Sanctuary Window 5—The Physician—A

Welcome to another Windows Wednesday! Today we are looking at Sanctuary Window 5—Christ the Physician. This entry focuses on the Old Testament section at the top of the window.

We see three primary figures in the image. In the background, the mistress of the house where the prophet Elijah was staying weeps for her son, who has died. In the foreground, Elijah leans his body over the boy, calling out “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” (I Kings 17:21) The Lord listened, and revived the boy, strengthening the faith of the woman.

We can easily identify the story by the iconic image of a chariot of fire in the background. This is from the story of II Kings, chapter 2. Elijah and his follower Elisha toured the northern kingdom of Israel. At each stop, Elijah encouraged Elisha to stay, telling him the Lord had commanded him to go further. At each stop, Elisha refused, saying “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” (II Kings 2:2,4,6) For his faithfulness, Elisha bore witness Elijah being taken bodily up to heaven in a flaming chariot, subsequently taking up his mantle and assuming his role as the most respected prophet in Israel. The link of the fiery chariot with Elijah points us clearly to the story for I Kings, chapter 17, one of many examples of the healing power of God. Click the image below or scroll over it to see the artist’s design. Photo of the window taken by Walt Strawman, 1974.

He said to her, “Give me your son.” He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. He cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” The Lord listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” So the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” I Kings 17:19–24

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