‘
The kings
returning to
distant lands
will carry the
news of this
earth-shaking,
horizon-blasting babe in the
manger
14
This year we have already celebrated Advent and Christmas,
both the season of longing and
waiting and the season of birth
of the Christ Child. On January
6 we celebrate the Epiphany of
our Lord. Some Christian traditions think of this as one day. I
think of it as the whole season
until Lent.
Epiphany means “manifestation” or “shining forth”. It has
two parts to it. Epiphany celebrates the “ahas” of the people
in Scripture who first recognize
that Jesus, though human, caries the mystery of divinity. The
readings for Epiphany include
the Wedding at Cana (John
2:1-11) and the Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17). At the
Wedding at Cana, Jesus turns
water into wine. This is the first
of many miracles. As John
the Baptist dunks Jesus in the
water at his baptism, God says,
“This is my Son, the Beloved,
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with whom I am well pleased.”
(NRSV) The specialness, the humanity/divinity of Jesus shines
forth in these wondrous signs.
Another Epiphany story is the
appearance of the kings or Magi
at the manger. Not only does
this story manifest the specialness of Jesus to merit precious
gifts from faraway places and
nobles; it also lets us know
the growing sphere of Jesus’
influence. The kings returning
to distant lands will carry the
news of this earth-shaking,
horizon-blasting babe in the
manger. This Good News will
not stay in a tiny town in a little
country in the Middle East. It
will go viral. It will spread like
wildfire, “a light to lighten the
Gentiles,” (Luke 2:32 KJV) and
change the world.
The whole Nativity Season with
Epiphany as its finale is about
Incarnation. God becomes