The Resurrection
The Supper at Emmaus
Oil on canvas. 40 x 80 approximately.
As Jesus and the two disciples walk to Emmaus, Jesus explains to them, how his coming was foretold, beginning with Moses ( the law) and working his way through the prophets. They are unable to recognise him until the climax of their meeting, the breaking of the bread at supper.
This breaking of the bread is the living symbol of Christ's redemptive sacrifice for us. It contrasts with the annual sacrifices of the Jewish law which needed to be continually renewed, since they were carried out by sinful human beings, in constant need of purification. The sacrifice of Jesus is once and for all time, because he is without sin and therefore needs no purification.
This notion of repeated purification, I have incorporated into the painting of the supper, in the form of laundry hanging from washing lines, in the room where they are about to eat. The need for laundry to be washed again and again, I have used to symbolise the Old Law.
The two disciples push aside the sheets, that obscure their view of Christ.
I have shown Jesus, as he has taken the bread from the servant. His face is hidden from their view by the bread, as it is in the sacrament he has instituted.
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