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Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

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MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: First United Methodist Church of Dearborn

City: Dearborn

Window Shape: 5 (gothic arched, 2 vertical sections)

Subject/Title of Window: Matthew and John

Brief Description of Subject: Matthew
The tax collector- and “occupational leper”. Tax collectors were ostracized. Boys stone them, the synagogue refused to accept their money; courts would not administer them, beggars refused to accept their alms and moneychangers refused to serve them. Their only companions were fellow tax collectors. They were regarded as political and theological traitors to Judaism. Rom claimed one tenth grain, one-fifth wine and fruit, and ad volorem duty of two to five percent, a luxury tax of twelve percent and income tax of one percent. To ever-present Roman soldiers enforced these levies and protected the collectors. The top window emblem shows three money bags indicating Matthews profession. At the bottom of the window a healing hand lifts an ill person form a couch to rise and walk in a new dimension of life- persons more important than purses. Matthew means gift of god. His first act after following Jesus was to prepare a great feast in his house to which he invited all the publicans and tax collectors he knew. He introduced them to Jesus and his followers. The may have been his rechristening from Levi to Matthew. The first New Testament bears his name. It’s the theme in the Messiah ship of Jesus and was written for Christian of Jewish origin. Half in the bible. Two hundred verses are original to Matthews’s gospel. Jesus is the Messiah, substituting the world wide church for the Jewish nation. Matthew may have served in Arabia an Ethiopia. He died about90AD. The sword in his ecclesiastical symbol. Some think it indicates that he was beheaded. The Greek church calendar suggests he suffered death by fire. Bysantium art claims he died peacefully in bed- an aged man.

John “Who Jesus Loved”
John authored about one fifth of the New Testament. He had been a disciple of John the Baptist and was one of the first two disciples to follow Jesus. His symbol is the eagle. He sat next to Jesus at the Last Supper and thus was the first communicant. The figure in the window holds the chalice- the sacred cup- the object of the Crusades. Love is the key words for John. He never married. He was the youngest of the Disciples, but lived to be almost one hundred years old before dying a natural death. He was a fisherman. The Synoptic Gospels always picture him in subordinate position- someone else does the talking. When he is singled out, it is usually for rebuke or ridicule (calling) own fire to consume a Samaritan ville (Luke 9:54-56) or forbidding a man from casting our demons 9mark :39-41) or requesting a favored position in the Kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). As Jesus hung on the cross, he committed his Mothers care to John. He was the only disciple at the cross Jesus Crucifixion. He was the last at the cross and the first at the tomb.

Condition of Window: Good

Height: 17'

Width: 6.5'

Type of Glass and Technique: Lead Came

The MSGC is a constantly evolving database. Not all the data that has been collected by volunteers has been sorted and entered. Not every building has been completely documented.

All images in the Index are either born-digital photographs of windows or buildings or are scans of slides, prints, or other published sources. These images have been provided by volunteers and the quality of the material varies widely.

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