Who are your heroes? Do you have a top nine list of heroes? Well the reason I'm asking is because

the subject of this week's five minutes in church history is the nine heroes. It's a tapestry. It's actually a set of

tapestries in a whole room the nine heroes tapestries. You can find them at the Met Cloisters in New York City.

They are identified as Netherland-ish. They are from the 14 zeros, the first decade of the 1400s, and the 1410s. They are

made of wool and their warp and weft. Sometimes we say woof. That is to say it is a woven

tapestry. It's all hand done. It's meticulous, it is an amazing work of art. Before, though, it was a tapestry,

it was a poem. It was written in 1312, and it commemorated nine heroes. Well who are these nine?

Three are from the classical tradition. First we have Hector. You him? He was the son of Priam. He was the defender of Troy.

And of course he died. Next up is Alexander the Great from the 300th BC. Do you realize that at the age of 35

he had the largest empire in the ancient world at that time.

Alexander the Great.

He's a hero.

The third one is from the first century BC, that's Julius Caesar.

He is to the Roman Empire as Alexander the Great is to the Greek Empire.

Well then we have three heroes from the Old Testament times, well two actually,

Joshua and David, these are both leaders, these are both military men, and these are

clearly heroes in the narrative of the Old Testament.

There's a third as we move into the inter-testimental

period and this is Judas Maccabaeus. He was the Jewish priest who led the Maccabaean

revolt against the Greeks.

Fact, the celebration of Hanukkah

commemorates the exploits and achievements of Judas Maccabias.

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