Art Reading Scripture

The Separation of the Apostles unknown Austrian artist 1494 National Gallery of Art Ireland

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1:8

This unique painting imagines a scene that is not written of in the Acts of the Apostles. After Pentecost the Apostles went out to share the story of Jesus to India and Spain, and from Ethiopia to the British Isles. Many Biblical stories are painted multiple times; the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Last Supper the Crucifixion and such. This is a rare image of the twelve Apostles saying their farewells before setting out to share the good news of Christ to the farthest reaches of the world. Little is known about details of the piece though it may have been an altarpiece seen by people as the received the eucharist and then were sent into the world of their lives. It would have acted as an encouragement to share the joy they had received where they lived and labored. It might also recall Jesus' sending words from the Gospel of John, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." The worship service ends with a sending following the benediction. "Go in peace. Serve the Lord. Thanks be to God." Serving the Lord is our mission and our witness.

The disciples having spent a few years together, traveling with, learning from and practicing life with Jesus were then sent and separated, perhaps never to meet again. Their encounters of departure are touching. They gaze into each others faces, holding hands. They offer sustenance, a piece of bread, a sign of the body of Christ that unites them. They gather flasks from a spring and drink the water of life, perhaps reminiscent of water from the rock stories in Exodus 17, Numbers 20 and Deuteronomy 8. "He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good." They embrace one last time. One, hat in hand, looks back longingly on those who have already left. The three in the background appear to be swiftly embarking on their journeys with the wind of the Spirit in their sails. One on the left has perhaps already begun to share the story with someone. Recognizable in the center of the painting, dressed in white is the disciple whom Jesus loved from the Gospel of John, his youth and femininity are iconic of the way he is usually portrayed. To his right, bald and bearded Peter embraces a colleague before he also departs.

We know little of what the Apostles did or where they went except for a few, Peter, James and John, who it stayed in Jerusalem. Most of them were never heard from again, though stories and legends were told. Peter eventually went to Rome where he was crucified upside down. Acts reports that James was martyred, "About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword." Acts 12:1-2 Tradition says that John served a church in Ephesus and died in old age. Thomas went to south India and the church there still today remembers him as their apostle. Andrew became the patron saint of Russia. Bartholomew may have gone east with Thomas. Legends say he died either skinned alive, crucified, or tied up in a sack and thrown into the sea. There was a time when the church established by Thomas and Bartholomew in the places we know as Iraq and Iran was more effective and successful than the church built by Peter and Paul around the Mediterranean. The Apostles went with the stories and experiences they had while being with Jesus. They did not have New Testaments because it had not been written and collected yet. They did not have communities back home sending them support. They did have the Holy Spirit and that was enough. Were they all "successful"? Some were rejected and died a martyr's death. They went anyway. While they disappeared into legend, their legacies lived on in a faith that spread far and near and continues still today.

There is an oft told illustration about the competency of disciples that after Jesus ascended they were gazing with blank, bewildered faces at the sky. Two angels looking down inquired of each other. "What is plan B?," said one. "There is no plan B," said the other. The disciples, apostles were still the same uneducated fishermen, tax collectors, peasant craftsmen or farmers they were before. Certainly the Holy Spirit gifted them, but that did not make them Dr's of theology, bishops with 30 years of experience leading the church, or prestigious leaders who knew how to proceed. They were who they were.

For the parishioners who viewed this painting as they worshipped, received the eucharist, and then went home, the message remained: We are God's primary, maybe only plan for sharing the faith, hope and love of God which has come to us in Christ Jesus. There is no Plan B. We are the sent ones, which is the literal translation of the title "Apostle." The Gospel has come to us at our end of the earth. We are the witnesses of faith in word and deed, by our lives and character, gifted to be sure, but often with little more than the Holy Spirit to inspire and lead us and work through us. "Go in peace and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God."

Keep the faith. Say your prayers. Love like Jesus.

Pastor Tim Bauer