We’ve all probably been there: we’ve had that problem that we just can’t seem to figure out. A strange constellation of events that seem to have no correlation. Maybe we are trying to understand a concept, and it just feels like we aren’t figuring it out as quickly as we feel we should. Then, all of a sudden, it hits you like a bolt of lightning. Suddenly, that problem has an obvious solution. The events show their connection. The concept is so easy, it has been staring you in the face this entire time. All of these moments are sudden onsets- but they are instances of revelation- or, we could dare call them- epiphanies. Any time we have that sudden revelation or insight- that is a moment in which we experience an epiphany. Something reveals itself to us!
In the midst of celebrating the different snapshots of Christmas that the Gospels give us, we might think that, after the birth of Jesus, the story largely has no particularly surprising occurrences after that- it’s all downhill from there. Is it really, though? The occasion we celebrate today is the Epiphany of the Lord- the revelation- but why does it matter? This moment in time when Jesus is made known to the Three Magi- why exactly does that matter?
If you think about the entirety of the Nativity- it is full of amazing things. Jesus comes to earth. Jesus comes through Mary. What’s more impressive is the simplicity and humility. Jesus chose to enter into our state just like any of us would. Because of that entrance- very simple and lowkey- Jesus could have gone through his entire life being relatively unknown and obscure. However, Epiphany tells a different story. No, it doesn’t tell how God boasts in a prideful and arrogant way about the work to be done- that isn’t what this moment is about at all. Rather, it is about the fact that Jesus reveals Himself for a reason- He wants us to enter into intentional relationship with Him!
If we start from the first selection that we were given in the book of the prophet Isaiah, this really tells that story in a very beautiful way. We have gone from past tense prophecies about the coming of the Lord to present realities- at least in our context and from our point of view. “Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come! The glory of the Lord shines upon you!” There is clearly something splendid happening here, and if we really start to think about imagery surrounding this- it would very quickly come to the star that pierced that night sky in Bethlehem. Yet, it seems to be no ordinary star. We are very clearly told about nations walking by likght, and even kings by the skinning radiance that is being produced. This, clearly, is no ordinary star! It pierces the darkness, the clouds, and it shines through all things, and illumines all, so splendid is this star. If that isn’t enough- we are told that people will radiant at what is seen- and even their hearts shall throb and overflow- a feeling, I daresay, we don’t experience every day. Nonetheless, Isaiah continues to lay all of this out- there is a piercing light that has arrived- and it goes even into the darkness and the recesses of the human heart.
If we move forward in time to Saint Paul and his letter to the Ephesians- we speak about this light, but not in the way that you might expect. He starts speaking of a mystery being made known by revelation- not known before- but being revealed. This actually ties in very beautifully into the light we see before. The star shining through has a name- it is Jesus Christ. He doesn’t remain hidden at all, but is a mystery that has been revealed. This is what Saint Paul is speaking of, the fact that Jesus Christ ha been shown to the world, but in a broad way. Much like any of us could look into the night sky and see a star, there is a similarity here with Jesus Christ and his revelation- He is manifesting his coming to the entire world, and not just a select group of people.
We actually see this happen in the Gospel that we have for this solemnity. There are three magi- men from far away distant lands, and they are seeking after the Christ child. They are clearly men who are learned- because they know the star that has appeared, and not only do they know it, but they know the prophecies and the meaning behind that star. It changes them- and they go out in pursuit of what this star is said to symbolize- who’s arrival it signifies.
Notice, too, there is a contrasting character in Herod- a man who is so narrow in his view of things that the arrival of the Christ child threatens Him. He does not Harold the light, but lives in ignorance, and even threatens to do the Christ child harm, because He feels that Jesus’s light is a threat to Him. Moving with the Magi, we notice that they do indeed find the Christ child by following the light- they were overjoyed at seeing that star, and they offered to the Lord what gifts they had with them- gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, we hear that they depart, having beheld the light.
As we consider these wise men, though, we should realize- our lot in life is not all that different from the way that they took themselves. Certainly, we may not come from far off countries, necessarily, but we do need the Christ child in our lives- and the good news that His arrival is. This Christmas moment gives us on a yearly basis because we live in the midst of many things going on. We may not really think about it- many of these moments give us light. Some don’t. Some fill us with tremendous darkness. It all depends on where we are. Yet, we know that there is an all-powerful light and reality of it that enters our hearts- especially in those feelings of hope and joy that we get around Christmastime each year.
I’d like to boil this down to a question, though. Are you, right now, experiencing the radiance of that Bethlehem Star that lead those three magi so long ago? It’s important to consider this because it can be so easy to walk through the midst of Christmas, and remain relatively unchanged or to live in spite of it. We run through all the hustle and bustle of the season- perhaps we experience moments of joy here or there- but then we tell ourselves that we have to get back to reality. While we do have to get back to our daily schedules, as the three magi did in that time- they walked away changed and impacted by what they saw.
As we approach the very same star- we see the same things that the wise men did that day. We encounter Jesus Christ, though we may not necessarily go to Bethlehem, we encounter Him in the Word. We encounter Him in the Eucharist. We likely also experience Jesus’s light in certain people and individuals. Yet, when we encounter all of these sources of light- when we see Jesus Himself- are we changed?
The question that I would propose to you today, my brothers and sisters- where do you need Jesus to be light right now? There is always a temptation to try to fix things ourselves- or even to simply live in the darkness and the clouds that Isaiah described. We might have a lot of things going on that really draw our attention away from that Star- and from what the star represents, and yet, we need that light so much, especially in our own time and day. With everything that goes on in our world, we need Christ, even in the times when we think we don’t or we might think that we have it handled.
As we start a new year, and set out to see what 2022 will bring us- it isn’t simply for us to endure alone. We have had an epiphany- there has been a revelation of someone who seeks to change everything. He wants to fill us with that light of His presence. He wants to fill us with it to the very depth that we start to radiate that presence to others- we become like the Bethlehem Star that led others to Jesus in those early times. And so, the question is- are you willing to follow the Star? Do you trust Jesus enough to see where He is- not to be threatened and afraid like Herod- but really and truly to seek after Jesus? Let us be like those Magi seeking after the star- and that were so changed by that Epiphany- that revelation- that they took that message and changed their lives forever.
Truly, we have seen this star- let us also go to give Christ homage.
