Today is Epiphany. Christians celebrate the manifestation of the Incarnate God, the Son, to the Wise Men, thus the physical manifestation of Jesus to Gentiles.
Why is this day important? Well, I think it does two things for us. First, it reminds us that Jesus was Jewish. The very idea of a manifestation to Gentiles points to the fact that Jesus was incarnate into the Jewish people, that the Messiah, himself, is the representative of God’s People, coming to vindicate them, and through whom it was prophesied that the nations would turn to the one true Creator God and worship him. The second thing Epiphany does is reminds us that Jesus, as Messiah, is King. The Wise Men sought the King of the Jews. They most likely were not fully aware of the gravity of this occasion, but they did recognize that the King of the Jews, Jesus the Messiah, was worthy of their worship.
The tendency for many Christians today is to believe the story of salvation began with Jesus (it did, but not where we generally think). Epiphany ties together the two strands of God’s big picture story, it marries the Old and New Testaments. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the hopes and dreams of Israel, he took on himself the sins of the world and all the nations of the world are blessed through him. In essence, he fulfilled Israel’s vocation. Psalm 2 points to the fact that the nations are to pay homage to the Messiah, as their true King and Ruler. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, he has been vindicated as the Messiah, the the King of the World. He not only came to die for our sins so we could spend eternity with God, he died and rose so that the whole world could be reconciled to God and the creation itself could be healed.
So Epiphany, the oft-forgotten feast day, is a day to celebrate the fulfillment of God’s promises to and through Israel for the sake of the whole world, including you and me. Glory to God!
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