THE EPIPHANY

Thursday 6 January 2022

St. Uriel’s, Sea Girt, N.J.

Isaiah 60:1-6

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

In the Book of Common Prayer, the Feast of the Epiphany is subtitled “the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.” The term “Gentiles” in the biblical languages is interchangeable with “the nations.” The Hebrew word goyim means both “nations” and “Gentiles,” as does its Greek ethnē, from which we get the English word “ethnic,” and the Latin gentes, from which we get “Gentiles.”

So, an equally valid way of describing Epiphany would be something like “the revelation of Christ to the nations.” To appreciate the full force of what’s happening as the wise men bring their gifts from afar, it helps to understand the biblical view of how “the nations” fit into the grand scheme of God’s plan of salvation.

To go back to the beginning: the creation story in the Book of Genesis envisions humanity as essentially one, insofar as all are descended from the same first parents, Adam and Eve. Later, after the Flood, all human beings can trace their descent back to Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. In symbolic terms, this common descent signifies the common humanity that binds us all together, regardless of race, language, nation, or culture.

But human sin rends this primordial unity asunder. The story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 describes how the peoples of the earth try to build a tower up to heaven. Because of the pride and presumption of this project, God confuses their language and scatters them over the earth. In symbolic terms, the story signifies the estrangement of different nations and peoples from one another as they lose a common language and lapse into mutual incomprehension and suspicion.

Later, God calls Abraham out from the nations to be the ancestor of a new people, in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. From this point on, the Old Testament tends to divide humanity into two parts: Israel, the People of God; and the nations, everybody else.

Most of the Old Testament depicts the relationship between Israel and the nations as one of mutual suspicion and hostility. The nations pose a threat to Israel on two counts. First, they’re a political menace. Israel’s existence is always under threat from hostile empires and kingdoms seeking to subjugate God’s people and take possession of their land. Second, the nations present the temptations of paganism and idolatry: a constant threat to Israel’s unique covenant relationship with God. For this reason, the prophets and teachers of Israel are constantly urging separation from the nations to avoid pagan contamination.

Despite all this, the nations still have a definite place in God’s plan. The Bible never completely loses sight of humankind’s original unity. God’s purpose in choosing Israel is not to give Israel a privileged place over everybody else, but to make Israel a light to the nations. Ultimately, not Israel alone but all the nations are to share in the blessings of universal peace in God’s kingdom.

Such is the vision expressed in today’s Old Testament reading. Addressing Mount Zion, the prophet Isaiah foretells the nations of the earth and their kings coming to worship God who shall reveal himself in glory: “the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” To the Temple mount in Jerusalem camels will come bringing in the wealth of the nations, gold and incense, to show forth the praises of the Lord.

In the New Testament, we see the fulfillment of these prophecies. The old dichotomy between Israel and the nations is overcome in the Church, the expanded People of God, in which all nations have an equal place. Christ commissions his apostles to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. All nations, races, tribes, and tongues are to be gathered into Christ’s Body, the Church, thus restoring humankind’s unity in Christ, the new Adam. Thus, Saint Paul writes in his Letter to the Ephesians of the mystery of Christ, now revealed to the apostles and prophets, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, members of the same body, partakers of the promises of Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

In this light, we begin to appreciate the full force of the story of wise men from the East who travel from afar bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for the newborn king of the Jews. Matthew’s point is that Jesus coming into the world begins to fulfill the ancient prophecies of the reconciliation and healing of the ancient divisions between Jews and Gentiles, and among all races and nations. 

Even though Matthew makes no mention of how many wise men there were, Christian tradition settled on the number three not only because they brought three gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—but also because three is the number of the sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—from whom the Bible describes all the peoples of the earth as being descended after the Great Flood. 

By tradition, Shem was the ancestor of the Semitic peoples, Ham of the African peoples, and Japheth of the European peoples. Thus, artistic renderings often depict the three kings as representing these different races. The symbolic point is that when Christ is born, all the nations and peoples of the earth begin to unite in the worship of the one true God, bringing all the wonderful gifts of their diversity.

In consequence of this symbolism, let me urge two points of practical significance. First, the Church must always be a place where people of all races and ethnicities are welcome to come and offer their gifts. Our unity in Christ is not uniformity but unity in diversity. The different gifts brought by the world’s different cultures immeasurably enriches our life together in the universal Church. We need always to guard against the temptation to feel superior or look down our nose at the expression of cultural traditions other than our own in the Church’s life and worship.

But second, our membership in the universal Church bestows a shared identity with fellow Christians the world over, transcending all differences of nationality, politics, culture, and language. It’s praiseworthy to be devoted family members, conscientious employees, enthusiastic participants in civic life, and patriotic citizens of our country. By fulfilling our responsibilities in all these spheres, we contribute to the common good that God intends for all creation. We just need to remember that our identity in Christ as members of the Church’s global fellowship always takes precedence over any other claims upon our loyalty and allegiance.