Who are you fooling? Those are not jeans, they are His jammies!

I wonder if he is surfing or skate-boarding?

I always knew that Jesus was hip!

God does want to have a personal relationship with us (heart to heart). But we must never forget He is God. To me this brings Him down to more of a human level. And although He became flesh, He was always the Holiest of Holies, to be worshipped and bowed down to. The King of Kings. So no, I don’t care for this. Thanks.

He looks comfy!

This is a good way to show that Jesus is “Alive and well” If He were physically walking with us today I’m am sure He would look just like one of us. Personally I picture him on a Harley !!

Is He going to pounce on somebody?

I have more of a problem with his position than his clothing…I also don’t get if he’s surfing or skateboarding or pouncing or….????

I think we need to be able to bring our God as real as we can, at this time in our world! If it helps with blue jeans, I don’t think God really cares about the clothes, he just wants our hearts!!!

I always picture Jesus with a kind, serene and beautiful face and this looks like he is scared and ready to jump off the building to his death. Consider me old fashioned but I like my version of Jesus much better.

I love that they have Jesus in jeans, because He is current. He is as much with us today, through His Holy Spirit, as He was with them in the flesh back then. I think it’s important for people to visualize Him as someone who is like them, who shares their experiences, in order for them to develop a close, personal relationship with him, and apply the bible to their daily life. Most of us aren’t wearing sheets for clothing, or herding sheep for our profession anymore. I think if He were here in the flesh, He might want to update His look. : )

I agree with Brenda Strom. God doesn’t see the clothes we wear, He only sees our hearts.. Amen

I love it that they showed Jesus in jeans because it makes him so much more relatable to us today. That is what He would have worn. It also shows that He is still so alive today He is not a God that died in the past but a God that is continualy alive and in all of us, we are Jesus with skin on so if we wear jeans so does He.

Odd stance. Really weird. Doesn’t make sense. Compared to other depictions of Christ I don’t mind his dress. I generally don’t like pictures and other images of Jesus as they are man’s imagination of Jesus based on their human imagination. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell his testimony as the Son of God. Son of Man. Messiah. & Servant. Unless we lived in His time on earth and saw him, there is no one creative enough to accurately and reverently recreate his physical image. I do wonder why God did not allow the writer’s to insert a physical description of Jesus in the Bible. Maybe because His physical appearance could become an idol. We would worship the image and not the Son of God. Hmm…interesting.

This is an awesome sculpture. I wouldn’t want it on the WALL of my church, but still an awesome sculpture. It would be great in a courtyard.
Yes, He is holy. But it should remind us of what he gave up to become a man and to save us.
How much he loves us.

I understand that God is the All Mighty, and Above All Things, but this is too much like a dictatorship or Czar-ish. I would like to have seen him depicted with either children or other adults; maybe even both. We need to know he is a personal God, but to also remember He is God. We teach he meets us where we are. In today’s society, people need to see that God will accept them as they are; even in jeans and a shirt. The clothes are too comfy. I understand you don’t want them form fitting, but there needed to be more detail to show him in jeans if that was what what intended. Pockets, buttons, and/or seams would be nice. The shirt is fine. I like a guy who can wear a button up with jeans.

I agree with George…awesome imagery. I don’t think I’d care to have IN the main part my church/sanctuary. Maybe at a youth center or a homeless center? I read a book recently that helped me break away from the conventional imagery that I grew up with with regards to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and that was such an eye opener…so powerful a reminder that GOD’s identity is so much more than the meager limits of our imaginations. I like that Jesus is portrayed in contemporary garb. I still have the image from the book in my mind…jeans, work boots, flannel shirt and work (carpenter’s) belt.

Personally, I think it makes him look more like a person.

I can somewhat appreciate the message here – one of a timeless Jesus who is as alive today as he was 2,000 years ago. That’s all fine and good. And your readers are correct to point out that God cares about our hearts, not our clothes. However, we need to be a little careful. The statue, although intriguing, is another example in a long line that tries to fit the Son of God in more trendy clothes – most of the time figuratively, this time literally. If the artist were striving to make a theological point, that’s admirable, but I struggle to find one here. I know it’s tempting to remake Christ in our modern image, but ultimately we should be remade in his, not the other way around. The statue also smells of low Christology, placing emphasis on the man over the Messiah, which the faith has been fighting against upstream for the past half century. At least the statue appears on the outside of the building and not above the altar, which I am sure we can all agree makes a big difference. I guess it comes down to what you view as the purpose of Christian symbols in general. Assuming they don’t rub against your second commandment sensitivities, are they to make Jesus “relatable” – as this church clearly believes – or are they to remind us of his atoning sacrifice? For me, the answer is always the latter. While I get a strong sense of his Gospel-of-Mark humility, I don’t know how this depiction of Christ is supposed to remind me of his triumphant work on the cross or his infinite love for humanity. Be that as it may, I always had an affinity for museums and can appreciate art for what it is. This particular creation gets a thumbs-down for aesthetic reasons (theological objections aside). Is Jesus of East Sussex barefoot waterskiing? Moon walking? Maybe he is auditioning for Dancing with the Stars.

His facial expression and physical stance seem flippant–like he hasn’t a care in the world. I don’t see a hint of compassion or love…makes me wonder whether he’s Bill or Ted on an Excellent Adventure. I agree with others that he looks like he’s wearing PJ’s. And Shari made a great point that perhaps His physical description isn’t in the Bible to prevent us from worshiping His image rather than Him. Bottom line though…I love it because it gets people talking and thinking more about Jesus.

I give God the glory, it is my belief that jesus was a humble man, he walked among the sinners and prostitutes with a spirit of love and truth. The pharasees, saducess, and jewish leaders didn’t except christ because they looked at the outer appearance of Jesus rather than the spirit man. This same spirit is alive in churches today we base our opinions of who is righteous based on the outer appearance, if they have a nice suit on, that makes the holy. Jesus came in the form of a man and thought it not robbery. So in order to walk amongst the people he wanted to save he humbled himself and in order to recieve him they had to indentify with him, if he had of come down in his full glory they wouldn’t have felt that they could ever walk like him in the spirit Jesus message was that though I’m in the flesh I have over come the flesh that’s why they identified with him. My issue with the picture is his hair it isn’t an accurate depiction of who Jesus truly was, Jesus came to his own who were the jewish race. He was a Jewish man so his features and hair would be akin to a jewish man of around 34 years of age. For example not exactly but akin to fred savage from the wonder years who at 34 would be a young jewish male so Jesus would resemble that. God bless