Dear Friends,
The season of Epiphany which begins this Sunday is a celebration of God’s great self-revelation to the world. Having kept the seasons of Advent and Christmas, we have recalled Christ’s first coming as a child in Bethlehem while keeping an eye to his second coming to judge the world. Epiphany now challenges us to understand who that child in the manger really was — the light of the world and the King and Judge of all the nations, Gentiles and Jews.
Our readings (links below) are connected by these themes. In the rich poetry of the prophet Isaiah, we read a description of a scene of utter darkness being gradually filled with light. Read these words and imagine an artist building-up layers of light on a black canvas, or a composer orchestrating a great crescendo of sound. Isaiah says the brilliance of this light calls people from all nations to gather together to worship and to ‘proclaim the praise of the Lord’ (Isaiah 60:6).
This drawing of people from all nations to God is at the heart of St Paul’s radical message in his letter to the Ephesians. The Gospel of Jesus is not the possession of any earthly authority or a single nation, tribe or race. The Good News of who God is and what he has done—revealed to us in Jesus—is entrusted to all of his creation.
The story of the Nativity of Our Lord is completed by the visit of the Magi whose epic journey and strange gifts are recalled in our gospel passage for this week. What odd and mysterious figures they were. We don’t know where they came from (‘the East’), or how many of them there were (only how many presents they brought). We know nothing of their background or status, only that they felt confident to call at Herod’s palace on the way—with fatal consequences.
Yet when these Wise Men understand what has been revealed to them in the simplicity of the child in the manger—their long-awaited Epiphany moment—they are ‘overwhelmed with joy’. I hope we can worship together in that same spirit this week.
Yours in Christ,
Ian
