Epiphany
03/01/21 01:59
The Gospel of Matthew doesn’t have the story of Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem, of the child wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. That story belongs to Luke’s Gospel. There are no stories of the infant Jesus in Mark or John. Matthew’s Gospel begins with a chapter-long genealogy of Jesus the counts 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 generations from David to the Babylon Exile and 14 generations from the Exile to Jesus. It goes on to tell that Joseph considered divorcing Mary when he found of her pregnancy because they had not yet lived together as husband and wife. He was convinced in a dream to go ahead with the marriage and named the child Jesus because of that dream.
Then the second chapter of the Gospel begins with the strange story of visitors who were not Jewish: ”In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” Apparently, their visit created quite a stir: “When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him.” As has been demonstrated in the politics of our time and place, it is never a good thing when a powerful leader is overcome with fear. They do irrational things and their irrational fear results in tragedy and suffering. In the case of Herod, his fear was that another ruler would rise up to displace him. He foments a plan to destroy this child. The Gospel goes on to report that Herod is tricked by the wise men and Joseph has another dream and the Holy Family escapes Herod’s infanticide by fleeing to Egypt for refuge.
The Gospel is not specific in details. We don’t know how old the child was when the visit occurred, but we assume that he was very small because the wise men find the Holy Family in Bethlehem, which, according to Luke’s Gospel, was Joseph’s ancestral home, but not the family’s regular home in Nazareth. We don’t know much of how Mary reacted to the visit of strangers from far away who weren’t of their faith and who presented valuable gifts. We don’t know if the gold offered by the wise men was used to finance the trip to Egypt. We don’t even know for sure how many wise men there were, though the Bible reports three gifts and tradition has followed up with stories of three wise men.
The story of the visit of the wise men has given birth to a host of traditions that now center on the time after Christmas. Initially Epiphany was the celebration of the visit of the wise men and its celebration has settled on the 12th night of Christmas, which is called Epiphany Day. In many contemporary churches, the Sunday closest to the 12th night, January 6, is chosen as Epiphany Sunday. In other churches, the second Sunday after Christmas is the day of the reading of the story of the visit. In many contemporary churches the story of the visit of the wise men is included in Christmas Eve services and repeated on Epiphany Sunday. However, few churches go on to read the stories of Herod’s infanticide and the grief of the parents which is reported in Matthew 2:16-18. The chapter ends with an explanation of why Jesus grew up in Nazareth instead of Bethlehem that is different from the story told in Luke’s Gospel.
The whole story is strange and fantastic and hard to imagine. Like many other stories of faith that are hard to understand, we have returned to them again and again. In the Christian Calendar, Epiphany is not just a day, but a season that follows Christmas and lasts until Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Because Epiphany has been observed every year since the early days of the Church, there as layers upon layers of tradition and experience. Some of the meanings of the story have taken generations to develop.
Among the aspects of the story that have been emphasized over the centuries is the manifestation of the Christ child to people outside of the Jewish faith and tradition. The recognition and worship of the Christ child by gentiles is seen as an important part of the eventual distinction between Judaism and Christianity. It has become common to celebrate Epiphany as a season of light, drawing on pre-Christian traditions of solstice celebration and a mid-winter (in the northern hemisphere) anticipation of longer days and warmer weather. In addition, the tradition is to read through the stories of Jesus life during the season, which creates a kind of rush because the season is short and there are a lot of gospel stories. Epiphany is a variable season as the Christian calendar adjusts from a solar calendar to a lunar calendar. Christmas is always December 25. Easter can vary depending on the phases of the moon. Epiphany, then can be as short as 4 weeks and as long as 9 weeks. If one attends worship regularly it seems like the Gospel readings are fitting from event to event to event and Jesus is going through his ministry at a lightning pace.
In the church we have been attending since retirement, the focus today will be on Epiphany and the revelations about life and faith that come from spending time with the gospel story. I’m looking forward to the worship service even though I am not a fan of Facebook worship. It seems like we are ready for a season of light and the revelation of new meanings and understandings. 202 has been a difficult year for so many people, with so much grief and so much loss. It has been a year of change for us and we are open to discovering new paths and new opportunities as we look forward.
