Matt. 26:30, “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
The “hymn” that Jesus and His disciples sang here was likely the “Hallel,” which encompasses Psalm 113-118. These Psalms are rich and multifaceted, but a common theme shared amongst them all is YHWH’s deliverance of His people, especially His deliverance from the “snares of death.” (Ps.116:1-4, 8-11; 118:5-7, 10-13, 14-18, 19-24).
How beautiful that is to consider! Before His own death–from which He would be delivered, not through avoidance of it, but through resurrection beyond it–before His own death, what a deep comfort it must have been to Jesus sing these songs that recount and promise the deliverance from death of the one who trusts in YHWH.
So, in this picture, I’ve built it on a “death/resurrection, danger/deliverance” motif. At the bottom the swords and spears (five to represent Christ’s five wounds) of the nations (118:10ff) represent the dangers and threats and “snares of death” spoken of in the Hallel Psalms. In addition, the large, dark semi-circle in the background represents the stone of Christ’s tomb, and so overshadows the bottom portion of the image in “death.” However, above this is the dawning morning light of YHWH’s sure deliverance and the sun / halo behind Christ’s head represents the open mouth of the empty tomb and so points to the manner of YHWH’s True deliverance: resurrection.
I put the altar of burnt offering behind Christ as a way of showing that He Himself is the sacrifice bound with cords who ascends to the altar of the cross and from whom–as sacrifice–the light of YHWH shines upon His people (Ps.118:27; 2 Cor.4:6). Further, the altar of burnt offering alludes to the temple, of which Christ Himself (rejected and re-instated) is the cornerstone. I tried to depict this new and true temple in the form of Christ at the center and His disciples gathered around Him (like stones leaning against the cornerstone). The crucified and risen Jesus IS the True Temple (Jn 2:21-22, Rev. 21:22), and all those in Him are members of the temple, built on the foundation of His apostles with He Himself as the Cornerstone (Ps.118:22, Eph.2:20).
