When God Whispers in Your Ear

by Susan Magana

One of the world's most famous paintings is The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, his painting is the most duplicated painting ever made. The painting depicts Jesus at the Passover meal with His 12 disciples. He has just told them that one of them will betray Him, and the disciples' faces depict a range of emotions upon hearing of the betrayal.

Da Vinci was not a particularly religious person. He did believe in a supreme being, but questioned many of the stories of the Bible, such as Noah's Ark and the birth of Jesus from the Virgin Mary.

But even though he was not a Christian believer, I want to believe God whispered in da Vinci's ear, just as he can do with us if we are present and listen for His voice. I think that while da Vinci painted The Last Supper, God guided his hand in ways da Vinci did not recognize, leaving traces of the Holy Trinity and glimpses of Heaven within the masterpiece.

The Four Groups of Three

Notice that the disciples are broken into four groups of three people, emphasizing the significance of the three beings of the Holy Trinity. The first three disciples on the left as we view the painting are Bartholomew, James, and Andrew. They are talking among themselves about whom might be the betrayer, with emotional faces reflecting Bartholomew's shock, James' disbelief, and Andrew's claims of innocence.

The second group, seated to the right of Jesus, depicts three of the most important disciples. Just as Jesus sits at the right hand of God our Father, these three occupy the place of honor beside Him. The three disciples are Simon Peter the Rock, Beloved John, and surprisingly, Judas the Betrayer, clutching his 30 coins of silver. Simon Peter will be the rock that starts the Christian church. John will be the one who takes care of Mary, mother of Jesus, and Judas is the one who starts in motion the key to what sets Christianity apart from all other religions – the Resurrected Christ.

To the left of Jesus, we see three more: Thomas, the elder James, and Philip. Thomas is easily recognized by pointing with his finger, the same one he will use later when the Resurrected Christ shows him the stab wounds in his side. The older James looks angry, and Philip is thinking that he needs to convince Jesus of his loyalty.

Finally, we see Matthew, Thaddeus, and Simon the Zealot. Matthew questions who the betrayer might be, while Thaddeus and Simon lean in, determined to uncover the truth.

The Center Point

In the center of the painting is Jesus; symbolic of our need to put God and Jesus as the focal point of our lives. Notice that not only is Jesus in the center of the painting, but the way that his body is posed is in the shape of a triangle, depicting the Holy Trinity. Also, notice Jesus' hands. The one that is closest to Judas is pointing down, symbolizing the fallen world and even Hell, while the left hand is pointed up, symbolizing the promise of Heaven.

Light and Darkness

And finally look at the use of light and dark in the painting. While the left and right edges of the painting are dark, symbolizing the fallen world, Jesus is in the light, with windows that show us glimpses of pastoral scenes representing the calm and peace of the eternal life possible in our belief of Christ.

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I am not sure that any of this religious symbolism would have come from someone even as brilliant as da Vinci without God's voice. But in seeing the masterpiece that this painting is, it shows us what we can accomplish if we stop and listen for God's whisper.