Today, I don’t have to explain why the story of the wise men appears in the gospel. I don’t have to preach a sermon at all. I can sit back and listen carefully to the thoughts and observations of others and add another layer of experience to the story we’ve been telling all of our lives.
May your Epiphany be a season of light this year.
Then the second chapter of the Gospel begins with the strange story of visitors who were not Jewish: ”In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” Apparently, their visit created quite a stir: “When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him.” As has been demonstrated in the politics of our time and place, it is never a good thing when a powerful leader is overcome with fear. They do irrational things and their irrational fear results in tragedy and suffering. In the case of Herod, his fear was that another ruler would rise up to displace him. He foments a plan to destroy this child. The Gospel goes on to report that Herod is tricked by the wise men and Joseph has another dream and the Holy Family escapes Herod’s infanticide by fleeing to Egypt for refuge.
The Gospel is not specific in details. We don’t know how old the child was when the visit occurred, but we assume that he was very small because the wise men find the Holy Family in Bethlehem, which, according to Luke’s Gospel, was Joseph’s ancestral home, but not the family’s regular home in Nazareth. We don’t know much of how Mary reacted to the visit of strangers from far away who weren’t of their faith and who presented valuable gifts. We don’t know if the gold offered by the wise men was used to finance the trip to Egypt. We don’t even know for sure how many wise men there were, though the Bible reports three gifts and tradition has followed up with stories of three wise men.
The story of the visit of the wise men has given birth to a host of traditions that now center on the time after Christmas. Initially Epiphany was the celebration of the visit of the wise men and its celebration has settled on the 12th night of Christmas, which is called Epiphany Day. In many contemporary churches, the Sunday closest to the 12th night, January 6, is chosen as Epiphany Sunday. In other churches, the second Sunday after Christmas is the day of the reading of the story of the visit. In many contemporary churches the story of the visit of the wise men is included in Christmas Eve services and repeated on Epiphany Sunday. However, few churches go on to read the stories of Herod’s infanticide and the grief of the parents which is reported in Matthew 2:16-18. The chapter ends with an explanation of why Jesus grew up in Nazareth instead of Bethlehem that is different from the story told in Luke’s Gospel.
The whole story is strange and fantastic and hard to imagine. Like many other stories of faith that are hard to understand, we have returned to them again and again. In the Christian Calendar, Epiphany is not just a day, but a season that follows Christmas and lasts until Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Because Epiphany has been observed every year since the early days of the Church, there as layers upon layers of tradition and experience. Some of the meanings of the story have taken generations to develop.
Among the aspects of the story that have been emphasized over the centuries is the manifestation of the Christ child to people outside of the Jewish faith and tradition. The recognition and worship of the Christ child by gentiles is seen as an important part of the eventual distinction between Judaism and Christianity. It has become common to celebrate Epiphany as a season of light, drawing on pre-Christian traditions of solstice celebration and a mid-winter (in the northern hemisphere) anticipation of longer days and warmer weather. In addition, the tradition is to read through the stories of Jesus life during the season, which creates a kind of rush because the season is short and there are a lot of gospel stories. Epiphany is a variable season as the Christian calendar adjusts from a solar calendar to a lunar calendar. Christmas is always December 25. Easter can vary depending on the phases of the moon. Epiphany, then can be as short as 4 weeks and as long as 9 weeks. If one attends worship regularly it seems like the Gospel readings are fitting from event to event to event and Jesus is going through his ministry at a lightning pace.
In the church we have been attending since retirement, the focus today will be on Epiphany and the revelations about life and faith that come from spending time with the gospel story. I’m looking forward to the worship service even though I am not a fan of Facebook worship. It seems like we are ready for a season of light and the revelation of new meanings and understandings. 202 has been a difficult year for so many people, with so much grief and so much loss. It has been a year of change for us and we are open to discovering new paths and new opportunities as we look forward.
Today, I don’t have to explain why the story of the wise men appears in the gospel. I don’t have to preach a sermon at all. I can sit back and listen carefully to the thoughts and observations of others and add another layer of experience to the story we’ve been telling all of our lives.
May your Epiphany be a season of light this year.
