His Name is John

Title: His Name is John
Artist: Daniel Bonnell
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 90 x 95 cm
Date: c. 2008
Location: Private collection

Luke 1:57-58: The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby. She gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very kind to her. They shared her joy.

Neighbors customarily joined in celebrations, and the birth of a son, especially under such unusual circumstances, was seen as special cause for celebration. Though these events are cosmic in their reach, they involve the divinity's personal touch. God has shown his mercy and magnified it to Elizabeth. Those who had shared her pain now rejoice with her. God's mercy expresses itself in concrete, loving action.

Daniel Bonnell (b. 1955) is an American painter and graduate of the Atlanta College of Art. He furthered his studies under the French Dominican Monk Pere Couturier, who usher such great painters as Henri Matisse and Fernand Leger into creating sacred art. His work can be found in several church and private collections, and in several notable publications. Most recently, a number of his paintings were selected to be in the Mosaic Holy Bible, as well in private collections and churches around the world. Further work can be viewed on his website at http://web.me.com/danielbonnell/Image_On_Christ_Exhibition/Home.html.

The Shadow of the Crucifixion

Title: The Shadow of the Crucifixion

Artist: Daniel Bonnell

Medium: Oil crayons

Size: 28 x 35 cm

Date: c. 2006

Location: Private Collection.

Mark 15:29-32 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Some people observing an crucifixion would normally curse those being executed, and they did not spare Jesus from this abuse. Further, many ancient writers would often employ irony, and Mark is no exception, reporting unintended truth in the words of Jesus’ enemies. Mark speaks to the doubts his original readers may have harbored: Indeed, Lord, why did you not save yourself? Bonnell employs startling imagery to portray those who mock Christ from the shadow of the cross.

Daniel Bonnell (b. 1955) is an American painter and graduate of the Atlanta College of Art. He furthered his studies under the French Dominican Monk Pere Couturier, who usher such great painters as Henri Matisse and Fernand Leger into creating sacred art. His work can be found in several church and private collections, and in several notable publications. Most recently, a number of his paintings were selected to be in the Mosaic Holy Bible. The bold nature of his work, his subject matter and use of darks and lights, combine to give a very powerful look at redemption. Daniel’s contributions to the Mosaic Bible can be viewed at http://web.me.com/danielbonnell/Image_On_Christ_Exhibition/Mosaic_Bible.html

The Woman at the Well

Title: The Woman at the Well

Artist: Daniel Bonnell

Medium: oil on canvas

Size: 61 x 96.5 cm

Date: c. 2006

Location: Anglican Church of Sussex, England.

In John 4:3-28 Jesus travels to the Samarian town of Sychar, and rests at Jacob's Well. While his disciples go into the town to get food, a Samaritan woman comes to the well and Jesus asks her for a drink. Jesus breaks all the rules of Jewish piety here, and even the woman is surprised and says that Samaritans and Jews do not associate. Jesus responds that if she really knew who he was, she would have asked him for the "water that gives life." The woman asks for this "water" and Jesus tells her to go and find her husband and bring him back. When the woman states she has no husband, Jesus says that although that is true, he know she has already been married five times and is now living with a man who is not her husband. The woman then believes that Jesus is a prophet, and he teaches her about worshipping God, declaring "The time is coming - indeed it’s here now - when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way." The woman then says that the messiah will come and explain all. Jesus declares that he is the messiah.

In the Gospel of John we see the glory of God shining ever more brightly. It shines first in kosher Jewish settings, both in the Galilean countryside and in Jerusalem, then the glory shines among various despised people who are less than kosher, including a Samaritan adulteress and a Herodian official. There was great hatred between the Samaritans and the Jews. The woman at the well was an alien and hostile Samaritan, merely speaking to her was thought to disgrace a Jew. Yet to this woman Jesus revealed himself more fully than he had yet done to any of his disciples. No past sins can bar our acceptance with him, if we humble ourselves before him, believing in him as the Christ, the Savior of the world.

Daniel Bonnell is an American painter (b. 1955). A graduate of the Atlanta College of Art, he studied under renowned photographer Ansel Adams and designer Milton Glaser. Various Publications from around the world use the art of Daniel Bonnell, as well as such renown authors as Tom Wright and Alister McGrath for their book covers. His work can be found in private collections and churches around the world, as well as on his website at http://web.me.com/danielbonnell/Image_On_Christ_Exhibition/Home.html