bright and good land of Heaven awaiting those who walk through the door that is Christ.
This piece was created for the 2010 Holy Week Art Show at Houston’s First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. The theme of the show was The Great Exchange and the artwork was made from discarded items or trash. The specific subject of each piece was a miracle of Christ. It was also exhibited at Poissant Gallery in Houston Texas for The Art of Recycling by the Clean Economy Network from August 19th to September 5th 2011.
This work would never have been finished if not for the help of Julie Robertson, Michael Robertson, Jack Potts and Jackson Potts. Door knocker, sliding latch, and stand were created by Eric Ober.
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