Epiphany of Our Lord 2021

Epiphany of Our Lord (Revised Common Lectionary) | 21.01.06 | Matthew 2.1-12 | Carl A. Voges |

The Passage [English Standard Version]

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?  For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.  They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

“’And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.  And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”

After listening to the king, they went on their way.  And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.

Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.  

“Blessings and peace to you from the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Light to pierce the darkness of our world, the Glory of God who shines among us.”

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

The observance of the Epiphany of Our Lord on 06 January is one of the oldest festivals on the Church’s calendar even though today most parish communities do not celebrate it or drag a portion of it to another Sunday.  Liturgical research has shown the festival was observed as early as the second century in present-day Egypt and Turkey.  In those observances the Birth and Baptism of Jesus were the focus (the Baptism was supposed to have occurred on the thirtieth birth date of our Lord, explaining the double celebration).

Over the centuries the Eastern churches accepted the Western churches preference as 25 December commemorating the Nativity.  06 January, however, remains in the calendar of the Eastern churches as the Festival of Our Lord’s Baptism.  In the Western churches 06 January centers on the story of the star and the three wise men, revealing that the Life brought to the world through the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of the Son is THE Life for all the world’s people.

The highly familiar story of the three wise men has been broadened by the imagination and devotion of the Lord’s people.  One example comes from the year 700 (Raymond Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, page 199):

“The magi were the ones who gave gifts to the Lord.  The first one is said to have been Melchoir, an old man with white hair and a long beard who offered gold to the Lord as to a King.

The second one was Gaspar, a young, beardless and ruddy complexioned man who honored Jesus as God by his gift of incense, an offering worthy of divinity.

The third was a black-skinned and heavily bearded man named Balthasar, who, by his gift of myrrh, testified to the Son of Man who was to die.”

Alongside the symbolism relating the gifts to Jesus as King, God and crucified Redeemer, there also developed the symbolism relating them to the Lord’s people – gold symbolizing virtue, incense standing for prayer and myrrh pointing to suffering.

Another example is the obituary at Cologne, Germany, where tradition says the magi came to rest (Raymond Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, page 199):

“Having undergone many trials and fatigues for the Gospel, the three wise men met at Sewa (a town in Armenia) in the year 54 to celebrate the Feast of Christmas.

After the celebration of the Mass, they died – Saint Melchoir on 01 January, age 116; Saint Balthasar on 06 January, age 112; and Saint Gaspar on 11 January, age 109.”

This imaginative reflection (and there is more in the Church’s traditions!) spins out of today’s Gospel in Matthew 2.  This familiar passage has two scenes in it.  In the first one (verses 1-6), wise men who are most likely astrologers or astronomers from Persia or Babylon, come to Jerusalem and are directed to Bethlehem (the Old Testaments quotes are from Micah 5.1 and 2 Samuel 5.2).  They have been drawn to Jerusalem by a star, most likely the coming together of three planets – Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

In the second scene (verses 7-12), the wise men go to Bethlehem where they pay homage to the King, offering him gifts.  This has been hinted at in Psalm 72.10-11 and Isaiah 60.6 which mentions foreigners bringing gifts of gold and frankincense in homage to the King, God’s royal Son.

We have seen the impact of this visit to the Holy Child in the imagination and devotion in the two examples described earlier.  What is the impact of this visit on the lives of his people today?

First, it is vital to note that these three men are Gentiles, outsiders to the Jewish faith.  It is clear that Matthew is anticipating that Gentiles would be making their way into the Christian community.  Today it is apparent that the Lord’s people come from nearly every background and circumstance you can find in this world.

Second, it is just as vital to note that these wise men had their attention caught by a striking occurrence in nature.  Even today, although we are immersed in high-end technology, people will comment on the brilliance and closeness of the moon in certain months of the year.  As the planets came together around the Lord’s Birth (something that happened this past year in December’s third week), it stirred these wise men to explore what was occurring.

Caught up with our own lives, we don’t always notice the things going on around us – there may be people who do not notice the changes in the moon’s appearance or planets lining up together.  In addition, we have noted in our conversations how people today tend not to make their way to Lord’s holy places when there are fierce phenomena in nature or when there are deadly events.  We are reminded today that we should notice these things, just as the wise men did, and we should be stirred to explore what is occurring.

Third, it is vital to see how the exploration of these three men led them to the Jewish Scriptures.  It was there they came to believe in and worship the Messiah, it spurred them to offer our Lord gifts of themselves.

Born into this world, it is practically automatic for us to follow planets (there still are people who follow their horoscopes or who pay for psychic readings).  As baptized people, we may smile at such practices or critique them heavily, but for people who know no other life except their own, it, strangely, makes sense.  The problem with such practices is that they only turn us further in on ourselves, blinding us from the rescue which waits for us in the Lord God.  Practices which redeem us are those that lead us to the Lord God.  The practices which choke and kill us are those that never get us away from ourselves.  In that perspective the world does live in darkness and it is only in the Son, who is real Life and real Light, that darkness can be pierced and transformed.

As more people make their way into the Church, it is important for them to see the things that are occurring.  First is that they notice what is going on in this world –the displays of the Lord God’s brilliant creation along with the displays of overwhelming cruelty and suffering.

Second is that they let themselves be turned into the Lord’s Scriptures and Sacraments – there they will find the Life he wishes to give them.  The way they find it is critical because the way is in our Lord’s Cross.  Lying under today’s Gospel is the gift of myrrh, a perfume used to cover the odor of a decaying body.  Lying outside this passage is the violence of a king murdering infants as he attempts to get to Jesus’ Life.  These observations remind us forcefully that the Life which the Lord God desires to give to people flows from the Son’s Cross.

This is not a Life that is easy, light and pleasant, all of that occurs after a person has been brought to the Cross, not before!  The result of all this is that the people making their way into the Church will find the lives given them by the world at birth being reset in the Life splashed on them at Baptism.  This, in turn, transforms them from living for themselves to living for the Lord who gives them his Life and sustains them in it!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our

hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord

 

Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC, STS; carl.voges4@icloud.com