Mail from Jesus Artwork

Mail from Jesus : Revelation 2 & 3

In the Spring of 2025 the Family of Terra Nova Churches will go through the seven letters Jesus (through John) wrote to seven churches in Asia Minor that are recorded in Revelation 2 & 3.  Our hope is that by hearing what Jesus had to say to His churches then we may hear words of comfort and conviction that Jesus may have for His church today.

So, wether you are in Troy, NY or Saratoga Springs, NY – please find your way to a local Terra Nova Church and journey along with us!

The Artist

John Bosquet-Morra [Terra Nova Troy]

John Bosquet-Morra grew up in Southern California, where he spent most of his youth surfing and skateboarding. He received a bachelor’s degree in English Literature in 1985; a second Batchelor’s degree in Fine Art in 1988, and a Master’s  of Fine Arts degree in 1991. Since then, he has been a professional realist painter. He lives in Stuyvesant, New York, with his wife Isabelle Bosquet-Morra.

To help us remember this series, we will have postcards available with John’s art that you may use to send notes of encouragement to your brothers & sisters in the church family.  Be to sure to pick these up at your local Terra Sunday Gatherings. 

The Art

Written by John Bosquet-Morra

“St. John and The Angel,” 20”x21”, oil on canvas

What is Scripture? If someone asked you, what would you say? It isn’t as easy to describe as you might think. There are easy answers to the question, “is the Bible inspired,” to which we answer in the affirmative. But to say that scripture is inspired, or inerrant, or the word of God, doesn’t really explain what it is. Here, in my painting, I am wrestling with some of these questions, which, while academic at a glance, are important for believers.

I am showing John the evangelist on the Mediterranean island of Patmos, where he was exiled late in his life. He is experiencing a kind of distressing writer’s block, not only because he is searching for an apt expression, but because he is writing scripture, and it is not going well.  Normally, in paintings of evangelists receiving inspiration, they are shown in a kind of ecstatic trance, as if the message from the throne room of heaven were flowing right through them. I didn’t want to show that kind of image, because I think it’s misleading. So, more questions: is scripture a man-made product, like any other piece of literature, or is it a divine product, one that has nothing to do with human crafting? My answer, and I think the orthodox one, is simple: it is both. I tried to express the tension of “both-ness” in the painting. 

On the human side, a real person named John wrote Revelation, who had real struggles and doubts about what he was writing. Imagine how you might feel if you were writing the revealed words of Jesus to seven churches? Might you be troubled about whether you were remembering your vision/inspiration correctly? Perhaps you’d be concerned about your negative or positive tone to a specific church: were you being too harsh, or too lenient? 

On the divine side, enter the presence of the Holy Spirit, shown rather prosaically as a dove. The bird is hovering outside the window, as opposed to directly entering into the thoughts or actions of the apostle. With this, I was trying to express the “carrying along in the spirit” which we believe the biblical writers experienced. The spirit was moving in the heart of the evangelist, but the spirit was not producing the words; no, the writer had work to do as well. John had to make certain that everything was at least intelligible, and at best, beautiful.This was anything but easy. 

Scripture, then, like the fully-God/fully-man status of Jesus, is writing that is both human and divine. Just as some heresies about Jesus make him into either a vaporous, non-physical god, or only a man, we can make the same mistake about the Bible: it is not merely supernatural, nor is it merely human. Rather, its dual dynamic makes it like all other books, and utterly different from all other books—all at once. No wonder John looks worried. 

The angel shown is not just a pictorial tradition, with her luminous wings, but a theological point as well. As Jesus was comforted by the presence of angels in the wilderness, and in Gethsemane, so too, would writers of scripture need comfort. Here, John is completely unaware of the angel, but is about to be touched and comforted. As for the angel’s ethnicity, I have wondered if it might be possible for angels of certain appearances to be assigned to various regions of the globe. As this is a Greek setting, it seemed right to design a non-northern European angel.

The other details in the picture are from painting traditions: the red drapery, skull and somewhat jacked physique of the elderly John are from images of St. Jerome. The oil lamp, wine glass, amphora vessels, and loaf of bread are all items from the first century, thanks to the 24/7 hours of the Google museum.

As for making the painting, I set out from the start to make a picture from imagination, which I have not done in about 40 years. It was both infuriating and delightful to execute, as I generally paint from life, that is, I paint what I see. I can only thank Terra Nova for asking me to do this, as I am now less scared of doing things that are not my expertise. Surely, more Bible pictures are coming, thanks to this one. I am glad I made it.