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Jan. 6 is called “The Epiphany of Our Lord,” which historically was an even bigger celebration in the church than Christmas Eve and Day.
Epiphany even has been called the “second Christmas,” the “Christmas of the Gentiles.” At the first Christmas, it was a swaddled baby in a manger visited by shepherds called in from the fields by angels. In this second Christmas, it is a young child playing around the feet of his mother in a house visited by “magi,” wise men from the east guided by a star.
The first Christmas was for Israel. The second Christmas was for the world, the nations, the Gentiles. As the Prophet Isaiah says, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising,” Isaiah 60:3.
The word “epiphany” means “appearing,” usually of a god or a great king. Some kings thought they were gods. Antiochus IV took the name “Epiphanes” after his defeat of Egypt just to underscore the point. Hubris, especially in public office, seems to know no bounds.
The magi had come from the east to Jerusalem guided by a star. They were probably Persian court astrologers, star gazers, who would have looked to the stars in the sky for signs. They saw what appeared to be a king’s natal star, announcing the birth of a king. The shepherds of Bethlehem heard the birth announcement from an angel accompanied by a heavenly choir. The Persians get the birth announcement in their own language, so to speak. Not an angel but a star that guided them from the east to Jerusalem.
Centuries before, the Israelites had gone into exile in the east. And now the east comes to Israel. Star gazers seeking the baby king whose birth star they had seen in the eastern skies. They go to Herod’s palace in Jerusalem. That’s logical. Herod was the king so it’s probably his son that the star was signaling. Where else would you go for a newborn “king of Jews” but to Herod, the “king of the Jews?”
Wrong king. The wise men encountered Man’s king. The star pointed to God’s king. Man’s king lives in palaces, in capital cities, in grandeur. God’s King lives in a humble house, in a ghetto suburb, in poverty and humility. Man’s king believes he is a god. God’s king becomes man. Man’s king exercises his power to control those under him. God’s king exercises His power in weakness to save those under Him.
And again, on the second Christmas, the Christmas of the Gentiles, we are reminded of God’s subversively hidden way, not the way of power and might, not the way of politics and palaces, but the way of poverty, meekness, lowliness and strength exercised in weakness where throne and cross merge as one.
The star brought them to Jerusalem and Herod’s court, but the prophetic Scripture brought them to Bethlehem. The sign only got them so far. The Word of God had to take them the rest of the way. They had to look it up. They got all the priests and theologians and Torah scholars together and asked them where the King was to be born. And, they go right to it. The prophet Micah: In Bethlehem of Judea.
So, off they go to Bethlehem, urged on by Herod who wants to kill this threat to his throne, and the star appears again in the sky, like a GPS, giving them great joy because how else would they know where to go, guiding them to the very house where the child was. No more manger crib for this little one. Now, He’s staying with relatives in a house. And now, these Persians come up the drive and knock at the door, and you can just imagine the confused look on Mary’s face when she sees camels on the front lawn. Even more surprising, these strangers from the east immediately bow down with the foreheads pressed against the ground as soon as they see the Child. They bring good news, the praises of the Lord incarnate. And they came with gifts: Gold, and frankincense and myrrh. Costly gifts they offer to this humble little Child, and they worship Him as a god, because He is God in the flesh.
Ancient kings thought they were gods. This little king is God in the flesh, the eternal Son, the Savior, the Son of David. What the wise men saw was a little child, perhaps a year or so old, playing at His mother’s feet. But, they believed the prophetic Word and the sign of the star, and through the eyes of faith they saw and worshipped the King of all kings and offered Him their gifts.
The outsiders are now the insiders. Those who stood on the outside of Israel, are now in the presence of Israel’s last and greatest King, the promised son of David. This is that great “mystery” of which the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians, how the Gentiles are now fellow heirs with Israel of the promise of salvation in Christ. The first Christmas was for the Jews, the circumcised, the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the second Christmas, Epiphany, is for the Gentiles, those who once were not God’s people but who now, by the grace of God in Christ, have become the people of God. Amen.
