The Light of the World

Epiphany 2012

Often the story of the three wise men gets mixed in with the rest of the Christmas story, as if the wise men showed up at the stable in Bethlehem shortly after the shepherds departed, just as in our Sunday School Christmas pageants in days past.

And of course there’s the old joke that answers the question--what if the wise men were wise women?

If there had been three wise women...
They would have asked for directions
They would have been on time
They would have assisted with the birth
They would have cleaned the stable
They would have brought more practical gifts and held a potluck!

As we mark Epiphany today we celebrate both a feast day and a season in the church year, which is an important part of the larger narrative, and not just a colourful footnote to the story of the birth of Jesus.

What Matthew was drawing on when he told this story is prophetic tradition of the Hebrew Scripture, as we heard this morning in the passage from Isaiah.

Isaiah says nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn, and he mentions two of the three gifts that will come from the Magi from the east—gold and frankincense.

So we have a story that dramatizes the cosmic impact of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Matthew doesn’t say exactly when the Magi arrive. Our best guess is that Jesus was still an infant under two years old when they approached Herod, and then found the child in Bethlehem with his parents and brought their gifts.

Not only are the gifts symbols, but the Magi themselves are symbols. The church has celebrated the season of the Epiphany as Jesus Christ manifested to the gentiles, for the first time.

We see the story of the nativity of Jesus becoming a turning point, not only for the people of Israel, but for the whole world.

The story of the Magi or Wise Men is somewhat sketchy on details. The church in the west has established three as the number, based on the gifts, and even given the wise men names. But that isn’t in Matthew. The Orthodox church believes there were actually 12 wise men.

The idea that the wise men who visited were three in number comes from the travels of Marco Polo, a diary dictated by the explorer while imprisoned in the 12th century in Genoa.

Marco Polo visited the tombs of three Persian kings in his travels. The story told to him by locals was that these three kings travelled to Judea with three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to determine if Jesus was a king, god or healer. If he accepted the gold, he was a king, the frankincense, a god and the myrrh, a healer. According to the story told to
Marco, the baby Jesus accepted all three.

Part of the symbolism in the story that has become part of our Epiphany celebration has been the idea that they were kings…so that the kings from the east come to bring tribute to Christ, the new born King.

However, because of the star being charted, they could also have been astrologers.

Another character in the story is definitely historical. Herod was Rome’s puppet ruler. He was a murderous and jealous man who killed his own family members to retain power.

The response to the wise men is not surprising. Herod’s scheming, and jealousy prompt him to order the execution of male babies under two, and Joseph, warned in a dream takes the Holy family to Egypt.

The gifts the Magi bring—gold for a king, frankincense for worship, and myrrh, a burial spice—foreshadowing the death of Jesus.

So we have a story full of symbolism which can be taken on many levels.

But at the centre is that Jesus was born, not just for the Jewish people in one small corner of the Roman Empire, but for all humanity, for all time.

The details aren’t as important as that central truth. And as we celebrate this season of Epiphany we have to think about our calling as Christians—to focus outward. To share the good news with others we meet.

That is one message of Epiphany.

Another is provided by the Wise Men, however many there were, and however they came to Jesus. These were learned men, who studied their own traditions, and the patterns of the stars in the skies, to learn that this cosmic event would happen.

They knew this was something remarkable. Something worth journeying to, a sign they could follow to confirm what they only supposed to be true.

They actually did ask for directions, contrary to the joke,
and they were wary of Herod when he tried to use them for his own purposes.

When their journey led to Jesus, they were full of gratitude and gave thanks for the chance to bring their gifts.

Perhaps the Wise Men also give us an example in Christian journey. First, they studied, then they discerned a new truth, which they wanted to test.

Then, in order to discover the reality of the new truth, they had to go on a journey, with all its pitfalls.

Our journey as followers of Christ is not easy. There are many ups and downs as we try to be faithful. In our own lives, in our families, in our communities and in the wider world we try to follow the teaching of Jesus.

We follow the light of Christ in this season of Epiphany, of new understanding, of new birth. The light shines in the darkness and it can not be extinguished.