Jesus’ face on Veronica’s towel
During Lent, we attend the stations of the cross. One of the stations that always catches my attention is the meeting between Jesus and Veronica. In the middle of the angry mob, Veronica approaches Jesus. She wiped and cleaned Jesus' face. In return, she got an image of Jesus' face on her towel. This article seeks to interpret the presence of Jesus' face on Veronica's towel from two perspectives: the facial epiphany and the story of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25:31–46.
First, the facial epiphany. According to French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, the presence of a face is always significant without context. The face of the person before me was never silent. He spoke, and when he spoke, I was interrupted by him. Levinas wrote, "Face looked at me and called me. What is he asking for? Don't leave him alone!" Facial epiphany is personified as the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, and the naked. Therefore, the cry "do not leave him alone" became the cry of the poor, widows, orphans, strangers, and the naked.
In this perspective, Jesus' face on Veronica’s towel becomes a reflection of the faces of the poor, foreigners, orphans, and the naked who need to be wiped. This is not done through pseudo-consolation words and holy exhortations (we remember Jesus who advised the Jerusalem women who wept over him), but mainly through action (like Simon of Cyrene, who took part in bearing the Lord's cross).
The poor Jesus, in Veronica’s towel, wants to unite himself with the screams of the people who go through their day in poverty and be compassionate with the anxiety of the people who lack food. Jesus wanted to unite himself with those who were excluded and rejected by his fellowmen and with the refugees who had to leave their homeland. Homeland, for exiled people, is a memory that cannot be easily forgotten.
Jesus wanted to unite himself with people who had lost families and relatives and found themselves alone. The naked face of Jesus wants to stand in solidarity with people whose rights to life are stepped on and insulted. Jesus' face also wants to sue those who no longer have shame, do not respect the purity of their bodies, and prefer to make their bodies a trading commodity. In a globalized affection industry, body sensuality is a commodity that always sells well.
Second, the final judgment. Jesus' face on Veronica’s towel simultaneously connects us to the story of the Last Judgment, as stated in Matthew 25:31– 46. In that story, Jesus emphatically unites himself with the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and prisoners. Amid global indifference, Jesus' face on Veronica's towel always sues us for caring for each other.
Jesus' face is an invitation for the Church to make the poor, widows, orphans, foreigners, and naked, the focus of theology. Like Veronica's act of love, the Church must be able to direct its involvement in theological concepts and praxis by making the liberation of ‘the other’ its goal. The church must be involved as the embodiment of involved theology.
The key thesis of involved theology, as stated by the Indonesian theologian, Paul Budi Kleden, is that a God who is believed in and wants to be accounted for in theology, is an involved God; a God whose holiness is not defined based on his static separation from the profane world, but a God who enters the world and history as a source of inspiration and power to transform the world. A God who offers himself for the sake of human salvation is a God who is involved in human history, a God who cares about humans' lives.
This key thesis should direct the attention of the church to the poor, widows, orphans, foreigners, and the naked. God's salvation, which is proclaimed in theology, must be able to be applied in efforts to liberate "the other" from the various sufferings. The church and its theological concepts must ground themselves in the real problems of humanity. Veronica had started this involvement through her loving act of wiping Jesus' face with her towel. Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning. The towel is just a thing until someone comes along and uses it and makes a difference.