The wise men, who did not know the God of Israel, made the Lord known.
A homily from Epiphany Sunday based on readings from
Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72, Ephesians 3:2-3a,5-6, Matthew 2:1-12
These readings are available at the USCCB website.
Today we celebrate Epiphany. Growing up, I always associated Epiphany with the hymn “We Three Kings”. It was always a really sweet Bible story. Jesus, the Lord in the manger, had visitors – and gifts. Epiphany is so much more.
But what exactly is an epiphany? After all, it doesn’t just mean “house guest”. No, an epiphany is a manifestation. Historically, the Church has recognized three events as epiphanies. There are the wise men, the magi, who by traveling great distances make manifest the importance of Jesus to all. There is Jesus’s baptism – a booming voice from heaven recognizes him, before a crowd, as the son of God, and the Holy Spirit is seen like a dove descending upon him. That gives a good clue about who Jesus is. And finally, the wedding feast at Cana in which Jesus’s power becomes manifest. Water turned into wine will start people talking!
Today we consider the story of the magi, three people who were seeking the truth by following a star in the sky that seemed to be leading them to something important. Three foreigners who upset a one king and honored another. John’s gospel summarizes today’s reading and indeed much of Jesus’s ministry with these words:
He was in the world,
and the world came to be through him,
but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own,
but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.[1]
He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. (John 1:11)
“He came to what was his own but his own did not accept him.” Herod the King learns of Jesus, and what is his reaction? It is certainly not loving acceptance. It is certainly not excitement that the long-awaited messiah is finally here. Not at all. “[H]e was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”[2] Herod was concerned that he would be displaced, and his people knew from past experience that when Herod was concerned for his throne, many were unsafe. Their concern was well-placed. Herod had ordered the killing of several family members, and he ordered the destruction of every male child under two years old in an attempt to hold onto his power.
Herod’s story applies today as well. How may innocents have died due to war, crime, or abortion? Rather than confess our sins, repent, and seek the forgiveness that Jesus so willingly gives us, many try to “modernize” Christ’s teaching to better make it fit today’s world. We try to reinterpret Jesus to suit ourselves rather than give up our own self-sovereignty. Sometimes his teachings are hard – seriously, loving our enemies? Jesus has something to say about what I do in the privacy of my own home? Jesus comes to us, but like Herod we don’t always want to receive him – we only want the easy parts.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to be children of God (John 1:12)
“But to those who do accept him he gave power to be children of God.”[3] He seeks us first, if we respond he gives us all we need to follow him. The magi are a case in point.
It is here that the backstory of the magi in today’s gospel speak volumes. The magi were not among the chosen people. God had worked with, led, and taught the people of Israel. He had prepared Israel, but the magi were not Israelites. They were outsiders – gentiles. God promised Abraham, the consummate insider that his people, the people Israel would be a blessing to all the nations which includes the gentiles. The magi, as outsiders, as gentiles, manifest Jesus’s lordship by their actions. They also manifest this blessing.
The magi were simply seeking the truth just as so many of us are. They came to know Jesus through a different path. In searching the heavens for the truth they might find there, the magi are led to the Savior of the world, Jesus himself. Don’t we sometime follow a similar path? We begin our search and what we find shakes us to the core and profoundly changes us. Did the magi reach a full, perfect knowledge of Jesus? Of course not, unlike us they didn’t have access to two millennia of Church teaching, but they made a start. In making the start and in proclaiming the truth they informed others to the truth of Jesus Christ.
I am of European heritage, and if I trace my heritage back I seriously doubt I would find that any of my ancestors were a part of the chosen people, at least not until I got back to Noah. The way that God led the magi to his Son speaks of God’s desire that all come to know him. His love is so broad that he wishes to reveal himself to everyone – to all the nations as it says in Genesis. The wants all of us here today to know him, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Christus mansionem benedicat
There is a long-standing tradition of marking the header of the door or Christian homes on Epiphany. We write on the header of the door frame with chalk 20 + C + M + B + 25. This the year (2025) plus three other letters. These three letters have two meanings associated with them. The first meaning is simply the names of the magi. Traditionally, they have come to be known as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. The three letters carry a second meaning, one that I find much more satisfying. In Latin, the phrase, “May Christ bless this home” is “Christus mansionem benedicat”, abbreviated “C” “M” “B”.
Still struggling to connect a little chalk graffiti with Epiphany? The magi, by their actions of searching and honoring the child Jesus manifest to us who Jesus really is, the king. Our actions of marking our homes for Christ and explaining what we did will manifest to our neighbors the importance of our faith and the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives.
Closing
The Epiphany of the Lord – his manifestation. Seeking the truth. Proclaiming the truth. Just like the wise men, we must make our Lord Jesus known to the world around us!
“Just like the wise men, we must make our Lord Jesus known to the world around us!”
[1] New American Bible, Revised Edition. (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Jn 1:10–13.
[2] Mt 2:3
[3] John 1:12