The common perception of the Last Supper comes from Leonardo DaVinci’s painting of that last meal from around 1496. For over five centuries that has been the mental picture most of us have carried of that last meal in that upper room of Jesus and his disciples. It is of a long, rectangular table, covered in a white cloth, with Jesus sitting in the middle with disciples on both sides of him. They are all sitting on the same side of the table. Which brings me to my favorite Last Supper joke . . . what were the last words Jesus said at the last supper? “All you guys who want in the picture get on this side of the table.”
All kidding aside, this is the image most of us have of the last supper. As popular as the image is it is probably incorrect of its depiction of what took place that fateful night. But remember, it is how the artist saw it in his mind . . . how he envisioned it. It is clearly European in its form . . . the table, the tablecloth . . . even its setting does not look of the time or culture in which it took place. It was DaVinci’s interpretation.
Though DaVinci’s painting is probably the most popular and best known, it is not the only one. Over the centuries there have been many renderings of the Last Supper from across the world. My favorite comes from a German-American illustrator by the name of Fritz Eichenberg. His interpretation was not a painting, but a wood engraving titled The Lord’s Supper, 1955. Unlike DaVinci’s painting the table in Eichenberg’s is a round table. Around the table are seated nine men sitting by Jesus, two are serving, and one stands in the doorway looking in. The men are various ages—young and old . . . one has a crutch leaning against his chair . . . one is black . . . and they appear to be from what many might call the “wrong side of the tracks”. The print is in stark contrast of DaVinci’s more colorful painting as it is in black-and-white.
Margaret McGuinness, a professor of Religion and Theology at LaSalle University says this about the work of art: “Fritz Eichenberg’s depiction of the Last Supper is certainly not based on Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous masterpiece. I would much rather use this print in class, however, because I suspect that the final meal Jesus shared with his apostles looked more like Eichenberg’s depiction than Da Vinci’s version. It only makes sense that folks sharing a meal would want to sit at a round table where they could enjoy each other’s company and participate in the conversation. In Da Vinci’s version, Jesus and the apostles appear to be sitting at the head table at a banquet. When you’re seated at a table like that, you can only talk to the person on either side of you. That setting is not very conducive for those hoping to participate in the first Eucharist. In addition, Eichenberg’s print is a strong reminder that Jesus did not cater to the wealthy and the powerful. He told us that the poor are blessed; he healed the lame; and he reached out to those considered sinners and unworthy. It’s not about doctrine and orthodoxy; it’s about love and how we treat our neighbor. Eichenberg understood that, and the result is a portrayal of Jesus and those he loved that challenges us to stop and think about what Christianity—and organized religion in general—should be about.”
Eichenberg was born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1901. Having grown up in Germany during the first World War he held strong anti-war sentiments. In 1923 he moved to Berlin to begin his career as an artist. In 1933, the rise of Adolf Hitler made him a public critic of the Nazis and it was that year that he emigrated to the United States with his wife and children settling in New York City. There he taught art and continued to provide illustrations for books and magazines. Raised in a non-religious family he dabbled in several religions before landing in the Religious Society of Friends or what we call the Quakers in 1940 several years after his wife’s unexpected death. He remained a Quaker until his death in 1990. He was a close friend of Dorothy Day the founder of the Catholic Worker movement that advocated for social justice and practiced the works of mercy. It was a movement based on hospitality and roundtable discussions. Eichenberg’s prints appeared in The Catholic Worker magazine in 1955.
As you can imagine Eichenberg’s life experience, his faith background, and association with Dorothy Day influenced his understanding of Jesus and his ministry. Dr. McGuinness said Eichenberg’s work serves as “. . . a strong reminder that Jesus did not cater to the wealthy and the powerful. He told us that the poor are blessed; he healed the lame; and he reached out to those considered sinners and unworthy. It’s not about doctrine and orthodoxy; it’s about love and how we treat our neighbor. Eichenberg understood that, and the result is a portrayal of Jesus and those he loved that challenges us to stop and think about what Christianity—and organized religion in general—should be about.”
It gives us something to think about . . . especially today.
Why today?
Well today is World Communion Sunday. It is a day that is set aside by Christian denominations across the world to remember and observe the Lord’s Supper . . . to celebrate a “oneness” in Jesus with our brothers and sisters from across the world. It is a reminder that we are to go and do as Jesus did . . . to love and to serve . . . especially those who are on the outside of life and society.
But . . . how? Are we to base our practice and lives on DaVinci’s or Eichenberg’s interpretation of Jesus’ last meal with his disciples?
In our reading this morning the disciples ask Jesus to “increase our faith!” Now it is easy to believe that faith is what we think . . . what we have been taught . . . the teachings and words we have learned. It is all in the mind. Maybe that is what Jesus was saying when he told his disciples, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
Here it seems as the disciples were asking for some sort of acknowledgement of the work they had been doing . . . some sort of a marker of their good deeds as a testament of their faith. Up to that point what had the disciples done? Not much and Jesus wasn’t handing out gold stickers anyways. No, their test of faithfulness was coming. In the meantime, Jesus let them know that faith is what they do and they do what must be done much like a servant who gets no accolades for the job he or she has been entrusted. Jesus tells them: “ . . . when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Or as Joe Friday used to say on the old Dragnet show, “Just doing our jobs ma’am.”
Jesus turns the table on them. As we have recreated the story of that last meal through the various gospels, we know that Jesus demonstrated and told his disciples that things were changing. He took on the servant role and washed their feet to show them what it meant to be a servant. He spoke to them about how his life, ministry, and actions come to a head with the ultimate act of servanthood . . . giving one’s life for the life of another. And he told them to do all of this in remembrance of him. They were to move from being served to serving. The table was turned.
As so it has been turned on us to! The question is which table were we sitting at . . . DaVinci’s or Eichenberg’s? In one the table is set and we are invited to take our place. In the other we set the table and invite others to join us. In one it feels as if we are being served . . . as if we are receiving a gift . . . which in a way we are. That is God’s grace. Yet, in the other we are the gift as we remember Jesus . . . his words, but more importantly his actions.
As pretty as DaVinci’s painting is it is Eichenberg’s print that reminds us that as we gather around the Lord’s Table to celebrate this meal we are challenged by Jesus to do more than eat a simple meal. We are challenged to “do this” . . . “do this in remembrance of me.” In being served we are called to serve in return. We are called to take the Lord’s table with us daily inviting others to find their place and become a part of the chain of grace. Jesus rightly turns the table on us. Do we pick up the challenge and follow?
On this World Communion Sunday, just as Dr. McGuinness said about Eichenberg’s print, we are challenged to see a “portrayal of Jesus and those he loved that challenges us to stop and think about what Christianity—and organized religion in general—should be about.” I think if we want to be in the picture we need to get on the right side of the table. Amen.
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