THE MANIFESTATION OF JESUS

 Epiphany

There is a joke that a man put a dog and a cat in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did. So he put in a bird, pig and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments. Then he put in a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and a Catholic, and hell broke loose. He did not even bother putting together a Christian, a Muslim, and a Hindu. That was unthinkable in his days. 

It is part of African belief that each time a person is born, a new star is created and this star is personal to the new born.  With that belief parents will always say to their children in time of major decisions: “follow your star.” It was probably that kind of understanding of the universe that was part of the Magi’ culture.  And when they saw the appearance of a most unusual star, huge, with a powerful illumination, they understood that someone very great had been born; they concluded that this unusual star was created at the birth of an unusual person; probably a great king.  And so, in their quest for knowledge, and perhaps adventure, they decided to follow, not their own stars, but the star of this great new born king.

This is what we heard from the gospel. Now place yourself in Jerusalem at that time and you are the Roman conqueror.  All of a sudden three persons from a foreign land show up in your midst seeking “the new born King of the Jews”. There is Herod; he is the current king of Judea and he probably asks himself: what is this about someone is born and he is the king of the Jews? How could this take place right under my nose?  Herod finds it obvious that if there is a new born king of the Jews, then all these Jews will revolt and overthrow him especially if this king is the promised Messiah that the Jews have been waiting for, for so many years. This is a very bad news to King Herod.

For us, this story of the Magi is appropriate for today’s celebration. It contains the theme of this big feast of the Epiphany which we celebrate today. Formerly, this feast was called the Feast of the Three Kings celebrated on January 6. According to the Catholic Dictionary, the word “Epiphany” has its origin from the Greek word “epiphaino”. “Epi” means, “upon,” and “phaino” means “to show.” If combined, these words mean “to show upon”, to reveal, to make known, to manifest. Epiphany is the feast of the manifestation of Jesus Christ Himself as Lord and king. What we celebrate today is the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world; after being made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem He is revealed to the Magi as Lord and King.

We heard that these wise men knew that this was not an ordinary king of an ordinary kingdom when they saw the star. And the gifts they bring explain it. The first gift was the gold. Among ancient people, gold was regarded as the king of metals. It was therefore the ideal gift for a king. The second gift was the frankincense. Ancient people used incense in their religious worship. The aroma and smoke, going upward to heaven, symbolized the presence of the divine. The gift of incense, therefore, is a symbol of the divinity of Jesus. The third gift was myrrh. Among ancient people again, myrrh was used to prepare the dead for burial. The gift of myrrh, therefore, is symbolic of the humanity of Jesus, especially his death on a cross

The feast of the Epiphany is therefore the manifestation of the glory of Christ and the declaration of the universal salvation which God shows to us in the adoration of the Magi. It is the feast of the beginning of Christian faith where God reveals himself to the whole world. Our God reveals himself to us as the God of all. He was born in a manger, where there is no walls, no windows and no doors so that anybody, shepherd or king, gentiles or Jews, cows or angels can just walk in to worship the new born king.

The important lesson that we can learn today is that our God is not remote from us; God is actively involved in our lives; God cares for us; God is concerned about us; God refuses to be isolated from us and has revealed himself to us. The challenge for all of us is that Epiphany means that we have to manifest Christ to people, to evangelize by our own good example.

The crucial question in the gospel story is: Who actually got to find Jesus? Herod and his scribes who had the scriptures failed to find Jesus but the magi who followed the natural light of the star were able to find him. Why? Because the Jewish authorities, even though they possessed the shining truth of revealed scriptures, did not follow it. They did not walk in the light of the scriptures. The magi, on the other hand, who enjoyed only a star light followed its guidance. It is not the possession of the truth that matters, it is how prepared we are to walk in the light of the truth that we possess. As Christian and Catholic we believe that our religion possesses the fullness of truth. But what does that benefit us if we do not walk in that truth? Let us pray that we may follow the truth that have and that we may become stars to other people.