Lent Day 11: Mother Hens and T. Rex

This week's Sunday text from the gospel of Luke was Jesus' lament over Jerusalem, in which he gives us a startling image of himself.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem... How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 
~Luke 13:34 

A chicken is not exactly an august, stately, lordly image for Jesus Christ, whom the Church confesses to be truly human and truly God. Chickens are rather... silly. They make silly noises. They are ungainly, inelegant, and graceless. 

Still. A friend's daughter sits in the henhouse with their chickens and holds them on her lap, and finds great comfort in them. There is something soft and vulnerable about them. They are lovable.

And maybe an inelegant, ungainly, homely image of Jesus is good for us. A large percentage of those who claim the Christian label have bought into an image of a buff, muscular Jesus, looking very much as if he's gone overboard with steroids, and who vaporizes nonbelievers with X-ray vision... or something like that. (I confess: I couldn't get through three chapters of the first book, the writing is so bad... but I digress.)

But news flash: The incarnation is not about God coming as The Rock, or Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa 1988. The incarnation is about God taking on human flesh, becoming, not like us, but one of us. Maybe the image of Jesus as a slightly silly bird, who nevertheless has strong protective instincts towards her young, and who gives of herself prolifically... maybe that's not the worst image of Jesus we could have. Maybe it's an improvement on Royal Jesus, and Buff Jesus, and X-ray Vision Jesus.

But, also, there's this: 68 million year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex DNA was compared with the DNA of 21 modern species, and guess which modern species was the closest match? Read about it here.

Most of us non-DNA experts might have assumed rhinoceroses and alligators would be stronger candidates for a direct lineage to the T Rex.  (I'm imagining at least some DNA experts would have expected something similar?) But no. The most direct lineage comes to the humble, not very impressive chicken. The large and, apparently, terrifying (if Steven Spielberg is to be believed) carnivore to whom scientists assigned a name that included Tyrannosaur (Latin for "Tyrant lizard) and "Rex" (Latin for "king") was displaced by the little, feathery, and, apparently, cuddly bird. Nature rejected the tyrant, and went with the protective mom.

(I know. I might not exactly have the clearest picture of natural selection here... but work with me...)

But back to Jesus... and his selection of the mother hen for an image of his loving protectiveness. The more I meditate on it, the more it delights me. The more I ponder it, the more I welcome it as an image for God's love. 

Jeffrey Vallance, Divine Mother Hen (2018), Stained glass