Jesus’ Healing in Stained Glass
by Glen McCullough
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September is a month in which Jesus' healing power appears in many of the Gospel passages, and those miracles are also seen in stained glass.
Matthew, Mark and Luke tell, on many occasions, that Jesus healed the sick without being specific, and many windows simply reflect His power to heal. Here are two examples from what was Mission Cove Church, Otago Peninsular [1] and Cunningham Memorial Church, Cullybackey, Northern Ireland [2].
All four Gospels have more specific examples of Jesus healing all manner of ailments. The examples shown on the following pages are mostly from the daily readings.
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Jesus could heal at a distance - in Luke 7:1-8, He healed the centurian’s servant when the centurian told Jesus all he had to do was to give the word. As an ex-Air Force officer I can easily put myself in the centurion’s place! These windows from [3] St Mary Abbots, Kensington, London, [4] St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney and [5] Kings College Chapel, Otahuhu, Auckland show the scene in their various ways.
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In the next passage of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus met a funeral procession and brought the widow’s son back to life. The scene is shown in this window [6] from St Mary of the Angels, Wellington. Some windows show the son as being much younger, but I prefer this version.
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Then Jairus begged Jesus to come and heal his sick daughter, but when He got to the house the daughter had died. Jesus said she was just sleeping and told her to get up. Which she did. These windows from St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney [7] and St Mary of the Angels, Wellington {8]
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show the scene in a somewhat similar way, until you look at the other people in the scenes. [7] is faithful to Luke 8:51 because there are only three disciples and the girl’s parents there. On the other hand [8] probably follows Matthew’s account which concentrates on the miracle rather than who was there. Apart from the family, everyone else is peering around curtains! So perhaps those designers didn’t think who was there was all that relevant either?
John recorded the healing of the lame man at the pool at Bethsaida (John 5:7), as shown in these windows from St Mary of the Angels, Wellington [9] and King’s College Chapel, Auckland [10].
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Another cripple was let down through the roof of a house and was healed. Get up and walk, Jesus said (Luke 5:17-26). This window [11], also from St Mary of the Angels, shows the ropes used to lower the man through the roof.
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St Stephen’s Anglican Cathedral in Sydney has one particularly striking miracle window with four parts. One part is the centurian’s servant [4] on a previous page, the other three are displayed on the next page. They feature Jesus healing a cripple [12], a leper [13], and the widow’s son [14 ].
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Many times Jesus said "Your faith has healed you." So these healings were possible because of the faith of the person asking for the miracle. Have you enough faith to ask for a miracle?
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