The Epiphany of Our Lord, 6 January 2014
Isaiah
60:1-6
Psalm
72:1-7, 1-14
Ephesians
3:1-12
St.
Matthew 2:1-12
Background: The Epiphany of Our Lord
The establishment of this date, the 6th
of January, is related to the ancient Christian practice of tying significant
dates to one another. In
calculating the date of Jesus’ Passion as the 6th of April, another
calculation revealed the date of his incarnation, 6 January, nine months
following the Passion date. The
events that have been associated with this feast have been his Theophany, or Epiphany (Manifestation), along with Jesus’ Baptism, and the first
miracle at the Wedding of Cana.
All were seen as signs and manifestations of Jesus’ divinity. Thus it is so in the East that
the Epiphany came to be associated with the Baptism of Jesus and the Wedding at
Cana. In the West, the observance
of 25 December was both a celebration of the Birth of Jesus, and the Visit of
the Magi.
In the fifth century, the relics of the Magi
were transferred from Constantinople to the west. It may be that this is what made the emphasis of Epiphany a
remembrance of the Magi. Other
traditions are associated with this day.
The blessing of dwellings may be observed around this date. It is also a date when the principal
feast dates (Septuagesima, Ash Wednesday, Easter Day, the Ascension, Pentecost,
and the First Sunday of Advent) were announced to the people. With the
degradation of Christmass into a largely secular celebration, the Epiphany can
serve as a date on which Christians can celebrate the incarnation without all
of the commercialism and secular emphasis on 25 December.
Isaiah 60:1-6
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 on their nurses' arms.
Then you shall see
and be radiant;
your heart shall
thrill and rejoice,
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.
The 60th chapter of Isaiah is a thing unto itself and enjoys
a unity of purpose. The following
chapter, 61, begins a new emphasis and theme. In the verses of this chapter we can have a glimpse of Israelite
worship following the Exile. What
draws the readers’ attention is the epiphany of the God of Israel, a scene of
light and glory that pierces the darkness that covers the earth. That may be the condition, the
darkness, but the promise of the prophet is that God will arise and that God’s
glory will “appear over you.”
What begins next is an Exile in reverse, for “the nations shall come to your light.” This is not so much vindication for the people of Israel who
have been freed from their exile, as it is an indication of the prophet’s
universalistic bent. The glory and
light are ubiquitous, and thus those who see and respond are representative of
a world that is suddenly aware of the God who frees people. This is a reversal of the ancient
prophets’ message, where God threatened to remove grace from a forgetful
nation’s life. Here God is
prodigal in granting his grace to a wide array of people.
Perhaps what needs to be noted here is that this also represents the
prophet’s hope – that the glory of God would attract more and more to return to
the holiness of Jerusalem. So his
vision is of an unrelenting stream of people of every kind of stripe, coming in
a torrent into the place of God’s rule.
Breaking
open Isaiah:
1.
How do
you experience God’s glory?
2.
What is
the glory of our nation?
3.
Do the
two equate? What are the
differences?
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14 Deus, judicium
Give the King your justice, O God, *
and your
righteousness to the King's Son;
That he may rule
your people righteously *
and the poor with
justice;
That the mountains
may bring prosperity to the people, *
and the little
hills bring righteousness.
He shall defend
the needy among the people; *
he shall rescue
the poor and crush the oppressor.
He shall live as
long as the sun and moon endure, *
from one
generation to another.
He shall come down
like rain upon the mown field, *
like showers that
water the earth.
In his time shall
the righteous flourish; *
there shall be
abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.
The kings of
Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute, *
and the kings of
Arabia and Saba offer gifts.
All kings shall
bow down before him, *
and all the
nations do him service.
For he shall
deliver the poor who cries out in distress, *
and the oppressed
who has no helper.
He shall have pity
on the lowly and poor; *
he shall preserve
the lives of the needy.
He shall redeem
their lives from oppression and violence, *
and dear shall
their blood be in his sight.
If one of the latter Isaiah’s has furnished us with a vision of God’s
glory in the First Reading, then the psalmist in Psalm 72 gives us a glimpse of
the splendor of Solomon’s court.
