Epiphany: A Meditation on the Magi
January 6 marks the Feast of Epiphany in the Church Year. We move from celebrating Christ’s birth and marking its many signs and events to contemplating how Christ began to be revealed in the world as our Savior.
An “epiphany” is "a sudden realization--a flash of recognition in which someone or something is seen in a new light." While that’s a highly personal and subjective definition, it captures the illusion-shattering insight that opens eyes to a possibility most haven’t or can’t yet see. Regarding an epiphany concerning Jesus, the Bible describes people seeing “the glory” of Christ, unexpectedly confronted by a divine splendor otherwise concealed by his humanity.
Three particular passages of Scripture are often read in connection with such seeing: the visit of the Magi (Matthew 2), the Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3, Luke 3, Mark 1, John 1), and the transformation of water into wine at the Wedding Feast of Cana (John 2). The magi worship, the dove descends, the water at the wedding blushes before its maker, and in each of these moments, Christ’s glory is seen.
In this post, let’s briefly consider the Persian Magi who left their home to follow the star in order to worship the Savior of the world.
Epiphany is first a celebration of God making his salvation known to the whole world. The Magi's visit is a partial fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that in his seed, all the families of the earth would be blessed. It is a sign that the message of the prophets promising the Gentiles would see a great light has been fulfilled. It is a dramatic prophecy of what history will look like at the end. As the Scriptures declare, "All nations you have made will come and worship before you” (Psalm 86; Revelation 15).
Right from the start, while Jesus was still a small child in Bethlehem, Gentiles came to adore him. The Magi are the first fruits of Christ's harvest in all nations. As Simeon observed, Jesus is “a light to lighten the Gentiles” as well as “the glory of God’s people, Israel” (Luke 2).
Yet, seeing isn’t enough. The Magi saw the King of Kings and worshipped; Herod saw too - and was enraged. What is our response to the epiphany of God's saving rule in Christ? Adoration or Anger? This reminds us that Epiphany isn't about our capacity to 'perceive' God without his aid but a confession of our need for God’s grace to open our eyes to the beauty of Christ and our need for his mercy and rule.
No wonder Paul prayed for the Ephesians - and us - that God will grant us “the spirit of wisdom and revelation…that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1).
Epiphany isn’t simply a season that marks what God has done in Christ historically but a promise of what he will do for us personally and congregationally. By the Spirit, through the ordinary means of grace, he will open our eyes to the extraordinary wonder of his self-disclosure in Jesus.
With the Magi, in humble gratitude for having our eyes opened by the Spirit to the glory of Jesus, “Come, let us worship and bow down and kneel before the Lord, our maker." Soon, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him” (Psalm 22).