I was on a tour in Vienna, Austria. I was led into a church with a massive copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of Jesus and His 12 disciples at the Last Supper hanging majestically above an entryway. It depicted Jesus seated in the middle of a large rectangular dining table with six guests on each side of Him. Our group got so excited that they could barely contain themselves. Everyone had their phones out and were gleefully taking pictures. For many of them, it was the highlight of the day. Unfortunately, the painting misrepresented the biblical account of the Last Supper and Christ’s disciples. biblical truths. It was simply one man’s idea of what the Last Supper might have been. Da Vinci’s worldview was not Christian; he was a skeptic. Some who knew him had reason to believe he was a Pantheist who worshiped nature as god.
The biblical account of preparing for the Last Supper begins with Jesus sending Peter and John to find a place to prepare the supper for the Passover meal.
“So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.’ They said to him, ‘Where will you have us prepare it?’ He said to them, “Behold when you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters and tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished; prepare it there.” And they went and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover (Luke 22:8-14).
Unlike da Vince’s painting, which showed chairs around the table, in Jesus’ time, most meals were eaten sitting on the floor, legs crossed, and gathered around one dipping bowl, which everyone shared. The Pharisees insisted that only at the Passover supper were the Jews to lie down on a cushion, supporting themselves with their left elbow and eating with their right hand. For this to happen, they needed a triclinium, which was a U-shaped table that was 6 to 10 inches high. The guests lay around the outside of the U-shaped table. The servants served the food from the open space in the center of the table.
In Luke 22:24-27, Luke gives us insight into the importance of the seating arrangements. These U-shaped tables all had a seating order indicating the significance of the rank of the guests. At the triclinium, there was a specific place for the most important guest to sit and a place for the least valued guest. Jesus was the host because he invited his disciples to dinner. The host was seated in the number two position on the left front of the U-shaped table. The guest of honor would sit on his left, and the next most important guest would be seated to his right. The third most important guest would be to the left of the guest of honor, the fourth most important to his left, and so on around the outside of the U-shaped table.
“Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” (John 21:20).
If John leans on Jesus’ chest, it means that John was seated directly to Jesus’ right in the #3 position at the end of the left wing. When John spoke to Jesus, he simply leaned back on his chest. And that’s what John did when he asked Jesus who would betray him.
On Jesus’ left side would have been Judas, reclining in the place of the guest of honor. We know this because Jesus shared his bowl with him at dinner, a customary gesture to the guest of honor. Jesus knew what Judas would do, but extended forgiveness to Judas as an example to the disciples of what it means to love your enemies. John was seated to the right of Jesus in the second most important place.
“And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, ‘Is it I?’ He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me'” (Mark 14:18-20).
“So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night” (Mark 14:25-30).
At the end of the table was the place for the one scripture tells us that was for Simon Peter, who would betray Jesus and thus was given the least honorable seat at the table. Despite Peter’s denial, God’s love and mercy shone through in a remarkable way. After Jesus’ resurrection, He specifically appeared to Peter to restore their relationship and offer His forgiveness. In John 21, we read about Jesus asking Peter three times if he loved Him. Each time Peter responded with a resounding “Yes,” Jesus lovingly instructed him to take care of His sheep, symbolizing His followers.
Through this interaction, Jesus forgave Peter and reaffirmed his role as a leader among the disciples. He demonstrated that He was willing to forgive Peter for his mistakes and restore him to a position of authority, entrusting him with the responsibility of guiding His flock.
Looking closely at the disciples in da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper, one will see they are way beyond their teens and early twenties. The disciples were far from being elderly. John was the youngest and began following Jesus at 13 years old. The rest of the disciples were in their late teens, with Peter being the oldest, at 20 years old.
Leonardo da Vinci obviously did not care if his painting portrayed the truth of the Last Supper. He took extreme “artistic license” with his work. Many think he was mocking the Last Supper, the disciples, and Christ. As Christians, we must know the scriptures, live by them, and be prepared to defend them when they are violated.
Truth matters in all of life. The only way to find out if something is in error is to check it out in the scriptures and read the works of the Jewish writers during the time of Jesus. Scripture’s authority doesn’t depend on whether people understand or agree with it. Its authority depends on the power and supremacy of its Author—God. Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16), which means the Bible is sacred and thus has the final say in all matters—whether or not we choose to believe it.
Leonard da Vinci’s The Last Supper
Thanks to Bill Perkins of Compass International.