And All That Heard Him Were Astonished At His
Understanding
For three days after the close of the feast of the Passover, when
Jesus was twelve years old, His parents sought His whereabouts in
the city of Jerusalem only to find Him conversing with the scholars
in the Temple. In the third window, Mary and Joseph look in on a
temple setting artistically accomplished by the inclusion of four
major components: the Mogen David, or Star of David, symbolizing
a new hope for the Jewish people; the Menorah, the original seven-branched
candelabrum found in the Temple in Jerusalem, which has come to
stand for the light, warmth and sympathy of the Synagogue; the Torah,
or Pentateuch, which represented the Hebrew scriptures and was composed
of the first five books of the Old Testament; and the linen curtains
which concealed the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant
had rested.
The lower
portion of the window profiles the outside of the Wartburg Castle
where Luther, garbed in knightly attire and living under the assumed
name of Squire George found refuge from capture as a condemned heretic,
"subverter of all law and a devil in human form." Luther
called the Wartburg his Patmos after the city where St. John is
said to have written the inspired text of the Apocalypse, because
of the many visions and hallucinations he experienced there. One
such confrontation reportedly caused Luther to throw his inkstand
at the Devil, leaving the famous stain which draws tourists to this
day.
While
at the Wartburg, Luther undertook the monumental task of translating
the Bible into German, from the original Hebrew and Greek. When
completed, its extensive dissemination was due to the invention,
some years earlier in 1452, of the movable-type printing press by
Johann Gutenberg, which provided the broadest possible forum for
the teachings of Reformers like Luther, and served as one of the
most efficient weapons in the religious struggle. Luther's work
reached its climax with the signing by many of the German rulers
of the Confessio Augustana, the Augsburg Confession, in 1530.
Go
To Window # 4 --- Back To Window
Index
