Feast of Epiphany

The word Epiphany (Greek) means “shinning forth”. This word is attached to the visit of the three kings from the East (The Magi) who arrived at Bethlehem to look for the new born King, Jesus. Today in Eastern Orthodox churches, the feast of Epiphany includes the baptism of the Lord, the revelation of the son of God, Jesus Christ as the Messiah. However, within our context of the visit of the Magi, the word “Epiphany” is significantly used to depict or to express the manifestation or the revelation of Jesus for the first time to those who are outside of Israel.

During the Christmas celebration, we heard the message of the birth of Christ announced to the shepherds, the ordinary people. They came and saw exactly what the angel told them. And then, they went back praising and glorifying the Lord. In addition, we have another extraordinary story of the announcement of the birth of Christ. We have the wise men came from the East led by the star to pay Jesus homage. In their midst, one group was led by the angel and the other was led by the star. And both came to Bethlehem, where Jesus is born. Regardless of who we are, if we carefully see the signs of the times, read them carefully, decipher them correctly, if not, follow them; we will arrive at our destination. We will arrive at the place where we should be or are destined to be.

In the above scenarios, the birth of Christ opens the door to all people regardless of who they are. God chooses to reach out to embrace all, from West to East, and North to South. Everyone is included in the Epiphany of the Lord. This open ended radical grace of embracing all is something that can be seen as threatening those who are living in the stereotype world, and who prefer rather an exclusive God. People living in the stereotype world, reading the signs of times and expressing themselves within the limited context of life and grasping the meaning of God within the given situation without exploring further can feel threatened in the manner in which God is reaching out to people like the Magi, who of the presumably other origins or even religions. Such story can make us realize that God’s ways are always bigger than our understanding, and that God can reach out to anyone in the ways He wishes. Who are we to stop Him or to stop those people chosen by Him to come to Him?

 

Fr Robert Daniel Francis