Epiphany
The Rev. Rod Sprange

Matthew 2:1-12

Today is the Sunday before Epiphany - and so we celebrate the feast of Epiphany today.   But what is it?

Epiphany is from a Greek word which means manifestation, revelation or realization.

The early Eastern church used Epiphany to mean the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God and celebrated the Baptism of Christ - where the Heaven’s opened and God revealed “This is my Son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased”. It’s still celebrated this way in the Eastern church.

However around the fourth century the western church decided that Epiphany would focus on the manifestation of Christ (the Son of God) to the Gentiles - represented by the Magi as told in the Gospel according to Matthew.

I want to talk to you about two things this morning, the first is about Matthew and what he may have intended in the way he described this part of the birth story. Then I want to bring this story and the whole idea of epiphany back to us in our time. How and when we might experience epiphanies - or manifestations of Christ. And I need to make it personal.

We don’t actually know the identity of the author of the Gospel according to Matthew. It wasn’t Matthew the tax collector, one of the disciples. It seems to have been written by a greek speaking Jewish-Christian sometime in the last quarter of the first century (75-90 AD). The author was probably the leader of a Jewish-Christian community located somewhere in Syria, some think Antioch.   The community most likely consisted primarily of Jews who believed Jesus to be the Messiah - the Christ. The community was probably expanding with the membership of a growing number of Gentile converts.

It is evident that there was significant tension and animosity between the new Jesus movement and mainline Jewish communities who saw this as heresy.

Matthew, clearly was a devout and committed Jew not only at odds with leaders of mainstream Jewish communities but arguing within his own community for the inclusion of gentiles.

Of the four Gospels, Matthews is the most Jewish. Matthew goes to great lengths to show how Jesus’ birth, ministry, death and resurrection were the fulfillment of scripture; the bringing to full expression of all the promise God had given to Israel in the course of its history.

I believe Matthew wants us to see the connections with the Old Testament and how Jesus is like a second Moses and a new King in the line of David. Moses led the people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt, through the wilderness to the edge of the promised land. He was God’s messenger in bringing them the commandments, the law. Jesus Christ leads the people, leads us, out of bondage and slavery to sin and death, and brings us to the promised Kingdom of God.

With this background in mind, let’s look at today’s story.

Wise men, astrologer/astronomers, learned men who study the night sky, saw an unusual celestial event. They interpreted this as a cosmic display marking a significant terrestrial event. They understood it to mean that a new king was to be born to the Jews. They quickly made preparation and left on a long journey to Jerusalem - the centre of Judaism. These men were Gentiles - yet they were coming to Jerusalem so they could worship this new King of the Jews, this was not just another king being born. Prophesies about the coming Messiah included predictions that his reign would bring God’s justice and peace throughout the world. It is important for Matthew’s theology that it is wealthy foreign leaders who come first to acknowledge the birth of Messiah.

The wise men went to Herod the Great. Herod was a ruthless and paranoid leader who even had members of this own family killed because he was suspicious of them.

When Herod heard that a God chosen King had been born to the Jews he was terrified along with all the wealthy leaders of jerusalem. They feared the end of their power and privilege.

The men from the east asked where the new king had been born. Herod referred this question to the priests and lawyers. They interpreted scripture to indicate that Bethlehem was the most likely location.

People often think of the birth of Christ as a gentle, peaceful event, even if a little rustic. But Matthew cast a dark cloud over the event. There is a cosmic battle being engaged. Ultimate evil verses the pure goodness of God. Herod had a plan to find the child and kill it! That’s how you deal with competitors, no matter their age or vulnerability. Herod lied to the wise visitors from the east and asked them to let him know where the child was so that he too could go and pay him homage. Cynical, cowardly, deceitful, ruthless evil.

The men went to Bethlehem and the celestial phenomena lead them to the very place where the saviour was being cared for by Joseph and Mary.

This was the Epiphany of our Lord - the Son of God was made known to these Gentile scholars who fell on their knees before him and gave him gifts appropriate for a royal birth.

God warned the men in a dream not to tell Herod they had found the boy, and they went home by a different route.

