Victory Stele of Naram Sin: Akkad c. 2454 B.C.

6th Century Mosaic,                                                   13th to 14th Century Sculpture (19th c. copy)
Archbishop's Chapel, Ravenna                                   Central Trumeau, Notre Dame, Paris

Okay, so here are the three images. Lets begin with the victory stele of Naram Sin: The first verse of Psalm 110 states "I will make your enemies your footstool." The stele illustrates this graphically (2454 B.C.) long before the Psalm is written. We have also understood Psalm 110 to be about Jesus as the Messiah when he sits at the right hand of God (the hand of mercy). It establishes a way of understanding something in the next two images.
What do the next two images have in common? They are both images of Jesus, both figures are holding books (The Word), both figures are standing on a lion (secular/human power, exercised by taking) with the right foot and a serpent/dragon (sin) with the left, and what you may not know is that both are connected with the main entrance (the mosaic is over the door on your way out of the chapel in the Archbishop's palace and the statue is between the two front doors as you enter Notre Dame). Human power and sin are both under the feet of Jesus, and therefore not only illustrating Psalm 91 from this Sunday's readings, but also Psalm 110 as his enemies are his footstool. Their placements at the doorways in interesting. The mosaic, with the book open to the passage from John 14, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (EGO SUM VIA VERITAS ET VITA), wearing the armor of a Roman Legionary (the Church was the New Rome, victorious over secular power, under Christ's rule), it is the reminder as you go out into the world that you are to trust in his victory over evil. The sculpture, called "Christ the Teacher," reminds you that he has been victorious over the powers of this world, so leave them behind as you enter.
One final note: Most of the quotations in the Gospel this week in the Temptation are from Deuteronomy, and most especially the final temptation which quotes Psalm 91. Jesus who reverses the sin of Adam (original sin, which was a bid for control over our own existence) and the sins of the people of Israel in the desert, is ultimately victorious. When we are grateful for all God has done for us (reading from Deuteronomy), we can trust in God no matter where we are (Psalm 91 begins by mentioning the Temple as a safe haven, but moves to a call to trust God even when the Temple is destroyed), which can only increase our faith in his promise of the victory of his love (the Gospel in Paul), and help us, with him, to be victorious over the sin in our lives (our own and that of others, as we see in the Gospel).