Biblical symbolism – Linda Vogt Turner

The Magdalene and the Rock: Something to Contemplate

A blossoming almond branch rests across a weathered stone-grey human skull against a coal-black background.

Why did artists place a skull beside—or even in the hands of—Mary Magdalene? Was it only an emblem of mortality and Golgotha, or might she be clinging to the rejected Stone? This brief contemplation opens a doorway through which the Woman Jesus called the Magdalene and the Man Jesus called Simon—the Rock—may be seen.

Epiphany XVII: Cast the Stone, Catch the Fish

A Black man stands in the water holding a net, with a red-haired, blue-eyed woman caught within it, as waves move around them.

Jesus foretold Simon’s denial—“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you like wheat.”

In the miraculous catch, Jesus is revealed in the sifting of Simon—so come, have breakfast.

Epiphany IX: The Bridegroom Called Aside — Set Apart

A red-haired woman rests her hand on a stone jar as an elder, professorial-looking man lifts a glass of wine for a black man draped in saffron to taste.

At Cana, the master of the banquet tastes the wine and the bridegroom is called aside. This ninth Epiphany reflection pauses to notice that phrase — and what it reveals in Lent.