Epiphany: A Light to the Gentiles

I haven't blogged since before Christmas, which means I haven't been doing regular Scripture reading since then, earlier.

That changes today.  With the help and by the grace of God, I'm going to start reading Scripture daily, using the pericopes: an assigned series of readings for each week of the church year, covering the Old Testament, Psalms, Gospels and Epistles.

Today, January 6, is Epiphany: the day we celebrate when the Magi, or the Wise Men, went to visit Jesus.  The star they followed was visible in the sky beginning the night of Jesus' birth, and because they were from probably either Persia or southern Arabia, it would have been several months to a couple of years after Jesus' birth that they arrived at the place where Jesus was.  Joseph, Mary and Jesus were evidently still in Bethlehem (see Matthew 2:8), for King Herod sent the Magi there to search for Jesus.  And the boy Jesus would have been under the age of two, by Herod's calculations, because to try to eliminate Jesus he ordered the murder of every boy in Bethlehem two years old or younger (2:16).

The Magi (not necessarily three of them) were probably astronomers, because they noticed a new star appearing in the night sky on the night of Jesus' birth.  Not many ordinary people are familiar enough with the stars to notice when a new one would appear.  These men were also Gentiles (which means they weren't Jewish), but they had heard enough about the Jewish faith to know that a new King was to be born (2:1-2).  Not only that, but they realized that this newborn King was important enough for them to travel far to worship him.

That's why Epiphany is also sometimes known as the Gentiles' Christmas.  Simeon was a man that Joseph and Mary met in the temple at Jesus' circumcision.  He sang a prophetic song (Luke 2:29-32), part of which reads, "For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel" (emphasis mine).

The word epiphany means a revelation, a mystery made known.  In the assigned Epistle reading for Epiphany, Paul writes to the Ephesians, "Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation... This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2-6).  This was a huge deal for the Israelites back then, who up until this time had believed that the Messiah, or the Christ (Jesus) was only for the children of Abraham: those direct descendants of Jacob, or Israel.  But God revealed to his prophets and apostles the astonishing fact that Jesus had come to save all people, Jews and Gentiles alike.  It must have amazed Mary and Joseph when the Magi arrived: strangers from a strange land, who realized that their son was the Son of God and the King of Israel.

This is why Epiphany is so special for Christians who don't have a Jewish background.  We are like those Magi: not of Jewish blood, not direct descendants of Abraham, but through the gospel we are heirs of God just as the Israelites are.  We are sharers in the saving grace of God, and through that grace we have faith, redemption and forgiveness.

Today, I'm going to remember and thank God for those brave men who traveled to see the baby Jesus, and I'm going to thank him that through his grace I am counted as one of his children.