Gospel in Art: Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children

La Jeune Fille Sophistiquée (portrait de Nancy Cunard). Sculpted by Constantin Brancusi , conceived in 1928, cast in 1932, © Succession Brancusi

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 31 January 2026
Matthew 18:1-5

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.'

Reflection on the Sculpture

I remember this sculpture coming up for sale just a year before I entered seminary. It was offered at Christie's in New York in May 2018 and sold for an astonishing $71 million, an indication of how deeply this work speaks to the modern world. The sculptor, Constantin Brâncuși, arrived in Paris on foot from Romania in 1904, famously saying he came from "beyond the mountains and beyond the stars." By the 1920s, he had become almost legendary among the Parisian avant-garde for his radical simplicity. Conceived in 1928, this sculpture of a young girl still feels strikingly contemporary: reduced to a few essential lines, elegant and restrained, yet full of presence. Brâncuși strips away everything unnecessary until only what truly matters remains.

There is something deeply spiritual about that act of simplification. This sculpture does not impress through complexity or drama, but through clarity and stillness. The girl stands upright, poised, almost attentive, as if fully present to the moment. Nothing is forced. Nothing is cluttered. And in that simplicity, something universal emerges. Brâncuși reminds us that purity of form can reveal elegance and beauty. By letting go of excess, beauty can quietly surface.

And that is precisely where today's Gospel leads us. Jesus places a child before his disciples and tells them that greatness in the Kingdom begins here: with simplicity, humility, and trust. Not childishness, no clutter, no excess, no drama. He invites us to childlikeness. Like this sculpture, we are invited to stand upright before God: attentive, open, unguarded. Just as a child relies completely on a parent, Jesus asks us to live in total dependence on him. In a world that prizes complexity and control, Christ gently points us back to what is essential. And perhaps that is the quiet challenge of both the sculpture and the Gospel: to sit up, to pay attention, and to allow ourselves to always focus on the essence of things.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/matthew-18-1-5-2026/