We didn’t hear the conclusion to this story today - but Herod flew into a rage when he realized he had been tricked, and he sent soldiers to kill all male children under the age of two living in and around Bethlehem. This is not a quiet , sentimental story of a sweet little child. Joseph is warned in a dream and the family escape to Egypt.

Later Joseph is told in another dream that Herod has died and it is safe to return to Israel - he took the family to Nazareth. From here the Messiah, Jesus, began the new exodus - he is the saviour of the whole world - leading us into God’s Kingdom.

Do you remember how the other Joseph, the one with the coat of many colours, was sold into Egypt, but through his ability to interpret dreams became Pharaohs second in command. Then Joseph saved Israel and his other sons and their families from starvation?

Remember how later a different Pharaoh wanted all the male Hebrew children killed at birth, because he feared the Hebrews were becoming too strong. But Moses was saved?

Matthew gives us many Old Testament parallels.

Now I want to turn to the present, to us, and to our opportunities to experience epiphanies, manifestations of Christ, and moments and revelation.

One of the difficult but privileged roles for priests is to accompany people on their final journey as they leave this life. We are invited into the intimacy of these final days and hours with loved ones of the dying person. We minister both to the dying and the grieving. We are there to provide spiritual and physical support, the comfort of prayer and hope in this time of helplessness and loss. It is one of the sacred ministries of the church and while never looked forward to, is one of the most cherished and holy of priestly roles.

Over the last two weeks I have been a companion on one such journey. The journey continues, only God knows for how long.

I’ve been with family members as they have kept vigil leading up to and through Christmas, and now on into a new year.

It’s not appropriate for me to share much of these times, but there are a couple of observations and for me revelations that I think I should share with you, the parish family. One of the realizations this week is that we have taken community out of the process of dying. In village life birth and death were community realities in which the whole village shared. These days we are so afraid of offending people’s sense of privacy that families and the dying can become isolated and death becomes something unusual to fear. Yet the dying have so much to share and to teach us. And community has so much to offer in terms of loving support and prayer.

This last two weeks I have marveled at the beauty of this person who is dying. I have wondered at the love and concern for others she manages to show even as she struggles.  

One afternoon I had just finished saying the prayers for the dying with her and one of her daughters. She managed a smile, thanked me, and then with the little breath she could spare for speech asked “Would you say a prayer for my daughter?” I smiled and said “Of course”. Even dying she is always thinking of others first. What a great example she is.

As I looked at our friend, lying there, so weak and so obviously near the end of this life, I saw such beauty shining through her face, even this face so affected by time and illness.

We smiled at each other and for a time saw more than ourselves. I had this very real sense that it was Christ smiling up at me in great weakness, and I think it was Christ who she saw smiling back at her. It was an Epiphany.

Another day she was in an even weaker state, and I was alone with her, she had asked for a drink. I was giving her tiny pieces of ice. She fell asleep for a while.

Then she woke, looked at me and just said “I am thirsty.”

I was immediately in Good Friday hearing Jesus cry from the cross, those very words “I am thirsty.”

Can you imagine the wonder of this, and the privilege of taking a small piece of ice on a plastic spoon and putting it into her mouth for a little relief. An Epiphany.

The other revelation, for me, during this time has been the realization that dying is part of our birth into the new creation. Watching a loved one die is so very hard and grief so very real. Yet the hope of new life in the resurrection offered and promised in Jesus must lead us to find the faith to say hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah - praise God, Praise God, Praise God.

We all need to be open for opportunities to experience epiphanies - for revelations and manifestations of Christ. We have that opportunity this morning. Probably the greatest and most common opportunity we have is during our Eucharist. As members of the congregation gather around the table and receive the essence of Christ look and wonder - you are seeing the body of Christ - we are the body of Christ. Not as a metaphor, but as reality.

Let us give thanks once more for the gift of God’s Son, for the courage and faith of Joseph and Mary, for the manifestation of Christ to the magi, and for our adoption as children of God and members of Christ’s body - heirs of God’s Kingdom. Amen