The attribution at the beginning of the psalm is simply, “For Solomon.” Some see in the exaggeration of these verses a messianic
nature of the psalm. More likely
is that it represents the common flatteries that a royal court expected from
its poets. Nonetheless, we see a
model of the ideal king, the epiphany of a king who is blessed by God. The themes of justice, peace, rescue,
and protection form a backbone for this kingship. In reading the first sections of the verses (1-7) we are
tempted to think that the descriptions are related to God, but they are not. The “he” in these verses is the king
and his rule.
Two verses are elided from the totality of the poem, verses 8 and
9. They are:
“And may he hold
sway from sea to sea, (from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea)
from the River (the Euphrates) to the ends of the earth.
Before him may the
desert-folk kneel,
And his enemies lick the dust.”
(Apparently the imperialism of an ancient kingdom has no place in the
Liturgy of the Word. On one
occasion at Kibbutz Lavi in Northern
Israel, a member of the Kibbutz used these verses to illustrate the God-given
nature of Israel’s rights in Palestine.
Such an attitude has given me pause ever since she quoted them in
support of her political position.)
The last verses reflect much of the same intention, as does Isaiah,
above. One can picture the “Parade
of Tribute” that has been depicted so often in Egyptian carvings. Here, however, for our use, such
tribute is expected from the world as it is laid at the feet of the Christ
child.
Breaking
open Psalm 72:
- How are our rulers like God?
- How are they not?
- How should they be?
Ephesians 3:1-12
This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for
Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles-- for surely you have already heard
of the commission of God's grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery
was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading
of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ.
In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has
now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the
Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the
promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Of this gospel I
have become a servant according to the gift of God's grace that was given me by
the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this
grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches
of Christ, and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for
ages in God who created all things; so that through the church the wisdom of
God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he
has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have access to God in
boldness and confidence through faith in him.
There are some assumptions about the Magi that may have influenced the
choice of this reading for the Epiphany.
It is not clear that the Magi were Gentiles at all. If, as some commentators suspect, this
tale of the Magi is really more of a parable than a historical tale, then the
point is moot. Regardless, the
author of Ephesians has something important to say to us about who is included
in the family of God. The author
makes his point that he has been appointed to announce this good news to those
not Jewish. Beyond that, he notes
that this is God’s divine plan, “this was
in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus
our Lord.” Like the riches in
Isaiah and in Psalm 72, this treasure is given not only to those who followed
in the train of Abraham and Sarah, but to all who are “fellow heirs.” If
Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of God in our lives, then as the author
of Ephesians points out, such manifestations are also in the lives and hearts
of others. Thanks be to God.
Breaking
open Ephesians:
- How important is your family history to you?
- How do you “belong” to your family?
- How do you “belong” to God?
St. Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who
has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and
have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was
frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief
priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to
be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written
by the prophet:
`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the
exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,
"Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him,
bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had
heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they
had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.
When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On
entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt
down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him
gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not
to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
This text has become so conflated with the Lucan
Birth Narrative, that it might be good to separate the two. Indeed one commentator (Albright/Mann)
deems it more of a parable than a history. What then are the elements that Matthew uses? First of all,
there is the outsider. We don’t
know from whence the Magi came.
Were they Semitic? Perhaps
they were, or perhaps they came from some other race. Does the tradition use this story to anticipate the ministry
to the Gentiles? Probably it does
not.
The
other element is astrology.
Denounced in most of the Hebrew Scripture, astrology did have a place in
inter-testamental Palestine. There
is plenty of archaeological evidence of the use of the zodiac and the influence
of the stars, perhaps an on-going influence of Babylonian and Persian
origin. Matthew’s point here is
that the birth of the child is a significant event, and its significance
expands beyond the usual influence of such a birth. Here Jesus is discoverable and knowable. Perhaps the Magi
offer their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the tools of astrologers,
because having seen the child, they no longer need them.
Usually when Matthew connects and event, saying, or
story to quotation from the Hebrew Scriptures, the phrase, “that it might be fulfilled” is used to tie the quotation to the
event. In the story of the Magi,
there is no such connection. If
these quotations are used as a parabolic device, then the commentator, reader
and preacher must search for what it was that Matthew truly intended in preserving
this tradition.
Breaking open Gospel:
1.
What do the Magi represent to you?
2.
What gifts might you have brought to the Christ child?
3.
How is this story lived out today?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son to the
peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence,
where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
All questions and commentary copyright © 2014,
Michael T. Hiller
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