*by John S. Munayer

‘You should write an icon that is connected to your name’, sister Martha, my Icon teacher, told me as I contemplated what icon to write.

‘Which John do you want to do?’, she asked.

In the month of February 2024, I decided to write Saint John the Baptist. Waking up early on Saturdays and going through a military checkpoint, I would write with the guidance of Sister Martha in the Emmanuel Monastery in Bethlehem.

Writing icons in the Orthodox tradition has been a process of decolonising my own theology, and it has been a beautiful and challenging spiritual journey. And as many of us search for sanity and comfort as we see the genocide unfold, writing the icon of John the Baptist has been sobering, humbling and powerful. I hope through this icon, which belongs to the Palestinian Church, people will see Christ shining through John the Baptist’s witness.

I will expand on three theological symbols in the icon below. But I invite you to find more.

Hair – John, unlike other saints, is depicted in iconography as having wild hair. It speaks to the ascetic and rough character he had in the biblical tradition. Additionally, it symbolises his confidence and courage to be a faithful witness while challenging social, political and religious norms and powers. May John’s witness encourage us as we attempt to be faithful witnesses to God’s goodness, love and mercy during the evil we see today, and will see in the future.

Blue and Scroll – In some icons, according to the Orthodox tradition, John is wearing blue clothes and holding scripture. The blue colour (water) and paint strokes (river) symbolise the baptism. And the scroll often has John’s call to repent. These two elements, baptism and repentance, are central to John’s message. And in light of the horrors seen in Gaza, I think we are all in need of repentance. In one way or another, we are complicit or participate in systems that bring great suffering to ourselves and others. This is a season to embrace the baptismal waters that both cleanse and kill our sinful nature.

Sand – The background around John is symbolising both his time in the wilderness, as in scripture, and the rubble and dust in Gaza today. The word of God appeared to an unusual character in the margins of the dessert, as opposed to the royals, powerful or intellectuals in Jerusalem. This reminds us that God works in unexpected ways, and often among the oppressed and marginalised. Perhaps today, God is appearing among and to the people of Gaza, and not among the powerful and intellectuals in the capital cities.

On a slightly lighter note, when I showed the icon to my nephew (6 years old), he asked: was this Jesus’ swim teacher?

John S. Munayer is a Palestinian theoligical researcher