COLUMN: Viewpoint – The last supper

The story about the last supper Jesus had with his disciples is a key event for the Christian church. It is routinely celebrated with the sacrament of communion and appears in all four New Testament gospels.

So it’s hardly surprising that to mark its 100th anniversary the United Church of Canada created a photograph presenting a new version of Leonardo Da Vinci’s 1495 painting of the last supper, an artwork replicated millions of times in unique ways over the centuries.

In the United Church photo, the disciples are replaced by Canadian United Church members including among others; an Anishinaabe woman, a man of Korean background, a binary pastor, a blind woman, a neurodivergent person, a Black minister, an immigrant from India, an outreach worker for the church’s French arm and a representative of the denomination’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

The church’s goal was to show the world what a diverse, inclusive and loving Christian community looks like, one where everyone is welcome to break bread together.

Of course there are those who are critical of such a representation, as a letter writer to The Carillon made clear in the paper last week. One of their main criticisms was that a figure representing Jesus had been left out of the photograph.

The church did this on purpose, because they wanted viewers to remember Christ’s spirit should be evident in all his followers, and those of us who call ourselves Christians should look for a divine spark in everyone we meet. Jesus explained this concept in the Bible when he reminded people that if they did kind things for those in need they were really doing kind things for him.

I was particularly interested in the United Church photograph, and the letter in last week’s Carillon criticizing it, because I have made it a bit of a personal pilgrimage to look for works of art depicting the last supper Jesus had with his disciples. I have dozens such photographs from around the world. Preparing a course I taught about art and the Bible for Canadian Mennonite University I amassed a hugely diverse collection of artistic renderings of the event.

In a museum in Sydney, Australia, for example, I saw an abstract tapestry by Indigenous artist Linda Syddick showing Jesus serving his disciples billy tea instead of wine and a kind of Australian soda bread called damper. She represents each of the disciples with simple U shapes. The shape for Judas, who betrayed Jesus, is a different color and faces a different way.

In a Kyoto restaurant I saw a last supper portrayal of the disciples in traditional Japanese attire eating ramen noodles with chopsticks. Modern Russian artist Natalia Nesterova’s last supper shows the disciples and Jesus all wearing masks to hide their identity. I’ve seen last suppers by Korean, Indian, African, Latin American, European and North American artists that include women, children, musicians and homeless people. Each one was trying to look at the ancient story and find a relevant meaning that aligned with their culture, society, and life experience.

My father had a regular morning routine in his retirement. He religiously read first his Bible and then his copy of the Winnipeg Free Press. He remarked that reading one was not much good without reading the other. I think what he meant, is that the Bible needs to be interpreted in a way that makes its ancient stories and words of wisdom helpful, relevant and timely in light of society’s present reality.

I believe the United Church is doing exactly that with their modern representation of the last supper event in the gospels.