Can you depict Jesus on cakes?

[Kew Gardens]

Hi,

I wonder if it is appropriate in your opinion to depict Jesus on cakes? For example, to make a Jesus figure or a Jesus picture? Is it appropriate to depict a bare cross? Is it appropriate to depict the Bible?

If no, what scenes from the Old Testament or the New Testament are appropriate for cakes in your opinion?

I want to have a cake for my coming birthday which depicts some of the Biblical scene yet I understand that certain themes may not be considered appropriate by some of our brothers and sisters.

I assume that depicting some topics from the Old Testament like the Noah's Ark or Jonah and the Whale are appropriate. I suppose one can easily eat a piece of such a cake without doubting he/she is doing something wrong but when it comes to eating a cake with Jesus/The Bible/a cross it could be a pretty dubious action.

What do you think?

 

[JonC]

That would seem weird to me. I think it'd be in poor taste.

But, then again (and speaking of poor taste)...I'm surprised some haven't done this for Communion.

 

[canadyjd]

Do everything with a clear concious, remembering Jesus is God and, imho, any depiction that is flippant or less than reverent would be inappropriate.

 

[Jerome]

How about Jesus baked inside a cake?

I was surprised to see SBC Lifeway Sunday School curriculum last year promoting the King Cake celebration (giant Epiphany pastry with baby Jesus figurine baked inside):

"One of the best parts of Mardi Gras is King Cake! The tradition around the King Cake is for friends, family, and neighbors to come together for a sweet treat that includes a plastic baby hidden inside the cake."

National Geographic explains:

"January 6 — also known as Epiphany or King’s Day — kicks off Carnival, or Mardi Gras season....What’s a King Cake you say? Imagine something not quite the consistency of a cake, but more like a roll or bread. There are multiple options for a filling, popular flavors include plain cinnamon, cream cheese, praline, strawberry, raspberry, apple and lemon. A plastic king-cake baby, symbolizing the infant Jesus, is hidden in the cake. The person who gets the piece of cake with the baby traditionally has to buy the next King Cake. So, if you’re cheap, avoid the baby and, most importantly, don’t swallow him."

 

[agedman]

Why not an open tomb?

Or a lightning (For as the lightning strikes in the east and shines in the west so shall the coming ...)

It would become a conversation piece in which the focus was not on the pictured portrayal of whom we have no actual picture, but of a certain event in which the discussion can become that Glorifying the King who allowed you to have a birthday.

 

[Jerome]

SBC Lifeway Sunday School curriculum...promoting the King Cake celebration (giant Epiphany pastry)

I got to taste of one of these at church Sunday (January 6 - Epiphany), it is something like coffee cake or sweet roll.

 

[rlvaughn]

Aside from other weird considerations of the "King Cake," I don't like the idea of something plastic being baked inside something I'm eating.

 

[Jerome]

Aside from other weird considerations of the "King Cake," I don't like the idea of something plastic being baked inside something I'm eating.

Then just order yours 'on the side' or with a fava bean as a stand-in:

Epicurious • Everything you ever wanted to know about king cakes, the colorful, baby-stuffed pastries served during Mardi Gras season

"The first king cakes had a...fava bean (or fève) baked inside...Most recently, plastic baby figurines became popular hidden treasures in king cakes, which some say represent the baby Jesus. These days most bakeries sell their king cakes with the plastic babies on the side, just in case any patrons not familiar with the custom take an unsuspecting bite."

 

[rlvaughn]

I think I'll pass. Don't know what I would do with a plastic baby "on the side" and fava bean doesn't sound inviting either.

 

[Reformed]

I defer to the second commandment on this issue.

Sent using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Scarlett O.]

I'm from Louisiana and king cakes are the bomb!!!!! I always bought a few for my students every year when they are popular [during Mardi Gras]. I've never heard of the plastic baby representing baby Jesus. Wouldn't that be off a holiday or so?

I always take the baby out [and yes, that requires me poking around the caked with a knife until I find it. LOL!]

They are delicious and are nothing more than a giant and very sugary/cinnamon-laden coffee cake with LOTS of icing dyed green, gold, and purple.

 

[Jerome]

I'm from Louisiana and king cakes are the bomb!!!!! I always bought a few for my students every year when they are popular [during Mardi Gras]. I've never heard of the plastic baby representing baby Jesus. Wouldn't that be off a holiday or so?

Explained:

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

"January 6...the Feast of Epiphany...the visit of the Magi....Epiphany marks the traditional date when New Orleanians can begin enjoying the confection known as King Cake, a delectable ring of pastry, cinnamon, multi-colored icing, a variety of creamy stuffings, and most importantly, a hidden plastic baby! The baby represents Jesus, and the King Cake honors the visit of the Three Kings. As a rule, King Cakes are available only during Carnival season, which extends from Epiphany until Lent, the forty-day season leading up to Easter. Even we Baptists, who generally don’t observe the liturgical calendar, enjoy the sweet treat of King Cakes while they last."

 

[Scarlett O.]

Explained:

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

"January 6...the Feast of Epiphany...the visit of the Magi....Epiphany marks the traditional date when New Orleanians can begin enjoying the confection known as King Cake, a delectable ring of pastry, cinnamon, multi-colored icing, a variety of creamy stuffings, and most importantly, a hidden plastic baby! The baby represents Jesus, and the King Cake honors the visit of the Three Kings. As a rule, King Cakes are available only during Carnival season, which extends from Epiphany until Lent, the forty-day season leading up to Easter. Even we Baptists, who generally don’t observe the liturgical calendar, enjoy the sweet treat of King Cakes while they last."

Ah...that explains it. I'm not Catholic. LOL!

 

[unprofitable]

Seems like another observation of a catholic "holiday" similar to xmas in its meaning. Unfortunately, there are some so called Baptists who have integrated the observance of lent as part of their so called easter. I read of a congregation in Knoxville, Tn that did.

Exo 20:1-5 prohibits making a graven image which is what the catholics and many other denominations hang in their meeting places. Who knows what Christ or the Father looked like? Whatever image you would use would be from a vain imagination, even as the so-called image of the Father in the sistine chapel or a plastic "Jesus" in a cake or on a cheese sandwich would be. How do you know that the picture used to represent the Father or the Son would not be the same as how satan would appear? Let's think about this brethren. Did Christ's taking the law out of the way make it ok to make graven images of the Godhead? Christ said in John 10:30, "I and my Father are one. Since the only picture of Christ or the Father would have to be one of imagination, it would be a defiled image of not only the Father but also the Son. Not only do the scriptures forbid such images, it condemns them. Jeremiah 2:32 says, ..."my people have forgotten me days without number." We see the same line of doctrine in Jer. 18:15, 23:27, 50:6, and Hosea 4:6. Do we bring to rememberance the Father and the Son by making graven images unto them or do we go further into forgetfulness? Mardi gras is one of the most godless celebrations you can find. God help the New Orleans catholic Baptist Seminary.

 

[tyndale1946]

Well my step daughter in law is not Catholic but is Christian and every year around Christmas, she bakes a cake... Covers it with frosting all around and on the top, she writes in frosting... Happy Birthday Jesus... I've heard of Jesus on a cake but never in a cake... Brother Glen

 

[Jerome]

I don't like the idea of something plastic being baked inside something I'm eating.

A similar ritual at R.C. Sproul's church entails metal crosses baked inside cakes as prizes:

St. Andrew's Chapel, Sanford, Fla

"Each year in the fall the church celebrates the 'Feast of Saint Andrew’s' with a church dinner. Baked into the dessert cakes are 12 metal cross necklaces. Parishioners who are served a piece of cake with a cross inside get to keep the cross"