Epiphany

I was talking to a friend a couple of days ago, and he was about to take down his Christmas tree. “Noooo…” I wanted to say, “not until Epiphany!” Epiphany is celebrated on January 6, or the Sunday nearest it, and it completes the Christmas story. Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the angels and shepherds have borne witness, but the story continues with the magi, the wise men who followed a star to Bethlehem in order to pay homage to the birth of a king. How surprised they must have been to find him in such less-than-grand circumstances. The visit of the magi is pivotal to the story, because it offers cosmic significance to this birth. These learned men, likely from Persia, wouldn’t have travelled such a long way for nothing.

The visit of the magi is also important because it tells us of the treachery of Herod and the brutality of the regime in power at the time of Jesus’ birth. Though the Christmas story is often pastoralized, viewed in sentimental terms, we must always also remember that Jesus and his parents, in fear of Herod, had to flee to Egypt to save their lives.  Our worship on Sunday will begin with this powerful poem written by Sally Foster Fulton:

On the hillsides,    

hope was heard singing unexpected Hallelujahs.

In a Bethlehem backwater,    

hope hovered 

and love was born.

And now, as the wise journey and the powerful start to pace the floor

and mumble into sleepless nights,

we gather –    

the light of the world is here.    

The job now is to keep it burning.

This is what we celebrate at Epiphany.

To prepare, read Matthew 2:1-12, and ponder the following:

1.      We are several days into a new year, 2026. Where do you see hope unfolding?

2.      In your view, why is the visit of the magi to Jesus and his parents important?

Image: stained-glass window, “Heavenly window,” Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-et-de-Toute-Joie, Villeneuve sur Lot, France. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library