April 1: The Last Supper
♫ Music:
Day 32 - Saturday, April 1
The Last Supper
Scripture: Luke 22:14-20
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”
Poetry:
"The Upper Room"
by Charles Wesley
In that sad memorable night,
When Jesus was for us betrayed,
He left his death-recording rite,
He took, and blessed, and brake the bread,
And gave his own their last bequest,
And thus his love’s intent exprest;
Take, eat, this is my body, given
To purchase life and peace for you,
Pardon and holiness and heaven;
Do this my dying love to show
Accept your precious legacy,
And thus, my friends, remember me.
He took into his hands the cup,
To crown the sacramental feast,
And full of kind concern looked up,
And gave what he to them had blest;
And drink ye all of this, he said,
In solemn memory of the Dead.
This is my blood which seals the new
Eternal covenant of my grace,
My blood so freely shed for you,
For you and all the sinful race;
My blood that speaks your sins forgiven,
And justifies your claim to heaven.
The grace which I to all bequeath
In this divine memorial take,
And, mindful of your Saviour’s death,
Do this, my followers, for my sake,
Whose dying love hath left behind
Eternal life for all mankind.
THE LAST SUPPER
My church community practices communion regularly, gathering weekly to remember these words of Jesus in Luke 22:14-20, which perhaps more than any other teaching illustrates himself as fulfillment of Old Testament law and practice. Each week in worship, my church body encounters again the Gospel heard and seen and touched and tasted in the bread broken and wine sipped. The weekly practice of receiving his Gospel in this way has deepened the truth of its utter goodness in me. Sometimes my felt experience of this weekly encounter is more profound than others - at times my mind and heart are in a thousand other places. And at other times my mind and heart register awe as my church body once again moves forward to taste and see that the Lord is indeed good.
The profundity of this goodness comes to life when placed in sharp relief against the next few verses, captured by today’s image. As Luke tells it, there isn't a moment's pause between Jesus’ institution of this church practice and Jesus’ prediction in verses 21-22, which land like a bomb amidst the disciples. And that is the moment captured by today’s focal artwork.
I spent quite some time pondering this image – da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper pulled into sculpture of wood and stone by artist Marisol Escobar. The disciples emerge from 2D into 3D, hands coming to life, heads emerging to register shock, dismay, even horror. The warm, color-filled movement of the disciples radiate outward from the calm, sober image of Jesus. For three years, the twelve had built their lives around that still, knowing figure in the center. The movement captured in da Vinci’s painting becomes more chaotic, jarring, and disorienting in Marisol’s sculptural rendering, as the figures burst from flat wooden panels in response to Jesus’ words in verse 21, “But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table…”
With those words, their worlds begin a slow fragmentation that ends in the shattering reality of Jesus’ death a few hours later - hours holding not just betrayal, but struggle to pray, loss of nerve, broken promises, scattering, denial, fear, and failure.
It wasn’t until I returned to this image the second or third time that I paid much attention to the lone figure of wood in the bottom right corner. Titling her work Self-Portrait Looking at the Last Supper, Marisol has put herself into the scene, imagined herself bodily in that space as envisioned by da Vinci. With the disciples, she hears Jesus’ words of institution and watches Jesus’ sober knowing of the betrayal, denial, failure, and fear to come. And while Jesus is the only fully 3D figure in this scene, Marisol comes close, also emerging from the flat wood into curves and movements of 3D sculpture. It’s as if in focusing on Jesus, she is somehow becoming more real.
We, too, are invited to become part of the scene, to sit before Jesus, to partake in the meal. “Take,” said Jesus, “Eat - I am broken for you.” And as we touch and taste the bread and the wine, broken and poured out for the forgiveness of sin - of my betrayal and failure, denial and fear, of moments where I thought I had my world in order before it fragmented and shattered - as we practice touching and tasting the Gospel that covers our sin and heals our diseases, maybe we, too, become more real.
