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Are We Conformed by Images?

We are bombarded by images daily. Images that tell us where to go, what to wear, and what to do, on the sides of buses, billboards, street signs, etc. A study by the Yankelvich market research firm estimates that a person living in the City sees 5,000 advertisements a day. These images of popular culture effect how we view and receive information whether it is a conversation at work or a story from the Bible. We approach every situation with an image, a mental model of how it should be– including the Church.

 

If we were asked to imagine the "last supper," what images come to mind? The most famous image of the Last Supper is by Leonardo da Vinci, one of the great masters of the Italian Renaissance. It is a majestic painting with Jesus at the center of the table as daylight peeks through the window behind him. The single point perspective causes us to focus on Jesus and then our eye moves out to find the disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus' friend Mary Magdalen. We may ask, which one is Judas? Which one is Peter? But have we ever questioned the historical accuracy of the image? Have we ever stopped to consider what a Jewish Passover would have looked like?

 

Last Supper by Da Vinci


In his book Children and The Theologians: Preparing the Way for Grace, author Jerome Berryman compares Da Vinci's Last Supper to a painting with the same title by Bohdan Piasecki, a contemporary Polish artist. In Piasecki's rendition of the last supper, men, woman, and children–whole families– recline around both sides of the table. The time is night. The room is lit by candlelight. There is earthen pottery around the room and the food on the table is the traditional unleavened bread of the Passover. Jesus holds up the bread. The children are smiling. Everyone is sharing in the historic meal that reminds them of the Exodus story when the people of God were freed from slavery in Egypt.

 

Last Supper by Piasecki


Piasecki's painting makes sense with what we know about 1st century Jerusalem and the Jewish Passover feast. If we look at the two versions of the last supper together the differences are striking.  Is your image of the Church like Da Vinci's last supper? Or more like Piasecki's Last Supper?  This week, like every week, we will receive communion. Maybe this week you can imagine Jesus holding up the bread surrounded by his disciples, men, woman, and children. Everyone is welcomed.  As a church, we want to remember and be welcoming to children. Where are we doing that well, where are we missing them? What might welcoming children look like for you?

 

If you would like to find out more about children's ministry contact David Starfas >

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