As we approach this Easter Sunday and give thanks for the tremendous love Almighty God has shown to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and through His death on that cruel cross, I find myself looking at the world today and asking: “Just how can something created by God so perfectly have turned out to become so very ugly? How have we gotten to this place in history where there is so much hate and evil? And most important to us all – just how long will it be before the evils of this world actually destroy us and our nation?” wow, so very much to contemplate.
This story you are about to read has not been confirmed by me as absolutely true. But the idea that it just might be true speaks so very clearly to the unbelievable power and destruction of evil.
There was a man, a painter, who lived long ago. His name was Leonardo Da Vinci – he is thought to be one of the greatest painters in the history of our world. Two of his paintings, the “Mona Lisa” and ” The Last Supper” rank among the most famous pictures ever painted by anyone.
Da Vinci painted “The Last Supper” about year 1495. This painting depicts, in Da Vinci’s mind, just what he thought the scene might have actually looked like at the last supper Jesus had with his disciples at just that moment when Christ announced that one of them would betray Him. In this painting, Jesus is sitting in the middle, and the disciples are huddled in groups, each one responding in a different way to His announcement.
Now, according to historical information provided, Da Vinci wanted very much to depict just what that scene might have really looked like; so he spent over 7 years completing this one painting. And, to make the picture seem alive, he actually used living models for each person’s face.
So the story goes, Da Vinci studied hundreds, perhaps thousands, of faces to get just the look he wanted. He spent over 6 months looking for the face of Christ until he finally found just the model, just the man, who best portrayed the true innocence and beauty of the Son of God. And, once he had completed the face of Christ, Da Vinci believed that the hardest part of the painting was completed.
But, that was not to be. It took another 6 years to complete the disciples, finding just the right model, imagining in his mind’s eye just which the expression of each disciple might have been at that moment. Each disciple taken aback by the words of Christ – someone in that room would betray Him? How could that be?
When you actually study the painting, you can see the astonishment, the confusion, the fear on each man’s face – save one – Judas – the betrayer. Leonardo Da Vinci had spent 6 years searching for the face of the betrayer, Judas. To find a living model of what Judas represented seemed impossible.
After a long search, Da Vinci felt his painting would never be completed – he would never find the face of Judas. But then he heard of a man in prison at Rome. This man was sentenced to die for various brutal crimes he had committed. Da Vinci rushed to Rome in hopes of finding his Judas; and when he saw the man’s face, he knew his almost 7 year search had ended. When Da Vinci looked at him, he saw an ugly, vicious face, scarred and full of hate – this man would be his Judas.
So, by special permission, the prisoner was allowed to pose for Da Vinci, and for 6 months the man sat at each appointment, silently, as Da Vinci painted every detail of betrayal.
then, finally, the painting was completed, and the prisoner was to be taken off to die. But the man broke away from the guards and rushed to Da Vinci. As he fought to get closer, he cried out, “Look at me, Do you not know who I am?” Da Vinci was shocked by the man’s statement; he looked with his gifted artist eyes – “No,” he said, “I’ve never seen you before this painting”.
In anguish, the prisoner looked toward Heaven and cried out, “Oh God, have I fallen so low”? Then he turned back to Da Vinci and said through his tears and anguish. “You do know me. I am the same man you painted only 7 years ago – as the face of Christ!”
Suddenly, Da Vinci recognized, realized – that same man had posed for both the face of Jesus, the Son of God, and the face of Judas, the greatest betrayer in the history of the world. But how could it be that such a kind gentle face could in only seven years become such an ugly vicious face? The answer is both simple and terrifying – no one is free from the power of evil if we allow it to take over who we are.
Wow, what a story – what a lesson to be heeded by us all – evil will change you!
So, the next time you see a picture of that famous painting “The Last Supper”, look closely at the gentle innocent face of Jesus Christ and then look at the face of the cruel betrayer – Judas – both the same man. And let it be a lesson to us all of the powerful and destructive effect sin and ungodliness can have on our lives.
