The early Church assigned allegorical symbols to each Evangelist.  These symbols (rather than portraits) are used in the windows to emphasize that God's ability to reveal himself through the Gospels, and their authority within the canon of Scripture, reach beyond the Evangelists' personal identities and circumstances, to every succeeding place and time.  The symbols themselves -- a human, a lion, an ox, and an eagle correspond to the four faces on each of the four "living creatures" (or cherubim), which surround the throne of God."

Matthew is represented as human, for he begins with the human genealogy of Jesus.  This lineage is integral to Matthew's presentation of Jesus as the Messiah.  The human, as the crown of creation, is always predominant among the "living creatures," so it is fitting that the gospels are introduced by the form of a man.

[Jesus said,] "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until it is all accomplished."  Matthew 5:17-18

Like Stars Appearing:  The Story of the Stained Glass Windows of St. George's Episcopal Church, Dayton, Ohio
copyright 2004 by Anne E. Rowland.  All rights reserved.
Stained Glass Windows copyright 2000 by St. George's Episcopal Church, crafted by Willet Stained Glass.