Paul T. Keil , 7 January 2024
The Epiphany of the Lord, Year B
Peace be with you on this, our celebration of The Epiphany of the Lord. And the way things worked out this year, today (yesterday), January 6 th , is (was) actually the 12 th Day of Christmas. I’m not sure how many of you know it but that Old English folk song, the 12 Days of Christmas, we’ve all heard over and over again was originally a religious song used in 16 th and 17 th Century Britain to secretly teach the Catechism when it was illegal to practice the Catholic Faith. The 12 drummers drumming, for example were used to teach the 12 points of doctrine given in the Apostles’ Creed. And yesterday (Friday), the 11 pipers piping, represented the 11 faithful Apostles, without Judas. Of course, December 25 th , a partridge in a pear tree represented Jesus Christ, where the tree was the wood of the cross, and a partridge is alleged to be a bird that will die defending its’ young in the nest. It is worth looking up sometime yourself. So, now you have some homework for 2024.
Today, as we celebrate The Epiphany, we honor the mystery of the manifestation of Our Lord, Jesus Christ to all peoples worldwide. The feast originally began in the East as far back as the 3rd century. And today, the Eastern Orthodox Church’s celebration still embraces three separate events: the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ baptism, which we celebrate Monday (tomorrow), and they also include His first miracle at Cana. Together they represent the appearance of God to all of mankind. Regardless, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches both see the Epiphany as presenting us with Jesus’ divinity and we come to understand that His saving work is available to all.
For me personally, when I hear today’s Gospel reading from Matthew about the Magi, I’m always a little torn, torn between my own faith-based theology and what I call, Biblical academia. Many modern Biblical scholars, including some Catholics, using so-called “historical criticism”, often question the historical accuracy of Matthew’s first two whole chapters about Jesus’ infancy. The only other infancy narrative we have in the New Testament is Luke and the discrepancies between him and Matthew are numerous, not the least of which is Jesus’ own genealogy. And of course, Matthew is the only Gospel that gives us this beautiful story of the Magi, which many of our own modern Catholic Scholars historically question.
Friends, here are my own personal rules whenever I’m challenged by literal or historical accuracy as I read the Bible and you know what else, these guidelines really come from our own Post-Vatican II Catholic Church: First, the Bible was never intended to teach modern schoolbook “type” history, or science either for that matter. Second, The Bible is a Book of Faith and my faith tells me – miracles happen. Never lose sight of the miraculous as you read the Bible. It seems pure academics often have a hard time with miracles. And third, the Bible is the inerrant Word of God given to us for our SALVATION! Don’t stumble over historical or scientific inconsistencies. Always seek the salvation message of truth. If you find yourself debating something in the Bible that has nothing to do with salvation, just drop it.
The 17 th Century painter Guido Reni left us a magnificent painting of Matthew that helps my own concept of Divine Revelation. The painting depicts an angel kneeling before him, but the angel is not literally guiding Matthew’s hand as he writes. That would deny him free will. The angel is talking to him about Jesus’ life, and as the Evangelist listens, he contemplates, and then he writes. The tale will become his Gospel and a portion of Matthew’s Gospel becomes The Epiphany. It is silly, no, perhaps spiritually suicidal; to turn one’s back on this story because it might seem historically inaccurate.
In articulating divinely revealed salvation truth, the shrewd Matthew had much to teach future listeners and readers. As their journey began, these pilgrim wise men left behind the safety of their native lands, the warmth of their own homes, and the love of their own families. Alone and undaunted, they went searching for a king. Eagerly they responded to the invitation of the Spirit. Then, at last their quest was done. They found God, but God didn’t live in a palace surrounded by servants. Rather, He was in a manger, a feeding trough, surrounded with the foul smell of farm animals. Matthew does not record any disappointment on their part however. Rather, they humbly fell to their knees and placed their finest gifts at His disposal. Only then did they return to their native lands, their homes, their families, and they were changed people forever. They had become the first Gentiles to worship Christ. They had become the first Christians. Wherever the Christmas story is told, they will be remembered. These men proved wise indeed. Now, is there anyone who still doubts that the equally wise Matthew is attempting to teach us something?
Matthew is saying this to listeners down through history: Each of us must take some risk if we are to find God. If we play cautious and fearful in our secular society, we will come up with hands groping frantically at empty air. We will never become an Epiphany people. How unlike the Temple priests, surrounding King Herod, those wise men were. The priests knew the Scriptures. They knew the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, less then a day’s walk from the Temple itself. Yet they chose not to leave their creature comforts. As a result, history has forgotten them. We can only wonder at their blindness. Hopefully we will be wise enough to learn from their lack of discernment. I think the wise men of today’s Gospel would applaud the Epiphany wisdom of another successful pilgrim, once an avowed atheist who became a Catholic at 79. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote about taking risk with the following: “God signifies an alternative impulse – to sacrifice rather than to seize, to love rather than lust, to give rather than take, to pursue truth rather than promote lies, to humble oneself rather than inflate the ego.”
