One of the things we have learned is that pictures of specific themes are always in the same place in Orthodox churches, and the above image is a good example of this. It is always found in the cupola, the central dome, and it calls Christos Pantocrator. This means 'Christ Almighty' and so the depiction is of Christ reigning in glory, literally over the body of the church and metaphorically over the world.
It is an image seen everywhere in the Eastern tradition of the church but much less in the West where the focus is often more on the sufferings of Christ. And yet it is an image with a strong biblical pedigree, not least in the writings of the apostle Paul. In Colossians 1:15-17 he writes of Christ:
'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth...; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together.'
The apostle Paul was in no doubt that just as it was right to worship the crucified Jesus, so it was also right to stand in awe at the ascended and reigning Jesus who will one day come again. I think all of us today have been prompted to think a little more about this than we have done before.
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