epiphany . . .

Matthew 2:1-12


The Magi Visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”


When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.  When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.  “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.


today marks the 12th day (last night being the 12th night with the celebration including the drums).  today is also epiphany, or three kings day.

epiphany is the traditional end of the christmas season in the western world.  we then enter into the season of epiphany which leads to the lenten season.

epiphany marks the arrival of the wisemen to visit jesus.  throughout history picture show the wisemen arriving at the manger.  in fact, the wisemen come much later and see jesus in jerusalem.  they bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
there are many stories about the wisemen - legends.  in the above matthew passage, matthew does not give us a number - he speaks of the magi in plurals.  the number 3 probably came from the gifts they brought.  there have even been names assigned to them - caspar, melchior and balthasar.  the eastern (orthodox) church depicts them as 12 in number.

today also marks the day that people un-decorate for christmas.  and so we will at our home.  it has been hard not to take down the decorations - put away the christmas hand towels and place mats, and turn off the tree lights before this, but it's time to drag out the boxes and pack away the ornamentations of the season.  we continue to remember the "reason for the season", and hold the joy in our hearts that jesus was born for us.

i hope you have enjoyed our 12 day journey.  i thought i was going to do another article about the carol of the 12 days of christmas, but i've decided to pack it way with the ornaments for next year.

be sure to stop back from time to time to see what's going on.  i have alot of things in my back pocket for the year - come follow my journey to see how they play out.

until next time ---