Pentecost

This painting is a meditation on the day of Pentecost (from the ancient Greek pentecoste, meaning "the fiftieth," because it was 50 days, or 7 weeks, after Christ's ascension that the Holy Spirit descended on the Disciples who were gathered in the Upper Room) as described in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2. Pentecost is historically and symbolically related to the Jewish harvest festival of Shavuot which commemorates God giving the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai fifty days after the Exodus. Some theologians say the Pentecost turns the Tower of Babel on its head: at Babel God multiplied  languages to confuse and divide the people, whereas, at Pentecost, He multiplied languages to draw people together in common understanding of what was taking place.

In this painting there are various layers of image and text, each referring to some aspect of the new Church Age which begins with Pentecost. In the middle ground is a Shofar, or ram's horn, used to call the Jews together in worship after the Exodus. In the foreground is a grapevine ("I am the vine, you are the branches") which is the new image of God's community in Christ. On each leaf is a tongue of fire referring to the gift of the Holy Spirit given to each believer in Christ (Acts 2: 3). Images of a hand, lips and ear refer to the sensory aspects of the event- "like a violent rushing wind... it filled the whole house (Acts 2: 2)." The image of a clock ringed with a crown of thorns reinforces the idea of Kyros, God's prophetic time as opposed to Chronos or man's time, marking the countdown back towards the redemption and restoration of the Edenic paradise. The jar in the lower right corner refers to the Mana provided daily to the Jews in the Sinai. In comparison we see the bees who signal our arrival in the spiritual land of milk and honey, the age of grace. The text at the bottom of the painting, "I am with you always (Mt. 28: 20)" is completed at the top, "even to the end of the age," and reminds us of Christ's parting promise to his followers.