Skip to main content

Living Out Epiphany


One of the most challenging times in the Church calendar are the days following right after Christmas. There are just a few days until celebrating the New Year, so Christmas can quickly be pushed aside as “over” to prepare for the celebrations of December 31st. 

So, what are we supposed to do with Christmas, the decorations, and seasonal music? Well, that is easy! Keep celebrating! Also, leave those decorations alone and keep the Christmas music playing! 

The reason for that is due to the fact that we still have twelve more days of Christmas following December 25th. The end of the Christmas season isn’t until the first week of the New Year in January. And, yes, we have a name for that! We call it “Epiphany!” 

This event that the Church refers to as “Epiphany” means “manifestation.” The reference is to God who “reveals Himself “in the flesh” through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is also a time to mark the appearance of the Three Wise Men who were one of the first to worship Christ as King. 

The “Epiphany” revelation or “manifestation” is that God unveils Himself to the world. Through Jesus His Son, He shows Himself as fully human and fully divine. That He is real. That He is our Triune God. Wrapping up the Christmas message with Epiphany culminates in the gifts of the three Wise Men. 

Just these gifts, alone, from the Wise Men are a powerful testimony to who Jesus really was to all of humanity. Gold: The most fitting gift for a King. This signifies Jesus is the King of Kings. Frankincense:  the most fitting gift for a priest. This testifies that Jesus was truly the Great High Priest. Myrrh: This was for embalming and preparing the dead. This fulfils the mission of Jesus that He is the Savior of all people who came to die an atoning sacrifice on the cross. 

Epiphany, to our faith, is a powerful testimony of God’s unconditional love. His love for us compelled Him to send His Son into the world to save us from our sinfulness. God took the initiative. God made all the arrangements. God spoke through the Prophets. God sent Jesus. God paid the full price to make all this happen. 

In other words, it was His idea and decision all along. He did everything to make reconciliation with Him possible. His desire to have a loving and personal relationship with you is that important to Him. 

God brought His redeeming light into the darkness of this world on purpose. Isaiah 60:3 foretold of God’s loving plan by saying “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” 

Christians are also an “Epiphany” to the world. The light of Christ. We illumine the light of Jesus to reveal Him to the lost. Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” 

That is the faith of Epiphany! We must conform our lives to this faith We must live out this faith for others to see. We must tell others and teach them about our faith so they can accept it too. We are to be making Disciples who make other Disciples of Jesus. We passionately live out a “24/7/365” and “all the time” faith. 

It is our identity that emanates from all that we are and from everything we are involved with daily. In other words, faith doesn’t have an “off” switch. We simply are….always. Illuminating. Reflecting. Shining. 

Epiphany reminds me of the chorus from the Christmastide Hymn, “We Three Kings,” that declare “Oh, star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to thy perfect light.” Let’s remember to light the world with the love and perfect light of Jesus. Let’s live out the faith of Epiphany.

Popular posts from this blog

Learn from Lydia

  There are a lot of interesting mentions of women in the Bible. Whether it is the Old Testament or New Testament, there are many strong, yet oddly missed, lessons from women that we can familiarize ourselves with to strengthen our faith.   One such woman is named Lydia. She provides a very powerful lesson for us. We find one particular mention of her in the book of Acts. Acts 16:14 , says that Lydia “reverenced God, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying.”   Lydia is actually a significant person in the New Testament. She is described as “a dealer in purple goods” (Acts 16:14). Pointing that out is quite a clue. Dealing in “purple goods” was considered a luxury in the ancient world.   It is probably safe to say that she was both a woman of great financial means and able to deal successfully with the influential people of her time. She was also noted as having a great gift of persuasion.   I think she might have been the only perso...
Read more

Tetelestai!

Just before Jesus gives up His spirit on the cross, He utters a very powerful word. The word that He cries out is “ tetelestai” (tih-tellis-tie). When literally translated, this word means, “It is finished.” It can also refer to something completed or accomplished. The word occurs in  John 19:28  and 19:30 and these are the only two places in all of the New Testament where it is found. In the John19:28 passage, it is translated, “After this, when Jesus knew that all things were now  completed , in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I thirst.’” Two verses later, he utters the word himself: “Then when he received the sour wine Jesus said, ‘ It is finished ,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”   Did you know that the word  tetelestai  was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full? The Greek-English lexicon (by Moulton and Milligan) sa...
Read more

Accepting Martyrdom

We are still in the season of Easter as we await its culmination in what is known as Pentecost . There is another event in the Church which we commemorate at the forty-day mark of the Easter season where many denominations recall the “ Ascension ” of Jesus Christ. Mark 16:19-20 , “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” This event marked by the Church is also stated in the Apostles’ Creed: “…He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” When Jesus ascended to Heaven after rising from the dead, He promised us that we would never be left all alone here on earth to “fend for ourselves.” We have the Holy Spirit of God always with us. John 14:16 , “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever….” We w...
Read more