Surprised by Jesus

Scripture Reflection for the Epiphany of the Lord (January 8, 2012)

Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalms 72
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12

Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. Epiphany simply is another word for revelation. Today we celebrate not only God’s willingness to become human like us. We recognize that the incarnate Christ did not come just for a select group of people, but for everyone in all corners of the world. Yes today we celebrate the revelation that Christ came for all people, and as St. Paul tells us in the 2nd reading we celebrate the fact that despite our differences we are all members of the same body called to live out Christ’s message.

In today’s Gospel we read about the Magi’s visit to the Christ child. These mysterious men, who, traveled hundreds of miles, guided by a star, to seek out Jesus and pay him homage. When they started their journey, I am sure they were unaware who they actually were seeking. It would have been interesting to witness their reaction when they met Jesus. First off I am sure they were expecting to find the King of the Jews in Jerusalem, the central city for the Jewish people at the time. When they arrived in Bethlehem they were probably expecting the “King of the Jews” to be living in a glamorous setting surrounded by the mighty and powerful, but they found quite the opposite. You have to wonder if the idea crossed their mind that they might have misread the star. Yet despite the fact that this child was born into a poor working class family in this little town of Bethlehem these foreigners through God’s grace were able to recognize Christ for who he truly was and pay him homage. It was not the political elite or the powerful religious leaders (they would of course play a different role later in Christ’s life) who God chose to reveal the incarnation to, but rather God chose some lowly shepherds and some foreigners from a far off land. Christ’s message would not be for a select few but for everyone from the lowly to the elite to all people from each corner of the world.

Yet despite this epiphany our world and even our Church continues to live in strife. Time and time again we let our differences come between us. We allow ourselves to become judgmental and exclusive. We allow gender, race, nationality, religion, socio-economics, physical disabilities, geographic location, etc. to distance ourselves from each other and God. We sometimes can even think that we are part of a select group that Christ came for. This feast helps to remind us that despite our physical differences we are all children of God and we are all called to live out Christ’s message. Peace can never be achieved unless we recognize and accept that we are all unique members of the same body. As we celebrate this feast may you find peace with the revelation that Christ invites all of us old and young, rich and poor, etc. to live out his message. Let us pray that we can be like the Magi who would not let the obstacle of physical distance or nationality keep them from seeking Christ. May we have the courage and strength to overcome any obstacle that keeps us from seeking Christ in our lives and keeps us from accepting his love for us.

Image: The Adoration of Kings by Burne-Jones © 2010 Free Christ Images