"The Last
Supper (All Things Must Pass)"
Oil, 48" x 24", 2002
The meal shared by Jesus Christ and his disciples on the night before he
was crucified is called the Last Supper (Matt. 26:20; Mark 14:17-25;
Luke
22:14-38; John 13:1-17:26). It was the occasion of his establishment of
the Eucharist (a spiritual union with God), when he identified the
broken bread
with his body and the cup of wine with his blood of the new Covenant.
This "farewell" meal was also a pre-arranged and deliberate act. It
was in
some sense a Passover meal, though possibly held a day before the
official celebration, in the knowledge that the next evening would be
too late.
At the meal Jesus gave some vital last minute instructions to his closet
disciples in view of his imminent departure. He also revealed that he
was to
be betrayed by one of his disciples (though without apparently
identifying the traitor, except perhaps to John). But the focus of the
meal was the
symbolic sharing of bread and wine which he gave as tokens that his
coming death was to be for the benefit of his disciples (and beyond them
of
"many"). This symbolic act was the clearest statement Jesus ever made
of the redemptive purpose of his death, and it has fittingly become, as
himself
directed, the focus of worship among his followers. It finally put an
end to any doubts his disciples may have had of his commitment to death,
as the
will of the Father for him.
The Last Supper (All Things Must Pass):
This version of the Last Supper is more of a celebration of Jesus
Christ's life than an establishment of the Eucharist. Jesus is
celebrating his life with his
friends the Apostles. They are toasting him before the inevitable
happens…except for Judas Iscariot. Judas is the apostle that betrayed
Jesus by turning
him over to the Romans for 30 pieces of silver. Judas is pictured on
the far right and is not toasting to Jesus instead he is putting down
his glass while
the others are raising theirs. Judas is wearing a hood because he
essentially is responsible for the most significant murder of all time.
Of course the Last Supper has been painted thousands of times through
the years and my goal was to make it as different, but respectful to the
event,
as I could.
Hopefully this painting will remind us of what Jesus did and what he
went through for us.
Original: $5000.00
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Copyright © Joe
Bartz 2009