windows 4

"Windows That Look In: Part 4"

Windows 9 & 10

The Grapes and Greek Letters

The grapes are commonly understood to represent the sacramental element of wine, which is consecrated and blessed through the invocation of the Holy Spirit to become the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. The pairing of this symbol with the Greek letters alpha (A, in red) and omega (? in yellow) presents an interesting theological point about the work of God the Son in the history of Creation. There is only One through whom the Creation came into being, and this same One it is through whom the Creation is saved and will be brought to completion. In the linear sequence of God's creative, redemptive, and perfecting acts, the action of the Living Word is the part of the Divine Work which becomes observable by human beings. God reveals God's self to human beings through the creative acts of the Eternally Begotten Word, the saving acts of the Incarnate Word, and the glorifying acts of the Victorious Word. The arc of this narrative is represented in our windows, numbers 9 and 10:

Alpha - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. (John 1)
The Fruit of the Vine - …if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2)
Omega - Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15)

Part 5