Meditation Moment: Magi-cal Gifts ~ Epiphany!

For Epiphany, January 6, 2023: Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 2:1-12

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you…Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. [Isaiah 60:1, 3]

     For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress, and the oppressed who has no helper.[Psalm 72:12]

     Of this gospel I have become a servant accord to the gift of God’s grace…This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. [Ephesians 3:7a,11-12]

     “Go and search diligently for the child…” When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. [Matthew 2:8b, 10]

     EPIPHANY IS BIG! It brings us a bright shiny and HOLY Revelation. It IS the continuing and the expanding of the celebration of the birth of our Messiah, and His importance to us all! But perhaps we are worn down after the four weeks of anticipation in Advent, the hustle and bustle of preparation for gifts and food and gatherings, the familiar rush of the time of year, followed by the pageantry and the glorious music, and then the usual “let down.” Perhaps Epiphany, the 12^th Day of Christmas, has become an anti-climax, the end of the story, the time to take down the decorations (if anyone actually waits that long anymore). Yet it is in truth a beginning. We open new chapters of the Story that will take us from Jesus the Baby, to Christ our Redeemer. While we celebrate the birthday with great fanfare, the Epiphany moves us into the reason for which this Child was born of a woman, the revelation of God’s eternal purpose is upon us. A theophany then ~ the manifestation of God visible to humans ~ a re-discovery now. One definition of “epiphany” is “a sudden insight or intuitive understanding.”
      At the Nativity of Jesus, Luke tells us that the angels appeared to the shepherds who received the good news of great joy, but Luke never mentions the Magi. Matthew never mentions the shepherds or even the birth itself except for a brief phrase: "...until she had borne a son; and he [Joseph] named him Jesus." But Matthew did tell us of the "...wise men from the East..." They saw a great star revealing to them the need for a journey to pay homage to a new born king of the Jews. Herod gets involved and we begin to see the ominous cloud moving in to shadow the glorious star. But having heard this story so very many times perhaps we need to hear it or read it again? Have we tuned out rather than engaging with the experience? Or, have we re-awakened to the wonder and pondered what it could possibly mean for each of us in our own time? What sudden insight or understanding might come?   
       These three “Kings” who weren’t likely kings but rather astrologers and astronomers. Possibly, as they have been called, they were Magi, priests of Zoroastrianism from ancient Persia, who saw a sign to follow in the famous star. Traveling a thousand or more miles from the “east,” their journey would likely have taken months, not days, and they would likely have had an entourage carrying food, tents, supplies, etc. At last they found King Herod to tell him, and us all, of the significance, power, and majesty this Child brings.
       These three “Kings” who weren’t likely kings but rather astrologers and astronomers. Possibly, as they have been called, they were Magi, priests of Zoroastrianism from ancient Persia, who saw a sign to follow in the famous star. Traveling a thousand or more miles from the “east,” their journey would likely have taken months, not days, and they would likely have had an entourage carrying food, tents, supplies, etc. At last they found King Herod to tell him, and us all, of the significance, power, and majesty this Child brings.
       Today, it is a new dawn, another chance to listen to or read these Scriptures, not only on this day, but each Sunday (and weekdays, too!), especially the Gospel, and to hear, feel, and know the message deeply within. In the compression of time given in the Gospels and the Church calendar, it is a short season indeed before we begin the unfolding of the ministry, miracles, teaching, sacrificial execution, and resurrection of Jesus. It is time again to rediscover the astonishment, the amazement, the true adoration in this event.
       Hear the story as if for the very first time ~ know that we have been given an extraordinary gift, Christ, Our Lord, has been born to us! Let us be overwhelmed with joy! Let us search diligently for the child within us and around us. Epiphany is the time to seek the Magi-cal gifts in my own life that call me to pay homage, follow, and live into the light and life of Christ in boldness and confidence through faith in him. Arise, shine; for your light has come! Have an EPIPHANY!

“And, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, til it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they
were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2: 9-11

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