PRAYER
Lord, come to us that you may cleanse us. Lord, come to us that you may heal us. Lord, come to us that you may strengthen us. And grant that having received you, we may never be separated from you by our sins; but be continually yours for ever; till we see you face to face in your heavenly kingdom; where with the Father and the Holy Ghost, you live and reign, ever one God, world without end.
Amen.
Treasury of Devotion, 1869
Lisa Igram
Associate Dean of Spiritual Development
About the Artwork:
Self-Portrait Looking at the Last Supper (1982-84)
Marisol Escobar
Wood, plywood, stone, plaster, aluminum, dye, charcoal
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
About the Artist:
Marisol Escobar (1930 - 2016) studied art in Paris before moving to New York in 1950. Although Marisol's work never fit comfortably into any one category, her use of popular culture imagery allied her with America's Pop artists in the 1960s. Metropolitan Museum of Art commentary states, “Leonardo da Vinci's famous fresco The Last Supper is the basis for Marisol Escobar’s contemporary sculptural assemblage. In this monumental thirty-foot-long construction (matching the fresco's length), Marisol faithfully translates the illusionistic perspective of the painting into three-dimensional form and space. The fresco's ambiguities (between reality and illusion and plane and volume) resonate in the sculpture, where our perception constantly shifts between two dimensions and three as the seated figures are neither fully rounded nor consistently flat.
The central figure of Christ is beautifully chiseled from a block of salvaged New York City stone, while the rest of the figures and the table items are assembled from more than a hundred painted and drawn pieces of wood. Looking serene and ashen, and already otherworldly in spirit, Christ's physical solidity provides the visual and emotional anchor for this dramatic scene. Seated across the room from The Last Supper, a single wooden figure representing the artist herself scrutinizes her handiwork. Her watchful presence reaffirms the point that art is about looking, evaluating, and reinventing what one sees.”
About the Music:
“Remembrance” (Communion Hymn)
Lyrics:
[Verse 1:]
Oh, how could it be
That my God would welcome me into this mystery
Say take this bread, take this wine
Now the simple made divine for any to receive
[Bridge:]
By Your mercy, we come to Your table
By Your grace, You are making us faithful
[Chorus:]
Lord, we remember You
And remembrance leads us to worship
And as we worship You
Our worship leads to communion
We respond to Your invitation, we remember You
[Verse 2:]
See His body, His blood
Know that He has overcome every trial we will face
None too lost to be saved
None too broken or ashamed, all are welcome in this place
[Bridge]
[Chorus]
[Verse 3:]
Dying You destroyed our death
Rising You restored our life
Lord Jesus, come in glory
[Chorus]
About the Composer/ Performer:
Matt Maher (b. 1974) is a contemporary Christian music artist, songwriter and worship leader originally from Newfoundland, Canada, who later relocated to Tempe, Arizona. Three of his albums have reached the Top 25 Christian Albums Billboard chart and four of his singles have reached the Top 25 Christian Songs chart. Maher is a practicing Roman Catholic. His song, “Your Grace is Enough” has been sung in approximately 150,000 churches throughout the USA. NASA astronauts have taken Matt’s music into space with them on three separate occasions.
www.mattmahermusic.com
About the Poet:
Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was the founder of the Methodist movement and known for writing over 6,000 hymns. In 1738 Wesley had a powerful conversion experience and as a result felt renewed strength to spread the Gospel. It was during this period that he began to write the poetic hymns for which he would be revered. Many Wesleyan hymns focus on the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, the depravity of mankind, and humanity's personal accountability to God. His hymns have had a significant influence not only on Methodism, but on modern theology as a whole.
About Devotional Writer:
Before coming to Biola to complete her MDiv in Spiritual Formation & Soul Care, Lisa Ingram earned an MA in TESOL and worked for seven years in International Education, teaching English overseas and then working as Director of International Students Programs at Hope International University. Lisa joined Biola’s Spiritual Development staff in 2012, where she especially enjoys training students in spiritual formation and leadership and connecting one-on-one with students. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Divinity & Religious Studies at Aberdeen University, Scotland.