I was at a church recently and in the foyer there was a big statue of Jesus hung on a wall with His arms outstretched. For the first time, I looked down and noticed that He didn’t have sandals on his feet. When I came back to my office, I checked two icons of Jesus on my wall, one of the crucifixion and the other of the resurrection.
On the cross, I saw in the icon His bare feet bleeding from the wounds made from the nails of the Roman soldier. In the resurrection icon, He is still barefoot, pulling Adam and Eve out of the depths of Sheol. I even found icons of apostles and many of them are wearing sandals.
Why doesn’t Jesus wear anything on His feet after He’s raised from the dead?
Well, no Bible verse tells us His feet are bare. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine Him going to the Roman soldier’s house who won His clothes in the lottery. “Hey, I’m back from the dead. I’ll be taking my clothes and leaving.” Why would artists, sculptors, and iconographers depict a barefoot Jesus?
St. Thomas Aquinas once said that Christ’s wounds are trophies of His victory. He went to battle against Sin, Satan, and Death - and He won. What do we do with our trophies? We put them on display. Why would Jesus cover up His feet if they represent His triumph over the nails of the cross? Christ could have said to doubting Thomas, “See my feet. Stop doubting and believe.”
St. Thomas also said Christ’s new body was marked by agility. From the post-resurrection accounts in the gospels, we see Jesus can appear wherever He wants. After sitting down for a meal with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus vanishes. When the apostles are locked in a room for fear of the Jews, Jesus “came and stood among them.” He’s got a new, agile body. He does not need to run anywhere. He wills His body to be wherever He would love to be. And His body (and the universe) obeys His will.
Perhaps the strength of His risen body negates the use of sandals. Paul says the mortal body is “sown in weakness” but “raised in power.” Would the risen Jesus, who broke down the gates of Hell, be worried about a rock jutting into His heel? Could the Savior of the World stub His toe and screech in pain? Come on. Sandals are for protection and the glorified body of Our Lord does not need protection anymore.
What do you think? Why would Christians depict a barefoot Jesus?