Il Divino the Divine

629 il divino the divineA single slab of marble was cut from a quarry in Carrara, Tuscany, Italy, about 30 meters high and weighing about 30 tons. The colossal block was shipped by boat to Florence, where the sculptor Agostino di Duccio was commissioned to make a statue of the biblical hero David from it. The sculptor began roughly carving the feet and legs but gave up the project as too difficult after finding flaws in the marble. The block was left untreated for 12 years before another sculptor, Antonio Rossellino, rose to the challenge. But he also found it too difficult to work with and gave it up as a worthless object. Subsequent tests indicated that the marble was of mediocre quality and contained microscopic holes and veins that could have compromised the stability of the colossal statue. The partially disfigured block of marble was abandoned and exposed to the elements for another 25 years before the genius Michelangelo took on an assignment to complete the work. Michelangelo was able to bypass or chisel out the flaws to create what is recognized as a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture.

Michelangelo's view of the sculpture was that he was striving to free the figure born in his head from the confines of the marble block. But this statue may have more to offer than meets the eye. The sculpture David is a work of art in its external appearance, but it has internal flaws and imperfections in its composition, just like the biblical David also had flaws in his character. David is not alone in this regard. We all have good sides, bad character traits, strengths, weaknesses and imperfections in us.
During his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called "Il Divino", "The Divine", because of his talents and abilities. Easter has a message from another divine, a message of hope for all of us now and in the future: "God shows his love for us in that Christ died for us when we were still sinners" (Romans 5,8).

You can come to God as you are, as a sinner, not as you should be. You will not be lost or rejected. You will not be pushed aside as too difficult or viewed as a worthless object because of your individual imperfections. God knows how we really are, has shown unconditional love for each of us and all people in the world. Love involves forgiveness, we cannot repent what we have done in the past, but offenses can be forgiven. God sees beyond our mistakes what we can become with His help.

"For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become in him the righteousness that is before God" (2. Corinthians 5,21).

Perhaps on this upcoming Easter holiday you can take a break from your busy life and take time to ponder the real meaning of Easter. Jesus chiseled all your shortcomings out of your life through his atonement so that you can stand before God as his masterpiece in his righteousness and live with him forever.

by Eddie Marsh