Feast of Epiphany 2023
First Reading Isaiah 60:1-6
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel: Matthew 2: 1-12
The word epiphany is derived from the Greek epiphaneia which means “manifestation.” It is one of the oldest feasts in the Church and commemorates the first manifestation of Jesus, God, to the Gentiles. The first reading from Isaiah speaks about the revelation of God’s glory over Jerusalem. It begins with the words, “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.” And then it says, “all nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” The visit of the magi who came bringing Him gifts and offering Him worship fulfils this prophecy. They represent the nations and their kings who come to see Him who is the light of the world.
The story of the magi following a star and finding the newborn king also fulfills the prophecy of Balaam in Numbers 24. The Moabite king, Balak had called upon a seer named Balaam to pronounce a curse on Israel. Each time Balaam tried to curse Israel, God took control of his speech and words of blessing came out of his mouth instead. In his last attempt to curse Israel, the spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied about a future king arising out of Israel and a star would be the sign of the king’s arrival. This prophecy would have been well known and explains why Herod panicked when he heard about a newborn king who was known by a star.
Just as Balak sought to use a pagan seer to destroy Israel, so Herod seeks to use the pagan magi to destroy the child Jesus. And just as Balaam failed to cooperate with the king’s plan, uttering blessings instead of curses, so the magi fail to assist Herod in his plot to destroy Jesus. Instead, they paid him homage, offering him gifts and worship.
There are three different reactions to the birth of Jesus – the reaction of the magi, Herod and then the chief priest and teachers of the law. Let us look at these reactions which Matthew presents to us because they are models which we can follow or avoid.
1. Herod: The Herod mentioned here is Herod the Great, the father of Herod Antipas. Herod was not from the house of David. He was said to be an Idumean whose family got itself appointed by the Romans to rule over the Jews. He was said to have a terrible complex. He saw rivals to his throne everywhere and was notorious for his cruelty. According to the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, he killed about five of his ten wives and killed some of his own children and many notables on mere suspicion. Hearing about the birth of Jesus, he was greatly troubled. He convoked a meeting of the chief priests and teachers of the law not just to know the truth but to plot a deception. Herod represents those who see nothing but their own interests. Such a person will do anything to cut down any threat to his interests. He was a politician. Many politicians are like that. He probably even thinks he was doing his duty to defend his royalty, family dynasty and the good of the nation. Killing the holy innocents would have seemed to him as expedient as with many dictators in history, a measure demanded by public interests and so morally justified.
2. The priests, Scribes and teachers of the law: Asked by Herod, where the Messiah was to be born, they do not hesitate to give the correct answer – Bethlehem in Judah. They know where the Messiah is to be born and are able to tell others. Now, hearing that the Messiah has been born, you will think they will move with haste to see Him. Bethlehem is only 6.21 miles to the south of Jerusalem but they are not moved. They do not run to Bethlehem as would be expected by people expecting the Messiah. They remain comfortably in Jerusalem. They are like the signs that indicate the way but remain unmoved. Here we see an attitude that is sometimes found in us. We always know the right thing to do and we can explain it to others, but we often lack the will and the radicality to seriously put it into practice.
3. The Magi: We come to the protagonists of our feast today. They teach us not with their words but with what they did. When they perceived the birth of the Messiah, they did not stay back, they acted decisively. They left the securities of their environment where they were known and revered. They did not begin to calculate one after the other, the dangers on the journey, the difficulties and uncertainties. It would have been an arduous and precarious journey. They found the child in swaddling clothes, the one they have sought following the star. Their eyes see a human child but by faith, they saw God. They fell down and worshipped God in human flesh and offered him gifts of gold for his kingship, frankincense for his divinity and myrrh for his humanity. This is the type of response we should have even today when we meet Jesus in the Eucharist. Though with the eyes of our bodies, we see what appears to be only bread, with the eyes of faith, we know it is the very body of our Lord. The magi’s worship of the child Jesus must become the model of our adoring him in the Eucharist. We show him reverence when we kneel before His Real Presence in the Eucharist. And we bring him gifts, perhaps not gold, frankincense or myrrh, but the gifts of our hearts in praise and thanksgiving. This is even more pleasing to him.
Finally, having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country in another way. There is a moral to this; Encountering Jesus should bring about a turnaround, a change of heart and lifestyle.
Matthew wants us to see how God uses what is familiar to us to call us to faith. God reveals Himself to each category of persons by signs appropriate and comprehensible to them. To simple shepherds, He sent an angel, to the Jews who are attached to signs, he gives the sign of the change of water into wine and to the wise men from the East who observe the stars, He sent a star that leads them to Jesus. God continues to manifest and reveal Himself to us in the ordinary things and events of our lives, signs that lead us to Him. In every instance of Epiphany, we are invited to faith and to offer gifts and worship.
Happy Sunday
Fr. Chidi Onwuka m.ss.cc.