An Epiphany About Epiphany

By Jennifer Smith

Did you know Saturday is a Holy Day?  It's called Epiphany.  Well, to be exact, it's called Epiphany: A Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as Represented by the Magi.

Turn to your neighbor and wish them a Happy Epiphany: A Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as Represented by the Magi Day!

This day is actually a part of the Advent season and falls on January 6.  It's the day we celebrate the Wise Men and their visit with the Christ Child.  Most churches don't celebrate every holy day on the liturgical calendar and that's okay.  But this one, Epiphany, has always fascinated me.  Maybe it's just the cadence of the word 'epiphany', but once studied you realize this day is about much more than a pretty word.

First let's talk about what we know about these wise men or, more accurately named, the Magi.  To do that we'll read the only Gospel that contains mention of the Magi.  Let's go to Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, 

Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,

"Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star 

in the east and have come to worship him."

They went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east

went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary,

and they bowed down and worshiped him.

Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold

and of incense and of myrrh.  

I could bore you with a lot of details of who exactly the Magi are, their probable ancestry, and the timeline of their journey (and I'll totally be willing to Bible-teacher-geek-out and do this if you ask), but here's what you need to know:  these guys weren't kings.  They were astrologers which was a very well respected science in ancient times.  They were not present at the manger because scripture clearly says they visited with Jesus in a house.  They were not Jewish meaning they did not worship the God of Jacob, but they came to honor the newborn King of the Jews.  These men were wise enough to realize all the prophecies of the Messiah pointed to this time, this city, and this baby.  Wise men, indeed.

They came from the east; most likely from Media or current day Iran.

Wait...what?

Do you hear what I'm saying?  The first non-Jews or Gentiles that our sovereign God the Father (Praise His Name!) chose to visit His precious and Holy Son were Iranian astrologers whose descendants would not be Judeo-Christian.  Our God knew this.  He knew exactly who He was giving this incredible honor of seeing His Son.  I. Love. This.

One thing I've learned about God's Word is that there are no coincidences, no wasted words, no random people showing up.  The Bible has purpose in every single word, sentence, paragraph, and event.

Here is my epiphany about Epiphany (see what I did there?) and it's found in Luke 2:10:

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  

I bring you good news of great joy that will be

for all the people." 

(emphasis mine)

Jesus came for all people, not just those who look like me or speak my language or those I think He should have come for (Oh! My human heart.).  He came for all tribes, tongues, and nations and I am just a very small piece of the puzzle that makes up mankind.  I am no Iranian astrologer, but those men and I are linked by one very significant fact:  Jesus came for us.

If you Google  how many people have lived on earth, not currently, but in all of time combined you'll see the number 108 billion.  And my Savior lived and died for every single one of them. 

A list to peruse of those He came for (and it's by no means exhaustive):

Genghis Khan, Stonewall Jackson, Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.  The cast of Friends.  The prostitute, the church goer.  The Reformer Martin Luther, the Dreamer Martin Luther.  The murderer, the missionary.  George Washington.  Pope Francis.  Your 5th Grade Teacher.  The barista who spelled your name wrong on your Starbucks. 

The guy who invented the cotton gin (10 points if you said, "Eli Whitney!").  The entrepreneur.  The capitalist, the socialist.  The slave.  Romans, Greeks, Egyptians.  

The ISIS militant (People, are you listening?).  The Al Qaeda bomber.  Americans (both the Southerner and the Yankee).

The Brain.  The Athlete.  The Basketcase.  A princess.  A criminal.  (We could be best friends if you just caught that.)

Amelia Earhart.  The Syrian refugee.  Ghandi.  The nun, the monk.  The astronaut, the mayor of Spokane.  Taylor Swift.

Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.  Moses.  King David.  

Those who will choose Him!  

Those who will not.

He came for the best of us.  The worst of us.  All of us.

This is the kind of love my human mind cannot fathom.  

No one person on this planet now or ever has been more special than the next.

This includes you.  You are just as important and special to our righteous and holy God as anyone in history.  If you were the only person to ever live on this earth, Jesus would still have lived and suffered and bled and died for you.  

How great the love that is washed over us!

My friends, we will bear witness to the day when all peoples will bow before our Jesus.  We along with them.  

And they sang a new song:

"You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals, 

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men

for God

from every tribe and language and people

and nation."

~ Revelation 5:9

After this I looked around and there before me was

a great multitude that no one could count, 

from every nation, tribe, people, and language, 

standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches

in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:  

"Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb."

~Revelation 7:9

Lord Jesus,  I long to be there.  When you receive what is due you:  praise from all who have lived and loved you.  You have purchased us at a great price, Lord.  Let us accept this great love and claim the One who has claimed us.  

May we show wisdom like that of the Iranian astrologer and be wise enough to see that your love is big enough for all.

Lord, may it be so.