The Epiphany of Our Lord

After twelve days of Christmas, the season of Epiphany begins today. Epiphany must always follow Christmas, not because it’s next on the church calendar, but because the revelation of Christ must follow his coming into our dark world. When Christ was born, the angel announced that his birth would be glad tidings of great joy for all people. But did all people hear this message? No. Only a few Jewish shepherds. The savior of all the nations had entered the world, and yet, the world did not know. And so begins God’s great program of announcing the good news of Christ’s coming to the Gentiles.

Christmas is over. It’s done. Our Lord has come: born once of the virgin Mary. And then he also suffered and died once and for all. It is finished. But the season of Epiphany will continue until our Lord’s return. The light of Christ must shine into every corner of the world and upon every sin-darkened heart. The announcement of the angel must be taken up by the Church on earth so that the Gentiles may hear the good news of Christ. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom 10:13). But St. Paul asks, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14).

Every sermon, then, is a little Epiphany. Every time the gospel of Jesus is proclaimed, the light of Christ drives out the darkness, and the mission of God is advanced on earth. At this moment, as you sit here listening to the Word of God, and as the Holy Spirit works within your heart, building up your faith, the Epiphany is taking place.

I suppose that every one who is not a natural-born Jew ought to specially love Epiphany. We are Gentiles. The Roman church has patron saints. Perhaps we could have patron seasons. If so, Epiphany would be our patron season. And as St. Paul writes, we Gentiles “at one time were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). We were the people that Isaiah speaks of, people who lived in thick darkness, apart from the promise of salvation through Christ. No nations of the Gentiles were ever called the people of God. None of them was given the Holy Scriptures or the promise of a Messiah. And yet, when Jesus was born as a Jew in the land of Israel, the angel was sent to proclaim him the Savior of all people. The message of Epiphany is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promises in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph 3:6). Through Holy Baptism, God adopts Gentiles into his family, even though we had no natural claim as natural children. Epiphany is the revealing of God’s original plan to save the Gentiles!

The first Gentiles to see this light were the Wise Men, or the Magi. We don’t know exactly where they came from—somewhere in the East—and that’s sort of the point. It doesn’t matter where you came from. Only the light of Christ matters. We don’t know their nationality or family origins, because they don’t matter either. All who are baptized into Christ receive a new family and becomes members of a new people. What we do know about the Wise Men is that they traveled a long distance to find the place where Jesus was. These men are rightly called wise, who joyfully gave their treasures for the sake of Christ, who willingly endured any hardship or discomfort in order to follow his light.

Many people today foolishly consider a ten-minute drive too far to travel to find Jesus, or are content to stay away from the house where he dwells because of a 1% chance of danger. But even now, wise men still seek Jesus. Even today, eyes that formerly lived in darkness continue to see the light of Christ. At this very moment, ears that were strangers to the promise hear the good news of salvation for all. Wherever the Gospel of Jesus is preached, Christ crucified for sinners—for Jews or for Gentiles—there the Epiphany of our Lord continues. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Epiphany has come! And may we continue in that light until our Lord returns. Amen.