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The three window group on the north side at the back of the nave illustrates Gospels which fall into a time of the year whose name has gone out of use. It is called the season of St. Michael and All the Angels and spans the Sundays of October. The archangel St. Michael is referred to at several places in the Bible, especially Revelation 12:7. He is the warrior angel who fought victoriously against the enemies of God’s people. Most appropriately, the Festival of the Reformation falls into this time of the year. The Reformation celebrates God’s restoration of the truth of the Gospel: salvation alone by grace through faith in the crucified Jesus Christ.
The theme of warfare during this season of the year is most graphically proclaimed at the base of the three windows. The six shields identify the weapons for Christian warfare as listed by St. Paul in Ephesians 6. From right to left they are the belt of truth, the harness of righteousness, the sandals of peace, the shield of faith in the cross of Christ, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Window 20
In the last three-window group at the back of the nave on the north side, the one to the right illustrates the Gospel for Pentecost 20 in Matthew 9:1-8. It is the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. At the top, the cross with a band encircles the world. Below it a crown points to an IHS at the center of the sun. To the left is a flight of stairs and to the right, five burning candles. The two shields have been explained.
In a greatly condensed version, Matthew tells about Jesus healing a paralyzed man. It is told with more details in Mark 2:1-12. Because it was impossible to push through the crowds in the house where Jesus was teaching, the four friends of the paralyzed man had to carry him, lying on a mat, up the stairway to the flat roof of the house. They chopped a hole through the roof and let the man on his mat down to where Jesus was teaching. When he saw the faith of the five men (burning candles), going to so much trouble because they were sure Jesus could help, he first forgave the crippled man’s sins, then healed him of his paralysis and told him to take up his mat and go home. Thus Jesus (IHS) revealed himself as the Lord (crown) of righteousness with healing in his wings (rays of the sun).
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