A few weeks ago, I emailed a photograph of the Lord's Supper to numerous friends and associates. Within my email I requested the following:
…I need for you to help me by telling me what you see when viewing the Lord's Supper portrait. We all know the obvious. Right? i.e. twelve disciples, Jesus in the
middle, table with food, a discussion is commencing, etc. Now, tell me what you see beyond these things.
Listed below are a few of the responses:
*I don't see any women.
*There is a woman to the right of Jesus.
*I see enough to know that the image that most people refer to as Jesus is a lie.
*The biggest impression this picture leaves on me is that this is a group that is not in harmony with each other.
*I see the traditional picture of the last supper that most of us ascribe to. However, I also see a Eurocentric view of Jesus and the disciples. I also see that Jesus is looking straight ahead, rather than at the disciples. That might just be to reflect his calm manner in the midst of all of the confusion. If I am correct, this picture is the point when Jesus stated, “tonight, one shall betray me.” The disciples were questioning who would do it. I don’t know which one is Judas (at least they didn’t make him black), but I know shortly after that, Satan entered him, and he left the room (for them to complete the supper).
*There appears to be an argument going on with ‘finger pointing’ and 'gesturing' between what looks to be 4 different groups of opinions. It looks that Jesus is trying to get the different opinions to come to some sort of compromise or mutual understanding. However, he doesn't look to be having much success in getting the group to come together.
*WHITE MEN!
*In all honesty, the only thing I see in this picture is great group discussion. We always wonder what everyone was talking about when Jesus prayed - maybe we can now start to speculate that Judas was not the only one involved in the deception of Jesus! All the disciples in this picture are engaged in some sort of conversation.
*There are windows and greenery outside. Daylight. One nationality
The people are not focused; they are holding conversations.
Where is the wine?
*When I take the time to look at this picture I see a group of white people with plenty of food to eat...they appear to be quite privileged.
*I see a gathering of white people, who appear to have adequate supplies of food strewn about the table. They look overweight, and are wearing nice clothes including shoes so they probably have a lot of money. They are also sitting in a nice house with
furniture, utensils decor etc so obviously their host is quite wealthy.
*I see 4 groups of 3 individuals each. To me, left to right, one group is listening to Jesus, the next group is whispering (not speaking openly) about or to him, the next group is talking to him and the last group is animated and talking out together about him. Each group is connected to Jesus and what he is saying and doing but each in a different way.
Now, the questions that I have been asked: Brian, what did you want me to see? What have you noticed that I have not? Well, after years of viewing the Lord Supper’s picture I must admit that I never noticed there is a WOMAN next to Jesus. Without question, within the portrait I emailed to my friends, and in numerous Lord Supper pictures I noticed that to Jesus’ right there is a FEMALE seated. I have asked myself several times how could I not notice this. The answer: I have been CONDITIONED to believe that the 12 disciples were male. I have also been TRAINED to believe that women did not have a significant leadership or higher status role during biblical times. So, why in the world would I have noticed that the female seated next to Jesus, who writers, professors, archeologists, anthropologists, historians, and scholars have determined through other legitimate sources i.e. purposely left out gospels, writings, etc. is Jesus’ wife, Mary Magdalene?
This is not new information. The book, Da Vinci Code revealed this to the world 3 years ago. It has also been a topic of discussion among religious scholars for years. However, the Da Vinci Code communicated this most successfully. I am certain the upcoming movie will spark some controversy, and it will disturb the peace of millions of Christian viewers.
I would like to pose the following questions: Should it disturb the peace of the faithful Christian? Is it important? Does it matter that Jesus could have been married?
I certainly believe various expressions of the truth should be considered by all who claim to believe in the divinity of Jesus. The process may reveal something to you that you never considered. It may just help you understand that the story of Jesus is multi-dimensional: clouded with uncertainty, false, beloved/revered by believer’s world-wide, altered to generate faith, and supported by the Christian elite to mind-control the masses.
Mary Magdalene, the wife of Jesus. Might she not have been the Church’s prostitute?
What are your thoughts?
For more information please visit - http://www.magdalene.org/intro.php.
To view The Lord's Supper potrait I used visit - http://www.keepsakes-etc.com/lasuwataha.html and click on the picture.
Written by Brian E. Payne. Inspired by Dan Brown, author of the Da Vinci Code, the Lord’s Supper portrait, and numerous friends.
