Mystical Images of our Spiritual Quest
Eliseo Mercado
No historian in the world would suggest that the actual Last Supper of Jesus looked anything like da Vinci’s painting, but his image of the Last Supper has so branded and stamped itself into our universal consciousness that today we cannot not picture the Last Supper, except as da Vinci painted it.
With this in mind, I want to highlight an image from the Gospel of John, which we would do well to brand into our consciousness, like a da Vinci painting.
John’s Gospel gives us two powerful images of discipleship, one male and one female: The Beloved Disciple and Mary of Magdala.
The Beloved Disciple, whom we commonly, though perhaps naively, identify with John himself, offers one image of what means to be a disciple of Jesus. John presents this figure in various guises, but all have this in common: The Beloved Disciple has a unique intimacy with Jesus. Perhaps the single most powerful picture of this is that of the Beloved Disciple reclining at the Last Supper with his head on Jesus’ breast.
What is contained in this image? This is a mystical image, of intimacy and of listening. Simply put, the image is this: If you place your ear on someone’s chest, you can hear that person’s heartbeat. The Beloved Disciple, then, is the person who is so intimate with Jesus that he or she hears his heartbeat and, from that perspective, looks out at the world.
To be a disciple of Jesus is to have your ear attuned to his heartbeat as you gaze out into the world. For John, if you do this, you will always be at the right places, will always have the right perspective, and will always have the courage to do the right thing. You will also be driven by love.
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