Tetramorph” Series)
Mark’s Winged Lion: Our Mission Is Multi-Directional (#2 in the Gospel “Tetramorph” series) Immediately . immediately . immediately . (Mark 5:2, 29, 30 – 3 of the 17 times Mark uses “immediately”) A sermon by Siegfried S. Johnson on the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, October 27, 2019 (Volume 03 Number 15) Christ of the Hills UMC, 700 Balearic Drive, Hot Springs Village, Arkansas 71909 A tetramorph is an image with a cluster of four shapes. The most famous biblical cluster of four is, of course, the Four Gospels. In Christian art, they are often seen in a cluster with Matthew as a Man, Mark as a Lion, Luke as an Ox, and John as an Eagle, each figure having wings. The example I offered last Sunday was from The Book of Kells, a richly illuminated Latin manuscript of the four gospels created by Celtic monks around 800 A. D. Residing at Trinity College in Dublin, The Book of Kells is absolutely spectacular to see. Today, I’m fast forwarding four centuries to the 13th century. Leaving Dublin, let’s go to Paris to see a different gospel tetramorph. This is an ivory carving now at Paris’ Cluny Museum and produced by Cluniac monks. A fascinating feature of this tetramorph is that the four gospels surround an image of Jesus on the throne in majesty. This is precisely as John describes it in Revelation 4: After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open, and a throne, with one seated upon the throne! Around the throne are four living creatures.
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