The Art Gallery Visitation
After graduation from the university, each young nobleman was sent on a year-long journey through the capital cities of Europe to complete his education. Ludwig’s travels were uneventful until May 20, 1719, the day he visited the Dusseldorf art museum. Walking leisurely through the gallery, Ludwig stopped at a large, sombre painting of Jesus Christ with the crown of thorns on His head, and blood on His cheek. The painting, by Italian artist Domenico Feti, was entitled “Ecce Homo,” which was the Latin phrase for “Behold the Man.”
A Life-Changing Question
The words etched beneath the painting startled Ludwig and were burned into his heart: “This I have done for you; what are you doing for Me?” “I stood there without an answer,” Zinzendorf wrote. “I implored my Saviour to draw me with force into the partnership of His suffering, even if my mind struggled against it.” There, in that art gallery, Ludwig von Zinzendorf dedicated the rest of his life to the service of the Son of God.
A Commitment to Christ
“These wounds were meant to purchase me,” he declared. “These drops of blood were shed to obtain me. I am not my own today – I belong to another; I have been bought with a price, and I will live every moment of every day so that the Great Purchaser of my soul will receive the full reward of His suffering.”
Friendship Across Differences
During his six months’ stay in France, Ludwig met the archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles. In spite of their different beliefs regarding Catholic doctrine, the men developed a friendship based on their love for the crucified Saviour; and, before they parted company, the seventy-year-old cardinal accepted twenty-year-old Ludwig’s invitation for membership in The Order of the Mustard Seed. For the rest of his life, Zinzendorf insisted that it was love for Christ that could end the differences among Christian believers.
To be continued…
Tale Tuesday 103
Date: 5th November, 2024
Title: : COUNT NIKOLAUS LUDWIG VON ZINZENDORF (Part 10)
Source: God’s generals- The Missionaries
Author: Roberts Liardon
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