Happy Epiphany

You may or may not know it, but today, January 6, is Epiphany. It is the day the Church from very early in its history has celebrated the appearance of Jesus as Immanuel, God With Us. In western Church tradition, the celebration came immediately after the twelve days of Christmas and focused particularly on the manifestation of Jesus to the Magi after their long journey to Bethlehem (Mat 2.1-12).

The Bible tells us little about the Magi. Tradition holds that they came from the Persian Empire to the east, and this appears to be the case. Persia had a governing body known as the Megistanes which was divided into two houses – the Magoi (“powerful ones”) and the Sophoi (“wise ones”).  The Maggoi, the upper house, was comprised of the nobility, the kingmakers of the Persian Empire. There is a primitive painting of the Magi on the walls of one of the catacombs of Rome. If it is accurate, there were quite a few Magi, not just three, and they were accompanied by a large entourage of soldiers.* Whatever the case, the Magi were important enough that Herod, a master of the political game, granted them an audience and took seriously their claims of a newborn king (Mat 2.3-4, 7-8). The Magi stood in marked contrast to Herod.  The Magi, Gentile rulers from so far away, wanted to worship Jesus.  Herod, king of the Jews, from nearby Jerusalem, wanted to kill him (Mat 2.13, 16).

After the Magi met with Herod, the Star which beckoned them from Persia in the first place reappeared, led them down the road to Bethlehem, and hovered over the house where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph dwelt (Mat 2.9). The behavior of the Star indicates that it was not an astral body, as often supposed, but almost certainly the Shekinah glory cloud – the pillar of fire by which God manifested His presence to Israel in the Old Testament.* When the Tabernacle and later the Temple were constructed, God filled them with His glory cloud, thus indicating His house, His dwelling place among men (Exo 40.34; 1Kings 8.10).  Thus the Temple was where heaven and earth met, where God and man met – it was truly the center of the world.  But with the birth of Jesus, the glory cloud dwelt not over the Temple in Jerusalem, but over the house where Jesus was. The message is unmistakable – Jesus is the true Temple, he is where heaven and earth meet, he is where God and man meet, he is the center of the universe (John 1.14, 51; 1Tim 2.5; Rev 21.22-24). All who want to worship God must, like the Magi, come to Jesus.

In the Magi, we see the beginning of the fulfillment of the glorious Old Testament prophecies that foretell of the rulers of the earth coming to worship Jesus as King of kings.  As Solomon prophesied:

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.   . . . The kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts. Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him.  (Psalm 72.8, 10-11.)

In our modern secular age, it is hard to imagine the rulers of the nations streaming to the Church to worship Jesus as Lord.  But was it any easier 2000 years ago to imagine Persian rulers traveling vast distances to worship an infant boy in Bethlehem?  What is impossible with man is possible with God (Mark 10.25-27).  It is not only possible, it is inevitable, for the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish it:

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.  (Isaiah 9.6-7.)

Happy Epiphany!

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* Duane Spencer, Word Keys which Unlock Christmas, Word of Grace, San Antonio, Texas.

photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/919004