Blogging toward Sunday
An icon painted by Andrei Rublev in the early 15th century depicts the three men who visit Abraham sitting at a table. Though it is a scene from Genesis, the icon also displays the Trinity.
Three men wear sky blue clothing, indicating that they are persons come from heaven. To the left, the Father’s blue robe is nearly hidden by a shimmering cloak of gold. He grasps a staff of authority, and rising behind him are some of the many mansions in his house. The central figure also wears blue and brown, since, as the Son, he joins dirt and sky in one person. Two of his fingers point to the cup of his blood, and the terebinth behind him is the tree of the cross, the tree of life. On the right, the Spirit wears the green of grass and trees and living frogs, while his hand touches the table like the finger of God touching earth. Behind him is a mountain, the high place of all theophanies.
Rublev didn’t dream up this identification of the three with God; Genesis hints at it. We are told that Yahweh appears to Abraham, but what Abraham sees when he “lifts his eyes” are three men. The tantalizing interplay of “Yahweh” and the men continues throughout the chapter.
