{"id":287,"date":"2019-05-30T16:11:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T20:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/?p=287"},"modified":"2024-08-23T10:17:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T14:17:28","slug":"finding-jesus-in-game-of-thrones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/30\/finding-jesus-in-game-of-thrones\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Jesus in Game of Thrones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[This post may contain spoilers for the entire series of Game of Thrones]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does Jesus look like?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m not trying to start a debate about whether Jesus is white or some such nonsense. [He\u2019s not. He was born in the Middle East. Why is this still a thing people talk about??] I mean, <strong>what does Jesus look like in your mind<\/strong>? What do you see when you picture Jesus? Do you even picture Jesus, or is he abstract to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is something I\u2019ve been thinking about lately as my mind has been processing the series wrap of <em>Game of Thrones<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">*record scratch*<br>Hold up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Why would <em>Game of Thrones<\/em> make me think about Jesus? &#8212; you, my imaginary reader, may ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most people would probably say Jesus and <em>Game of Thrones<\/em> have zero overlap in a Venn diagram &#8211; <em>Game of Thrones <\/em>being one of the most gratuitously sin-flaunting shows in television history, and Jesus being, well\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-290\" width=\"183\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus.jpg 561w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus-224x300.jpg 224w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus-284x380.jpg 284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 183px) 100vw, 183px\" \/><figcaption>Jesus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I had an experience at church several years ago that added a new facet to the way I picture Jesus, and it has everything to do with <em>Game of Thrones<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I Will Fight For You<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After practicing Christianity for, essentially, 35 years, some of its symbols and catchphrases can start to lose their meaning for me. It\u2019s like when you say or write the same word over and over until it\u2019s just a random jumble of letters and utterly meaningless. Praise songs are an especially egregious example of this for me. I mean, yes, I theologically agree with what you\u2019re saying here (like 85% of the time), but what does this really <strong>mean<\/strong>? Is this supposed to be speaking to my soul? Because a lot of the time it just seems like a robot vomited some Jesus-y words into a boring, simple melody, and I\u2019m forced to sing it 16 times in a row or look like a bad Christian. [Was that too far? Am I going to hell now?] It was during some such trite praise song which spoke of God fighting for us, that a perfect image of Jesus popped into my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/7MvfU0cXaEjE4\" width=\"480\" height=\"312\" frameborder=\"0\" class=\"giphy-embed\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/gifs\/7MvfU0cXaEjE4\">via GIPHY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is Oberyn Martell, one of my favorite <em>Game of Thrones<\/em> characters, in one of my favorite scenes of the entire series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some background on this scene for those who aren\u2019t familiar with <em>Game of Thrones<\/em>\u2026 One of the show\u2019s central protagonists, Tyrion Lannister, has been wrongfully accused of killing the king, and knowing he won\u2019t get a fair trial, he demands a trial-by-combat. Because he is a dwarf and unskilled in combat, he needs a champion to fight on his behalf. Friends who could save Tyrion abandon him in his hour of need, and he is left without anyone to fight for him. Tyrion starts this scene at one of his lowest points in the entire series. He is alone, friendless, and facing certain death. But then Oberyn, a prince from a neighboring kingdom, visits Tyrion in his jail cell and announces that he will fight for him. Tyrion\u2019s face crumples in relief &amp; gratitude &amp; hope, and I get all the feels.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With this <em>Game of Thrones<\/em> moment in mind, the fairly abstract concept of \u201cJesus fighting for me\u201d became specifically significant. I guess it\u2019s a nice idea that Jesus will fight for me, but when have I really needed someone to fight for me? Like actually, physically fight to save my life? I can\u2019t think of a time. But have I ever felt like Tyrion Lannister felt in that moment &#8211; anxious, trapped, alone, unloved, unfairly treated, terrified, and utterly hopeless? Sure have! And to identify with those forlorn emotions makes the hope provided by Oberyn (Jesus) in this instance so much more meaningful than a vanilla, abstract praise song sentiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I Forgive You<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The parable of the Prodigal Son is a beautiful story and one of Jesus\u2019 most popular teachings. But this tale of amazing grace can sometimes, too, be made rather benign in processed McChurch settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tell me if you\u2019ve heard this one\u2026 a young man runs away from home and enjoys a little rumspringa of wild living (as my Nazarene college friends tell it, he drinks a few beers and goes to a nightclub) before running out of money and heading home to ask his dad to take him back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The father\u2019s grace in that glossed-over story feels a little\u2026 cheap, no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Theon-2-2-1024x664.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-303\" width=\"290\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Theon-2-2-1024x664.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Theon-2-2-300x194.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Theon-2-2-768x498.