When Jesus Rode Into Jackson
A new mural adorning St. John the Evangelist features holy images alongside Petoskey stones, white-tailed deer, and Alice Cooper
Jackson — The story of Jesus riding into Jackson on a donkey doesn’t appear in the Bible, but it’s a small detail in a big mural that now covers the apse of St. John the Evangelist—a new painting in an old church that aspires to tell the story of a Catholic Mass.
“It seeks to magnify and glorify God,” says Joseph Macklin, the artist behind the work.
Colorful and complex, “The Cosmological Vision of Holy Mass” was unveiled last Christmas Eve in a building whose cornerstone was laid in 1856. It spans a curved surface of 770 square feet and displays the Lamb of God, groups of saints, angels, and more.
It also depicts Michigan, with images of white pine, whitetail deer, and a Petoskey stone.
Among the saints is Blessed Solanus Casey—not a saint, at least not yet. Best known for his service to the poor in Detroit, he was beatified at Ford Field in 2017. On the upper left portion of the mural, he stands alongside Kateri Tekakwitha, Maximilian Kolbe, Pope John Paul II, and Carlo Acutis. Across the apse are images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Joseph, and Mother Teresa.
“I want to give people a workout when they look at this mural,” says Macklin. “At ornate and beautiful churches, I’ve felt exhausted as though experiencing an intense physical activity but for the mind. I hope this project will engage people in a similar way.”
Born and raised in Jackson, the 42-year-old Macklin grew up going to St. Mary Star of the Sea, which is less than a mile south of St. John the Evangelist. “At Mass I wasn’t always focused on the priest,” he says. “I was often looking at the beautiful art.”
Macklin says he drifted away from his faith during high school at Lumen Christi, but he rediscovered it after a priest encouraged him to paint a Pieta, a traditional subject of Christian art in which Mary holds the dead body of Jesus. Macklin says he drew inspiration from words attributed to Fra Angelico, a 15th-century Florentine artist: “He who wishes to paint Christ’s story must live with Christ.”
Macklin went on to earn a degree from the Columbus College of Art & Design in Ohio. Later he returned to Jackson and taught at a career center. A few years ago, he felt burned out at his job. “I needed to do something else, even if it was installing solar panels,” he says.
Sacred art had been his side hustle. Macklin decided to devote himself to it full time, founding Instrumentum Dei Studio. The mural at St. John the Evangelist is his biggest commission so far. It took a year to complete. Macklin usually got started a few hours before dawn and worked most of the day. “I don’t sleep much,” he says.
“The Cosmological Vision of Holy Mass” is divided into two parts. The top half portrays the marriage supper of the lamb, as described in the Book of Revelation. “It’s really a catechesis on what is happening liturgically,” says Father Chas Canoy in a video.
The bottom half shows scenes from the life of Christ—or what Macklin calls a “simultanbild,” or a “simultaneous picture” that tells a continuous narrative story, from the nativity to the resurrection.
Church art can be deliberately anachronistic. Biblical figures in the paintings of Caravaggio, for example, sometimes appear dressed in Renaissance garb. Pieter Brueghel the Elder made Bethlehem look like a Flemish village in winter.
Macklin’s mural belongs to this tradition—and locals who gaze upon it will notice churches from the Diocese of Lansing and buildings from downtown Jackson, including many of the vivid murals that decorate them. Macklin was so determined to represent them accurately that he even included a tiny rendering of the Alice Cooper mural at 105 E. Michigan Ave.
Perhaps that’s appropriate. Alice Cooper is the stage name of Vincent Damon Furnier, a Detroit native who became a 1970s rock star with songs such as “School’s Out.” Today he’s an active Christian who reads the Bible and prays before concerts.
“One of my goals is to invite those who may otherwise be drawn to Holy Mass as more of a passive audience and engage them to become active members, stimulating their minds and their spiritual lives,” says Macklin. “I hope this mural causes people to study, engage with their faith, and be more prayerful.”
