Friday, October 29, 2010
Turning to the Lord
"Do you think that Jesus turned His back to His apostles when at the Last Supper, He gave thanks to His Father and broke the Bread??" asks a reader in the combox.
This is a very good question, because it raises several important issues about the celebration of the liturgy. First, let me answer the question in its most basic form. "Did Jesus turn his back to his apostles when at the Last Supper, He gave thanks to His Father and broke the Bread?" To answer this question we must try to visualize the seating arrangement for a ceremonial Jewish meal in the first century. Sometimes we think of the Last Supper taking place around a table rather like our idea of a family dinner with everyone facing inward and with one person at the head of the table.
Ceremonial meals in the first century were not like this. First of all they reclined at the table, they didn't sit. Secondly, they all sat on the same side of the table. This was so the servants could access the table from the other side. Consequently, the participants in the meal would all be facing the same way. We see echoes of this in portrayals of the Last Supper like the one above. Many think the artists put them all on the same side of the table in order to show their faces better. It certainly is easier to see their faces that way, but the iconographer is also showing the manner in which the Last Supper was most likely celebrated.
The question therefore does not arise, "Did Jesus turn his back to the Apostles?" No he did not, but then, neither did he sit opposite them as Father would at family dinner, or as the priest does when he celebrates the Mass facing the people.
For the rest of the article click here: Standing On My Head
