When the world came to Jesus

Today marks the traditional celebration known as Epiphany, or the Revelation of Christ to the Gentiles. This understood to be the story of the first non-Jewish people, Persian Magi from the far East, journeying to worship and witness to the infant Jesus as the coming Messiah (Christ).

The day when the world came to Jesus… kneeling in humility, with awe and wonder for the One who would coalesce heaven and earth. In Jesus, heaven and earth are united, reconciled, and renewed into one. This grace and truth is not for a few people, those deemed religiously pious, or any one denomination or ethnicity. Nope, the story the writer Matthew is telling is for all people. Matthew is highlighting and drawing from the ancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah, specifically from what we know as chapter 60. Isaiah’s poem begins like this…

Arise, shine, for your light has
come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen
upon you.
For darkness shall cover the earth
and thick darkness the peoples,
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations shall come to your light
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
they all gather together; they come to
you;
your sons shall come from far away,
and your daughters shall be carried in their nurses’ arms.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and be enlarged,
because the abundance of the sea shall
be brought to you;
the wealth of the nations shall come
to you.
A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and
Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense
and shall proclaim the praise of the
LORD. (Isaiah 60:1-6)

This is the text Matthew is drawing from when he tells of Magi (astrologers) coming from the East, which most scholars believe to be Persia. They come bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You likely have seen a nativity scene with three kings riding camels, all of which is syphoned from Isaiah’s poem, not Matthew’s story. We have no idea the exact number of kings, but we do know that this scene reveals the Nations, the far reaches of the world, journeying to acknowledge and give praise to the One who is called Messiah… Jesus the Christ. This is invitation and inclusivity on the largest of scales. It overwhelms the heart and opens wide the eyes of the soul. This scene is breathtaking and brilliant in so many ways.

How utterly heartbreaking that many will remember January 6 as the day a mass of small-minded people enacted violence on our nation’s capital… all while holding symbols of the non-violent Jesus, who absorbed the sword to put an end to the sword.

May our eyes be opened wide once more, and may we scour the expanse for another sign, for another epiphany of Light. As we are still people walking in darkness, with violence all around us and within us. We are again desperate for the Light to shine, for a Star to lead us into the reconciliation of heaven and earth. I’ll close this season of writing with a poem from the late British-American poet, W.H. Auden…

To discover how to be truthful now…
To discover how to be living now…
To discover how to be loving now…
To discover how to be human now…
Is the reason we follow this star.

Amen, Wystan Hugh, amen.