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Theon-2-2-586x380.jpg 586w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Theon-2-2.jpg 1106w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What about this instead? A young man (let\u2019s call him Theon) is raised as a sort of foster son in a kind &amp; caring family. Theon betrays that family &amp; turns against them in war. He seizes their home, taking his 2 young foster brothers as hostages, murdering faithful friends of the family, and igniting events that will lead to the gruesome death of the eldest son &amp; heir, his former best friend. Eventually Theon loses everything he acted so evilly to obtain. He is brought terribly low, enduring mutilation and years of torture, brainwashing, and brokenness. Finally Theon decides to risk his life attempting to escape with his foster sister rather than continue in such a pitiful existence. Theon eventually ends up face-to-face with his foster brother Jon, now king of the region. Theon can\u2019t even meet Jon\u2019s eyes, awash with shame; he confesses his grief over everything he\u2019s done to Jon\u2019s family. Jon responds: \u201cIt\u2019s not my place to forgive you for all of it. But what I can forgive, I do.\u201d And then he accepts Theon back into their family.**<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you may guess, I didn\u2019t make that story up &#8211; it also hails from <em>Game of Thrones<\/em>. The scene of forgiveness and acceptance between Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy is another of my series favorites. Jesus is so evident to me there. The grace offered by Jon (Jesus) is anything but cheap at the end of a journey like Theon\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">I don\u2019t picture Jesus like this anymore. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-290\" width=\"125\" height=\"166\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus-224x300.jpg 224w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus-284x380.jpg 284w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jesus.jpg 561w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 125px) 100vw, 125px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I look forward to seeing his actual (not-white) face some day, but in the meantime I picture Jesus in a lot of ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Oberyn-2-1024x557.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-291\" width=\"431\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Oberyn-2-1024x557.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Oberyn-2-300x163.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Oberyn-2-768x418.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Oberyn-2-698x380.jpg 698w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Oberyn-2.jpg 1474w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 431px) 100vw, 431px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes he\u2019s a charismatic prince who offers me hope when everything seems lost. When I literally cannot do what needs to be done, he shows up with a torch in my darkness and says, \u201cYou know what, I\u2019ll do it for you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hodor-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-297\" width=\"431\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hodor-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hodor-300x169.jpeg 300w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hodor-768x432.jpeg 768w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Hodor-675x380.jpeg 675w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 431px) 100vw, 431px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes he\u2019s a faithful and loving companion who holds the door shut against the forces of darkness trying to overrun me. (I couldn\u2019t bring myself to write a whole section about how Hodor = Jesus because NONE OF US COULD HANDLE THAT. Still too soon, guys.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Snow-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-302\" width=\"427\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Snow-1024x576.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Snow-300x169.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Snow-768x432.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Snow-676x380.jpg 676w, http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jon-Snow.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes he\u2019s a gentle brother, looking me in my eyes full of shame, knowing every unspeakably horrible act I have committed, and saying \u201cI forgive you. Not only do I accept you back into my family, but the truth is you never left it. You are part of us no matter what you do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[And sometimes he\u2019s Mark Darcy in <em>Bridget Jones\u2019 Diary<\/em> who \u201clikes me just the way I am.\u201d But that\u2019s a different story for a different time.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This is why I love to find Jesus in stories.<\/strong> It gives us so many different lenses through which to view his grace, so many different pictures of what Jesus can look like. And sometimes when the stories are truly grim, like <em>Game of Thrones<\/em>, the moments of hope and redemption shine the brightest. We don\u2019t live in a G-rated world; this place is dark &amp; brutal &amp; remarkably awful sometimes. It\u2019s beautiful that Jesus\u2019 hope &amp; forgiveness is found in those places too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">*Full disclosure: this story of Oberyn &amp; Tyrion does not have a happy ending. But that doesn\u2019t stop this specific scene from resonating spiritually with me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">**The end of Theon\u2019s story is only slightly less tragic than Oberyn\u2019s. But the bright spot is that Theon achieves redemption before dying at the hands of a menacing ice zombie. <em>Game of Thrones<\/em> was a troubling show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[This post may contain spoilers for the entire series of Game of Thrones] What does Jesus look like? I\u2019m not trying to start a debate about whether Jesus is white or some such nonsense. [He\u2019s not. He was born in the Middle East. Why is this still a thing people talk about??] I mean, what &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/30\/finding-jesus-in-game-of-thrones\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Finding Jesus in Game of Thrones<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-fiction","with-featured-image"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/GoT-saviors.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa85Nh-4D","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.faithfictionandfeminism.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}