AN EAGERNESS OF EXPECTATION

Solemnity of the EPIPHANY

11 January, AD 2009

TEXT:  St. Matthew 2:1-12

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem saying, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the East and are come to worship him.’ . . . 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 treasurers, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”  (St. Matthew 2:1, 11).

A star, mysterious travelers from the East, and gifts; three seemingly incongruous elements of what was once exclusively part of the Christmas narrative has become, over the centuries, a celebration and a season of the Church in its own right.  We prepared for the birth of Our Saviour during Advent.  We rejoiced when we heard the message of the angels at His birth.  But now, He has been revealed to the world both physically and spiritually in this season of Epiphany.  That’s what the Greek-root of the word “epiphany” means ~ revelation and manifestation.  So for the next few weeks we are going to be examining and celebrating the manifestation of Our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to a world which most desperately needs Him now more than ever.  To do that we must start at the beginning; when Jesus was first revealed to the three Magi, who over the centuries, have come to represent the peoples of the world.  

It all has to do with light, star-light that is, and the prophecy surrounding that star.  We have but to look in Numbers, chapter 24, verse 17 to read, “There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre (or ruler) shall rise out of Israel.”  Of course that prophecy is about the Christ-child, but on the many levels on which prophecy can be fulfilled, it was also on the physical or natural level that a star appeared in the night sky that was brighter than all the other stars in the heavens which caught the attention of those Magi.  This star, one of the silent elements of nature proclaimed loudly the Christ-child before He ever spoke.  The Magi heard the star’s silent call and began their journey to find the King!  So a silent sign fulfilled a spoken prophecy.  St. Paul understood the power of signs when he wrote to the Corinthians “Prophecy has been given for believers, not for unbelievers; but signs have been given for unbelievers, not for believers.”(I Corinthians 14:22)  So the star-sign “spoke” to the Magi, who were considered to be “unbelievers” by those who knew the prophecy regarding of the birth of a King into the world.

Well, just who were the Magi?  People have said that they were anything from magicians to petty kings in their own right, but recently, scholars have concluded that the Magi were in Persia what the Levites were in Israel – men of holiness and wisdom.  They sought the truth and searched for the ultimate meaning of life as did the Levites, but instead of using prophecy, they used the stars.  When they saw this particular star, they may not have known, personally, who had been born, but they knew they had to follow it because of the portent it held.  

Granted, it may seem extraordinary to us that these Magi set out from the East to follow a star that signified the birth of a great leader for them, but we find that it wasn’t only the Magi who were expecting a great leader to be born.  Even the Roman historians expected something to happen at this time in their history.  Suetonius, Tacitus, Josephus, Seneca, even the poet, Virgil, wrote of the coming of a great leader from Judaea, so it seemed that there was an over-arching expectation – an eagerness of expectation that filled men’s hearts with a desire for meaning which God, Himself, filled when He entered our human history and took on human flesh as Jesus the Babe of Bethlehem and then set His star high in the heavens to announce His special work!  

So it was that the Magi rode from the East in search of the Christ-child with the blazing star leading the way.  When it finally stopped, they knew they had found Him for whom they sought and, entering the house, they knelt down and offered the Babe gifts – gold, frankincense, and myrrh;  three of the most priceless and valuable items of the known world.  But these were no ordinary gifts.  As it was the Christ-child whom they worshipped and adored, these gifts were prophetic.  Gold – representative of Jesus’ Kingship; a Rule which would be signified not by force, but by Love.  Frankincense – representative of Jesus’ Priesthood; Jesus would open the way for mankind to God as Our eternal High Priest.  And finally, Myrrh – representative for one who was to die;  Jesus would also be Our eternal Sacrifice, whose Death and Resurrection destroyed death and brought us everlasting life.  Three perfect and prophetic gifts for a True King, Eternal Priest, and the Supreme Saviour.  With the exception of their returning home by a different route, that is all we know of these Magi or Kings.  Except what their gifts keep on giving to us.  Their gifts are the symbols of the treasures that the people of all lands have brought, are bringing, and will bring to Jesus when His Gospel is finally preached in all the world.  This story at the beginning of St. Matthew’s Gospel is linked with the Great Commission given to the Apostles by Jesus in the very last chapter of this Gospel.  St. Gregory pointed this out when he described the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh as those we bring each time we approach God.  For the gold that King Melchior of Arabia brought is now our wisdom wrought from our searching for God ourselves.  We know, by the Holy Spirit, that God dwells within us.  Frankincense brought by King Balthazar symbolizes holy speech – and what is holy speech, but prayer?  And finally, the Myrrh that King Caspar offered symbolizes the offering of ourselves; soul and body, to God.  And at one and the same time when we offer these gifts of wisdom, prayer, and ourselves to God, they are re-gifted back to us so that we can become a light for others, a living Epiphany, in fact, drawing others to Christ Jesus as their Saviour, thereby in our way fulfilling the Great Commission that began with this little Child, thus revealing Him more fully to the world.  The star that shed its light on the Christ-child so long ago led the Magi to Him for whom they were looking.  In this season of Epiphany our prayer is that in your eager expectation, you can and will find all that you’re looking for in Jesus Christ, and that He would be the Light of the world for you.

And now, unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be ascribed all might, majesty, power, and dominion as is most justly due this day both now and forever; world without end.  Amen.

SOLI DEO GLORIA - JEU