Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

Jan 01, 2022

                                        Reflecting on our Sunday Readings with the HERALD team

Epiphany of the Lord (C)
Readings:
Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6;
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12

The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates God’s revelation of His only begotten Son to the nations. But more than just a mere revelation, the Epiphany of Christ reminds us that this Christ, whose birth we just celebrated, continues to lead us on that path of life.

Epiphany means revelation, about being astonished – an unexpected moment or experience that makes us see and understand things in a completely new way. When those revelations are about an encounter with the divine, we are connected to the deepest mystery of God. What we celebrate today is that deep mystery – God’s revelation to the world in Jesus Christ, born as a humble, vulnerable child in an out of the way place. God with us – with us always, in our ordinary lives, through the miracle of the incarnation.

In Matthew’s Gospel, this revelation is witnessed first, not by the religious or political rulers of the day but by strangers from far away, Gentile Magi who come seeking the new ‘King of the Jews’. And when they find Him, they worship Him. They find Him not in a palace, in the expected place, but ‘God with us’ in the unexpected place.

The Epiphany story is about how God is found, not at the centre of power, but at the margins, not in the certainty of cultural and religious safety and conformity, but beyond the boundaries where new relationships and discoveries are made, where the elite bow down and kneel before a small child, and where refugees on the move will soon need to flee for their lives.

The Magi pay attention, are astonished and tell about what they see in their responses and actions. They point the way for us to do the same as we, too, encounter this revelation of ‘God with us’ and allow the beauty and mystery of that revelation to guide and direct our lives so that we too may reveal God’s presence and light to the world too.

The Magi pay attention: they are faithful enquirers using all means at their disposal to follow the guiding of a star, seeking this new king. But their own endeavours can only get them so far. Once in Jerusalem, they pay attention to the revelation of Scripture and are diligent in following where the star is leading them, even when that goes against their expectations and they are led beyond Jerusalem, to Bethlehem.

We hear the Magi are ‘overwhelmed with joy’ when they reach their destination, the place where Jesus is. They are astonished. Their first response on seeing the child is to fall to their knees and to worship Him. They allow the truth of what they see to transform and delight them. These seekers and enquirers on pilgrimage have become worshippers.

They tell about what they see by the offering of gifts, gifts that affirm the identity of the one they have found; gold for a king, incense for Jesus’s holy priestly identity, and myrrh for His sacrificial offering of love for the world. This truly is the king they have been seeking, the holy Son of God, the Suffering Servant who will give His life for all. And then these wise men defy Herod’s instruction. They do not tell Herod about what they see, but by their actions, they tell the world where true power lies, here in this out of the way place, in this tiny child. See, this is where God is to be found, they say. They leave for their own country, not by the expected way, but by another road.

In their paying attention, in their astonishment and worship, in their telling about what they see, we see the world the right way round. Not a world that rests on structures of power, and privilege, and might, but on this humble gift for all, light for all the world, worshipped in the Christ child.

We too are invited to pay attention, to be astonished and to tell about this gift. God invites us to pay attention, to be where the light is, to follow faithfully.

Like the wise men from the East who set out not knowing what they were going to find, we too need to trust and follow that light – the light of Christ that neither dims nor fades.

Trust the star. Follow it. Listen to it. Learn from it. Let it take you to the house of Jesus. Stand at the door with the Magi, as a wise woman or a wise man, and listen to the Child tell His mother, “Let them in. I brought them here.”