14. Jesus is laid in the tomb. John 19:38-42

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

“In the Garden”

Watercolor 

Mike Lasley 

I was inspired to depict the garden of the tomb full of life and abundance from the perspective of a far-off onlooker. The Garden Tomb, located just outside of Jerusalem, served as my primary inspiration. The large olive tree on the right side of the painting was inspired by a photo my friend took in February at the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane. I liked the idea of including the juxtaposition of images from today with that of the burial. I have included flowers, trees, and plants that are native to Jerusalem. Many of the paints that I used are made from minerals and gemstones, including tiger’s eye, jadeite, serpentine, green apatite, hematite, garnet, piemontite, amethyst, iron, rhodonite, and bloodstone, which was stated that the red spots in the stone came from blood falling upon the stone during the crucifixion of Jesus, as he was stabbed in the side by a Roman soldier.

—Mike Lasley