Dioramas are timelines of events laid out in three-dimensional form. We stand the miniature soldiers against the stone bulwark, with their little carved weapons aimed at an equally tiny enemy. We plant trees to scale, paint on grassy fields, and even install a backdrop of blue sky, if we wish. We create a miniature world where the events of the past come into full focus, and we can imagine just how things might have been.
What will we place in our diorama to reveal the life of Christ?
In a passage many experts attribute to Paul, we read of Jesus in Hebrews 13:11-13. In the miniatures in our diorama, we see blood coursing down his body, revealing his sacrifice as he offers himself for our sins.
“For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.”
2 Timothy 2:2 reveals a miniature Paul as he writes to Timothy, encouraging him to spread the vital message of Christ to fellow believers.
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Acts 14:13 shows the tiny figure of the pagan priest in response to Paul’s healing of a crippled man. In the next verse, we see Paul pointing to Christ as the source of the man’s healing.
“And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.”
In Acts 12:14, the tiny plastic figure of the servant girl Rhoda overflows with joy that Peter is alive, while the miniature Peter stands outside a wooden gate patiently waiting to be let inside. He surely has a smile carved into his expression as he thinks of her running to retrieve the others, while leaving him locked outside.
“Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.”
Acts 12:10 shows a figure that can only be an angel of the Lord, with feathered wings that seem to be invisible to Peter, even as the man walks at his side.
“When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.”
Acts 3:2 invites us to observe one of the most dramatic vistas in our diorama. We see the Gate Beautiful, magnificent in its grandeur, with a crippled man begging for alms. On the adjoining way, we see Peter and John about to stroll by. We can imagine what will happen next, as Peter and John happen upon him, telling him to take up his bed and walk.
“And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.”
John 19:17 takes place on the highest hill in our display. Jesus bears a cross on his shoulder, his face is twisted in pain, and his skin is painted red with blood.
“And he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.”
In John 10:9, the figure of Jesus stands surrounded by the Jewish elite, as they struggle to believe the truth he speaks.
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”
In John 5:2, we see Jerusalem swept up in feasting. In the midst is our depiction of the Pool of Bethesda, where a man crippled for 38 years lies on his mat. We place our Jesus figure at his side, as a great healing is about to take place.
“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.”
Luke 16:20 places the beggar Lazarus outside the rich man’s gate. We study the miniature body, curled and twisted in pain. Just beyond, another figure of the beggar stands at Abraham’s side, looking down at the rich man in torment, begging Lazarus for a drop of water to cool his tongue. We anticipate the words Abraham will speak, revealing that the rich man’s opportunity to mend his ways has come and gone.
“And at [the rich man’s] gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores.”
What will we take away from our diorama experience? Are we the rich man or the beggar? Will we glance at the life and legacy of Jesus, remark to others how interesting it is, then go about our day, reveling in our riches? Or will the experience of the cross change who we are, drawing us closer to Christ? It’s up to us. We get to choose our next step, the next, and the one after that. Let’s move toward Jesus. He’s the only choice that counts.
Each part of Jesus’ life carries a special meaning for those who choose to follow him.
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