Epiphany as the Other Christmas
Epiphany—is for the Gentiles, those who were once not God’s people, but who now, by the grace of God in Christ have become the people of God
Epiphany is an extension of Christmas, a sort of Christmas 2.0. It’s conspicuous place following the nativity narrative in Matthew’s Gospel presents it as the “other Christmas,” the “Christmas of the Gentiles.” At the first Christmas we find a swaddled baby in a manger visited by shepherds from the fields summoned by angels. In the “other Christmas” we find a toddler at his mother’s feet in a house visited by “Magi,” wise men from the East guided by a star. The first Christmas was announced to Israel, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham; the second Christmas was for the world, the nations, the Gentiles, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Adam.
“Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising,” God said through Isaiah (Isaiah 60:3).
The Greek word “epiphany” means “appearing,” and in ancient times it was used usually about the appearing of a god or a great king. Lutheran theologian Charles Cortright notes that some kings thought they were gods. For example, Antiochus IV, an ancient Syrian king, took the name “Epiphanes” after he defeated the Egyptians to placard his divine prowess. But his mortality was soon exposed as the Maccabean Revolt in Jerusalem evidenced his all-too-human vulnerabilities. Notwithstanding, there were divinely-inspired biblical prophesies and imaginative pagan mythologies that set expectations for a miraculous appearing of a God-king.
The Magi had come from the east to Jerusalem guided by a star. They were probably Persian court astrologers, star-gazers, who would have looked to the stars in the sky for signs, portents, and information. Due to the Babylonian exile of Jews (otherwise known as the Diaspora), the prophecies within the Hebrew Scriptures would have informed them, too, about an extraordinary “appearing.” The Magi saw what appeared to be a star announcing the birth of a mighty king that correlated with Isaiah 7:14, Psalm 8, and Ezekiel 34. The shepherds of Bethlehem heard the birth announcement from an angel accompanied by a heavenly choir. The Persians were given the birth announcement in their own language, so to speak, and in this way anticipate Pentecost and the reversal of Babel’s alienation.
There’s an interesting reversal here! Centuries before, the Judeans had gone into exile in the East, that is, into Babylon. And now the East comes to Judah—star-gazers seeking the infant king whose birth star they had seen. They go to Herod’s Jerusalem palace — obviously the right place to inquire about a royal birth in Judah. Herod was the king so it is probably his son the star was signaling, right?
The Persians were given the birth announcement in their own language, so to speak, and in this way anticipate Pentecost and the reversal of Babel’s alienation
Wrong. The wise men encountered man’s king; the star pointed to God’s King. Man’s king lives in palaces, in capital cities, in grandeur. God’s King lives in a humble house, in an unremarkable village, in poverty and humility. Man’s king believes he is a god. God’s king becomes man. Man’s king exercises his power to control those under him. God’s king exercises His power in weakness to save those in His kingdom, a kingdom made up of believing hearts.
Man’s king lives in palaces, in capital cities, in grandeur. God’s King lives in a humble house, in an unremarkable village, in poverty and humility. Man’s king believes he is a god. God’s king becomes man
The second Christmas—the Christmas of the Gentiles—we are reminded of God’s Not-Our-Thoughts, Not-Our-Ways, hidden way. His is not the way of power and might, not the way of politics and palaces, but the way of poverty, meekness, lowliness, and strength exercised in weakness; the way where throne and cross merge into one.
The star brought the Magi to Jerusalem and Herod’s court, but it was the prophetic Scriptures that got them to Bethlehem. “Where is He who is born King of the Jews?” Herod’s councilors had to look that one up. Herod got all the priests and religious scholars and Torah lawyers together and asked them where the King was to be born. And they unrolled the scroll of the Book of the Twelve (Shorter) Prophets to find the answer. And there it was in the prophet Micah: In little Bethlehem, regarded as the “least of all the rulers of Judah” (Micah 5:2; cf. Matthew 2:6)
Bethlehem: the name means “house of bread.” It was King David’s birthplace and mother Rachel’s burial place. A little afterthought-of-a-town outside of Jerusalem where the real “power” was. But again, God chooses the lowly and the meek to shame the powerful and the wise; His ways are not our ways nor His thoughts our thoughts; His ways and thoughts subvert man’s ways with an undertow that drags the high and mighty from their thrones and humbles the proud in their conceit. “O little town of Bethlehem.” O little House of Bread. Bethlehem, Judah’s breadbox where the living Bread from heaven came to be born of his Virgin mother. And here we’ll find another correlation between Christmas and Epiphany: At Christmas he who is the Bread of Life, indeed, whose life is wrapped in “bread” (cf. “the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51)), is found by all believers in a manger — a food trough, evocative of the Eucharistic paten — self-presenting as manna from heaven.
“O little town of Bethlehem.” O little House of Bread. Bethlehem, Judah’s breadbox where the living Bread from heaven came to be born of his Virgin mother
So, off the Magi go to Bethlehem, urged on by the royal pretender Herod, an Idumean (Edomite!), who wants to eliminate this threat to his throne, and the star appears again in the sky—a heavenly GPS—giving them great joy because how else would they know where to go? And it guided them to the very house where the Child was. No more manger for this little One; with his Virgin Mother and St. Joseph, he is staying with relatives in a “house,” since his Davidic family originated in Bethlehem. The Persians come prophetic gifts about which Isaiah had spoken centuries before: “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 bring good news, the praises of the Lord” (Isaiah 60:6).
Even more unusual, these strangers from the east immediately bow down with their foreheads pressed against the ground as soon as they see the Child. They pay homage with symbolic, even prophetic gifts each bearing meaning far beyond their material value: Gold and frankincense and myrrh. Yes, costly gifts, but gifts that bespeak of divinity, kingship, sacrifice and burial. Gifts that portend of purpose for which he has appeared, as the titulus of his crucifixion proclaims: “This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” It would be the Anointed One who “is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” that the Gentile Magi worship as God, for God He is! Indeed, this is Immanuel — God with us (Matthew 1:23).
Ancient kings fancied themselves as gods for the purposes of self-aggrandisement and to promulgate fear. But this little King truly is God in the flesh, the eternal Son, the Savior, the Son of David, and therefore the world’s rightful King. His epiphany to the Gentiles is in humility and to promulgate shalom — peace, good will toward men. What the wise men saw was a little Child, perhaps a year or so old, playing at his Virgin Mother’s feet; nothing to evoke great awe as far as human eyes are concerned. But they believed the prophetic Word and the sign of the star, and through the eyes of faith they saw and worshiped the King of kings and offered him their gifts amidst a great irony, for this One is the great gift of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” (John 3:16).
His epiphany to the Gentiles is in humility and to promulgate shalom — peace, good will toward men
So with the Epiphany, God renders those who were once covenant outsiders now the insiders, as Charles Cortright put it in one of his sermons. Those who stood on the outside of Israel, are now in the presence of Israel’s eternal and greatest King, the promised Son of David. This is that great “mystery” of which the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians, how the Gentiles are now fellow heirs with Israel of the promise of salvation in Christ. The first Christmas was for the Jews, the circumcised, the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But this Christmas—Epiphany—is for the Gentiles, those who were once not God’s people, but who now, by the grace of God in Christ have become the people of God. Epiphany is Christmas for you and all who are afar off, even as symbolically afar off as Persia and as strongly foreign as Magi.
