The Cup of Christ—Part 6


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2 o’clock.  Snake and chalice.  John, the brother of James the Greater, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and known also as one of the sons of thunder.  Tradition holds that John was the one apostle to live to an old age and not die a martyr’s death.  John is most often symbolized as an Eagle referring to his role as the likely writer of the Gospel of John.  The symbol used here refers to the tradition that enemies gave John a poisoned cup of wine to drink.  Another possible explanation of the symbol comes from Matthew 20:23 where Jesus says to John: “You will drink my cup…”

There is a pretty intense painting done by the Spanish artist Alonzo Cano entitled Saint John and the Poisoned ChaliceIt captures the moment.  You can find it under Alonzo Cano on Wikipedia.

In part 7, we move to Andrew at the 3 o’clock position.