In Revelation 3:20, in His message to the angel of the church at Laodicea, Jesus says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (RSV)
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Presumably, this scene in stained-glass refers to those word of Christ. A footnote in my NIV Bible indicates that the "angel" Jesus is directing this message to may refer to either a heavenly messenger, an earthly minister, or a personification of the prevailing spirit of the church at that particular place called Laodicea, which was a wealthy city in Roman Phrygia, now part of Turkey. The footnote goes on to say that Laodicea was famous for its banking establishments, medical school, and textile industry. Its major weakness was a lack of an adequate water supply.
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The footnote to Revelation 3:20-----the verse above-----says: "Usually taken as a picture of Christ's knocking on the door of the individual unbeliever's heart. In context, however, the self-deluded members of the congregation (at Laodicea) are being addressed."
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At any rate........I think this window is very beautiful, from the jewel tones to the thoughtful face of Jesus to the odd flattened flowers, or whatever that is, on the flagstones at the lower right. Actually, I wonder if the two sides of the scene even go together!? A closer look makes me think that they do not.
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This is another window from St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Waverly, Iowa.
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Have a blessed Sunday!!
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7 comments:
I have always liked the Jesus Knocking at the Door windows and paintings I have seen. Always very moving. One of my favorite things about a church building is the beautiful stained glass windows.
Have a nice Sunday!
Very beautiful and perfect for a sunday post. I looked at a painting of this all my life at my grandma's house;)
Thank you for the lovely Sunday post. makes me feel guilty that I didn't make church today. I'll just have to do a little more knee-mail tonight.
I've always loved the old stain glass windows in churches. Which makes me wonder where are my photographs of our trip to Europe back in '97...hmmm...that whole trip is missing from a memory collection. Anyway, we visited so many churches that I now hold those churches in Gouda, Holland and Antwerp, Belgium as the most beautiful churches that I visited containing the loveliest stained glass depictions of the sacraments.
love the stain glass and love the verse!... Aww heck I simply love the whole bible its FANTASTIC!
That is a really beautiful window. I love that passage of the Bible.
Russell, adventure girl:
I loved that painting, too when I was a kid! And, the one of Jesus holding a lamb amongst a flock of sheep.....The Good Shepherd.
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Deb,
Oh, that's wonderful you've visited old churches in Europe!! My dream! Maybe you can find the stained-glass windows photos and post some!
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Hi, Laura, Ruth!
I had forgotten that passage was in Revelation, though......I thought Jesus had said it back in one of the Gospels.
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