This week I saw a contemporary painting of Jesus that made me stop scrolling.

Painted by Matt Moberg, the multi-talented chaplain to the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves, the large canvas features Jesus, a young Black man composed of bold, contrasting brushstrokes. He looks genuinely happy. It’s titled “Jesus Laughed.”

You can see the painting in a story reported by Mitchell Atencio, who interviewed Moberg after his statement rebuking churches for “posting  prayers for peace and unity today while my city bleeds in the street” went viral last weekend. The story behind that statement is complicated, but I was inspired by Moberg’s consistent Christian witness, whether in his art, through street protests, or with NBA players.  

“Intriguing art feeds off of real life,” writes Josiah R. Daniels in his review of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. True. It explains why religious art so often depicts Jesus in the agony of death: We want to see a savior who knows suffering, a savior who weeps alongside us in anguish over the forces of death that loop frame-by-frame on our newsfeeds. Art feeds on real life; real life cries out for us to find tangible ways to help. But as much as I need a savior who’s with me in grief, I’m grateful Moberg depicts a savior who also models the fiercest form of resistance: joy.