According to the Christian calendar, yesterday, January 6th, marked the celebration of a holiday known as the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It immediately follows the conclusion of the twelve day celebration of the festival of Christmas, which, of course, begins on December 25, and it signifies the beginning of a season in the church’s worship that lasts all the way up to the beginning of the season of Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday, this year occuring on March 6th. Traditionally, the holiday of Epiphany commemorates the visitation of the wise men who came to worship the child Jesus which is recorded in Matthew, chapter 2.

However, for most non-liturgical churches, it is safe to say that this holiday is completely non-existent. The story of the wise men and their search for the king that would be born gets wrapped up into the warp and woof of the Christmas story, such that it loses its unique and separate import for our faith. So, by the time we come to the first Sunday of the month of January, the original significance of the Epiphany is completely lost in favor of other kinds of New Year’s foci, i.e. resolutions, goal setting, year in review, etc. Perhaps, we have become so familiar with the story of the wise men, that we have completely lost our ability to stand in amazement at this distinct and astounding scene.

The dictionary defines the word “epiphany” as a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience. And so, for Christians, this seemingly simple and straightforward scene where the wise men come to worship the child Jesus as “he who has been born King of the Jews” is actually seen to be the revelation of Christ as the Savior of the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul calls this the mystery that was hidden in ages past but is now revealed, that “the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (Ephesians 3.6)

And it was essentially this revelation, this “epiphany”, that drove the mission of the Apostle Paul, a mission which took him all the way across the known world at that time from Jerusalem to Spain. So, the bottom line, then, is this: the celebration of Epiphany should motivate us to mission. In the same way, that it motivated Paul and the leaders of the early church, it is our responsibility as followers of Christ to take the Gospel of our Lord around the world, even to the ends of the earth. That is what Epiphany is all about.

For further study:

Sermon: On the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Church: Bethabara Baptist Church, Lake City, AR
Date: January 6, 2019