EPIPHANY

Sweet Sunday Thoughts:

The wise men followed a new light in the sky to find the Lord. Which fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, given 700 years earlier.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising…the multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries {camels of ususual speed and breeding} of Midiam and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.
(Isaiah 60:2-3,6)


Careful study of the scriptures has reveled some details that have us believe that the Magi found the baby Jesus not as a new born in a manger, but some time later at their home. They may have searched for the baby for almost 2 years. Jesus was called a ‘young child’, 9 times in Matt 2.
Some people begin their Christmas tradition by placing the wise men from their nativity scene, out in another room and each day they move the traveling Magi closer and closer to the Manger or even delay the arrival until the 6th of January.

There is very little written about the wise men in the scriptures. Scholars have written - “ These were no ordinary men. They were more likely righteous men who knew the prophecies of the birth of Christ and who were able to discern the new star that appeared in the heavens…that they were spiritual men is evident by the fact that after their encounter with the wicked King Herod they were warned of God in a dream not to re-visit Herod but to return home by another route.
They had prophetic insight. They knew the King of the Jews had been born, and they knew that a new star was destined to arise and had arisen in connection with that birth.
Another interesting thought- these wise men were more than likely sent as witnesses. They looked to others for counsel on where they might find the Christ Child, and came to see for themselves, and then returned to bear witness to others of all they had seen.
Recently we had an interesting conversation around our dinner table which gave me cause to bear my testimony to the need of each of us to have a personal witness of Christ. I believe that we each must and can gain a personal knowledge of the truth and to be guided by the ‘light’ within each of us. A wise man of our time has said- “Every member of the church is entitled to know that God our Heavenly Father lives; that he is not dead. He is also entitled to know that our elder brother, Jesus Christ, is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that he has opened the door for us, that we, through our individual acts, may receive salvation and exaltation and dwell once again in the presence of our Heavenly Father. This assurance and witness must be earnestly sought.”
What a blessing it is that each of us can receive personal revelation. That is the beauty of this Gospel.
I hope that we may all become ‘wise men’ that always seek our Savior. Think of the year we could all have if we would.



The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal."
The Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to Jesus were the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as "King" and so were the first to "show" or "reveal" Jesus to a wider world as the Christ. This act of worship by the Magi, which corresponded to Simeon’s blessing that this child Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), was one of the first indications that Jesus came for all people, of all nations, of all races, and that the work of God in the world would not be limited to only a few.
Also known as Three Kings Day or Twelfth Day - celebrated Jan. 6th