Epiphany - being wise

 Matthew 2: 1-12, Isaiah 60: 1-6

Just how wise are the wise men?

We don’t know quite where they have come from, or how far they have travelled. We are not told how their families and friends reacted to them starting out on their strange journey. Maybe they all thought these so-called wise men were being immensely foolish.

 

But they set off, following a star, looking for a king.

Once they arrive in the land of Judah their wisdom seems to fail them – they stop following the star and because they are looking for a king they look first in the obvious, but the wrong place. They go to the royal palace in the capital of Judah, Jerusalem, asking to see the new-born ‘king of the Jews’.

 

For ‘Wise men’ they act in a rather stupid way, exciting the interest and the anger of the actual King of Judah – Herod.

 

But, interested in finding and eliminating the opposition, he asks his own advisors where the child is to be born and receives the prophecy “In Bethlehem”.

 

Setting off again, following these prophecies, the wise men see the star again, and follow it as it leads them to Bethlehem, where they finally find Jesus. When they find him, they bow in homage and present their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh – they worship Jesus as the king for whom they were looking.

And so the wise men or magi are remembered today as we celebrate Epiphany – the revelation of God’s glory.

 

How wise are we, when we are seeking God’s presence in our new year? Where and how is God’s glory revealed in our world?

The first place for us to look for God’s glory is obviously in the baby whose birth we are still celebrating – Jesus.
‘Epiphany’ means, literally, shown or revealed near to – God’s glory is found alongside common people, the baby is found in a normal house, in a small village in a very ordinary-looking child. God is near to ordinary people.

 

The magi come, as Isaiah foretells, laden with gold and frankincense, gifts fit to acknowledge a true king, gifts used to herald the Lord’s praise, gifts for God’s chosen one.
But they don’t quite get what they are expecting, in fact the whole world is in for a surprise, because God’s glory is revealed in a new kind of kingship, not one elevated to royal palaces, political power and lofty social circles.

Despite all the unlikelihood of the surroundings, the wise men bow to the child Jesus, and present him their gifts. They are clear that here, in Jesus, in this baby, near to them  - they see God’s glory revealed.

Here is the unique event of history, God made flesh – the revelation of God with us, near to us.

We could almost stop there and wonder, with the wise men, at this astonishing event.

But if we are wise and listen to the prophet Isaiah, he does more than just lead us to expect the coming of God’s glory to be accompanied by the arrival of gifts of gold and frankincense.
Isaiah also indicates the role of God’s people in showing this glory to the world.

Isaiah begins with the call “Arise, shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come.” The prophet tells of a time when God’s light and glory will be revealed to God’s people, but this will be good news for the whole world. The light of God will transform the people so that they themselves will shine and so the glory they see will be shared with everyone around them.

Isaiah says of God’s light “you will see it and be radiant”.
Those who witness this revelation of God’s glory near to them are to become lights for the world.

What we witness of God’s glory in the story of the birth, the singing of the angels, the arrival of the magi: all these things show us God with us.

Yet if we are wise, we will see that this good news isn’t just for us, to make us feel comforted and secure. When the light shines on us we are then called to shine with that light ourselves, to become a light to others, so that they may see proof of God’s glory near them, in us.

Matthew doesn’t tell us what happens to the wise men after they pay homage to Jesus – other than that having been warned in a dream they do not return to Herod but go back to their own country by another route.

 

It is left to the poet TS Eliot to imagine how they might have felt:  

“We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.”

I remember studying that poem at school and feeling a huge wave of sadness for the story-teller, having seen a glimpse of Jesus, yet being left wistful and unsettled by the event.

Our epiphany, our glimpse of God’s light, is informed by the story of the wise men but of course our epiphany is so much fuller. We are able to put this beginning of the story of Jesus in the context of the whole of the story of his life.

We cannot escape the references in this story of the visit of the wise men at the beginning of Jesus’ life which remind us of the end of the earthly life of Jesus.

 

The title ‘King of the Jews’ will be used to mock Jesus at his crucifixion.

Herod is soon to seek to end Jesus’ life, using terrible cruelty, as the Roman authorities eventually will.

And there are signs in the sky – a star announces Jesus birth, whilst his death will be accompanied by the darkening of the sky.

 

We can be wise enough to see that God’s glory will be shown in all of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection.

So we turn from our adoration of the infant Jesus and face into this new year having experienced a revelation of God’s glory shining on us and in us.

We go into the new year ready to experience and share the whole of the glory of Jesus’ life.

 

And having seen that glory we are called to be radiant, to shine for others, to open our lives to the possibility of being a sign of God’s glory for someone else.

Let us be wise and know God’s love and shine

to God’s eternal praise, this year & always. Amen