Epiphany
The Christ Child Reigns!
Epiphany is a Greek word that means revelation or manifestation. This Sunday we celebrate the manifestation of the divinity of baby Jesus to the nations (as opposed to just the Jews). Until the 19th Century this feast day was as significant to Christians as Christmas; in many countries around the world it still is.
“Epiphany originally celebrated four different events, in the following order of importance: the Baptism of the Lord; Christ's first miracle, the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana; the Nativity of Christ; and the visitation of the Wise Men or Magi. Each of these is a revelation of God to man:
At Christ's Baptism, the Holy Spirit descends and the voice of God the Father is heard, declaring that Jesus is His Son.
At the wedding in Cana, the miracle reveals Christ's divinity.
At the Nativity, the angels bear witness to Christ, and the shepherds, representing the people of Israel, bow down before Him.
At the visitation of the Magi, Christ's divinity is revealed to the Gentiles – “the other nations of the earth”.[1]
The key difference between these four different manifestations of Christ is that the visitation of the Magi is the only one that happens for non-Jews, i.e. Gentiles. Thus all four of these manifestation feasts could be called Epiphany, and in many nations to separate it from the others, it is called “Theophany”, “Three King’s Day”, or “The Visitation of the Magi”.
“As with most aspects of the Christian liturgical calendar, Epiphany has theological significance as a teaching tool in the church. The Wise Men, or Magi, who brought gifts to the child Jesus were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as King, and so were the first to show or reveal Jesus to a wider world as the incarnate Christ. This act of worship by the Magi, which corresponded to Simeon’s blessing that this child Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), was one of the first indications that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and that the work of God in the world would not be limited to only a few.”[2]
Historically, Epiphany has been celebrated on January 6th. In recent times in this country, it has been moved to the Sunday between January 2 – 8. For many nations, it remains the day in the Christmas season in which gifts are exchanged; instead of Santa Claus bringing gifts on Christmas, it’s the Three Kings bringing gifts on Epiphany. I like this much more than our secular tradition of Santa Claus because it puts the focus of Christmas back where it belongs, on the birth of Jesus, and away from secularism and commercialism. The Three Kings (Wise Men or Magi) are real, whereas Santa Claus, well . . .
Finally: Wise men still seek Him. Instead of always expecting Jesus (God) to seek and serve us, let us imitate the Magi and seek after Jesus. Let us make 2021 a year in which we make a special effort to follow the star of the Church to Jesus.
Fr. Thomas Nathe
[1] Scott P. Richert, Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ. July 05, 2016. Writing for the website: About Religion http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Epiphany.htm
[2] Dennis Bratcher, The Season of Epiphany. Writing for the website: Christian Resource Institute http://www.crivoice.org/cyepiph.html
