Jesus the fire on earth.

ii. Fire (Oil on Canvas. Faces Series: Jesus the Fiery Prophet, 2002. Collection of the artist.)

Fire too is a frequently found image in Jyoti’s painting. For, the works and words of Jesus are not only about healing and compassion; he is also the fiercely critical prophet of unjust ways that wound the poor, the vulnerable and those pushed aside from their God-intended place in the human community, their rightful share of earth’s life.

Jyoti quotes Jesus words: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled’. He is the burning bush, who speaks to Moses from the fire, declaring that he has seen the suffering of his people, and is about to act to set them free. Jesus is consumed with anger because he sees and feels all the evil of the world, and how creation needs to be transformed...In some tribal stories too there is going to be a great fire, a fire that will clear away the thorns and choking weeds of the forest, leading to re-generation of earth’s life.