Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6 | Ephesians 3:1-12 | Matthew 2:1-12
Text: Isaiah 60:1-6
“I’ve had an epiphany!” is usually something you say when you’ve made a new connection or come up with a possibly great idea. But that’s not where the word started. It comes from Greek, epi + phaino, meaning to “appear, give light” such as when Zechariah sings in the Benedictus: “To give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79) and in the words of St. Paul, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people” (Titus 2:11).
So, the first thing to realize about the Epiphany of Our Lord is that it’s not merely an “ah ha!” moment and it did not come from our own reason. The Lord said to Peter after he confessed Jesus to be the Christ, “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 16:17)
The next thing to know about the Epiphany is those to whom God makes His salvation appear. Sometimes we might get caught up in the particulars of Nativity scenes which feature the magi, because they actually didn’t arrive for some time. But what we’re supposed to focus on is the unlikelihood of these men whom the Lord calls to worship. They are pagan astrologers, not Jewish theologians.
It’s right for us to emphasize that we can only know God with certainty through His Word and by the work of His Spirit. However, it would be going too far to say that reading or hearing the Word is the only method God uses to draw people to Himself. With the Magi, He used a star to pull them out of their devilish arts. With Rahab, He used the crossing of the Red Sea and the defeat of mighty kings along with the arrival of the spies (Joshua 2). With Ruth, He used the migration of Elimelech, Naomi and their sons, along with several other providential events (Ruth 1-3). The point is that the Lord of Creation, who desires the salvation of people from every nation, is well able to overcome our deceit and outsmart what we think are our wisest plans [1 Cor. 1:26-31].
This is what the Lord said beforehand through Isaiah about these events:
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.” (Isaiah 60:1–6)
And as our guide on this, let’s consider a few of the stanzas from the hymn by Martin Opitz, “Arise and Shine in Splendor”:
1 Arise and shine in splendor;
Let night to day surrender.
Your light is drawing near.
Above, the day is beaming,
In matchless beauty gleaming;
The glory of the Lord is here.
A wonderful bit of Luther’s Small Catechism reminds us that God is not our puppet, and we did not create Him: “God’s kingdom comes even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come among us also.” It’s only when the light comes in that we see what dark and abysmal conditions we have been surviving with.
Likewise, when John the Baptist and our Lord proclaimed, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2, 4:17) all the allies of darkness arrayed against them. But as John so eloquently wrote: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
The light came in the womb of the Virgin. The glory of the Lord was wrapped not in cloud and fire, but held by Mary and laid in a manger.
2 See earth in darkness lying,
The heathen nations dying
In hopeless gloom and night.
To you the Lord of heaven—
Your life, your hope—has given
Great glory, honor, and delight.
This is not the view of the world we want to see. The Humanism of today says that it can know and do “good without God.” Quit being so negative! But if the positive we look for is only from people, we will be baffled by soldiers and family men who execute terrorist acts, as the New Years’ Day bombing in Las Vegas showed.[1]
While we can’t understand such evils entirely, the “heathen nations” put their faith in a hopeless view of the world, devoid of truth, the source of goodness, and intrinsic value of human life. This is what passes for wisdom and sophistication, but it can be known by its fruits of rage, abuse, self-seeking, and despair.
3 The world’s remotest races,
Upon whose weary faces
The sun looks from the sky,
Shall run with zeal untiring,
With joy Your light desiring
That breaks upon them from on high.
The big concern of what about those who have never heard the Gospel.
One thing globalization has led is to see is that the world can be small and easily accessed. However, the world and the people in it remain immense.
What is impossible with man is possible with God. That is to say, He has the salvation of people well in hand. Isaiah 2 proclaims on this wonder:
“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isa. 2:1-5)
Finally,
5 Your heart will leap for gladness
When from the realms of sadness
They come from near and far.
Your eyes will wake from slumber
As people without number
Rejoice to see the Morning Star.[2]
The culmination of all things is the close of the age.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/army-green-beret-behind-las-vegas-cybertruck-attack-wrote-new-years-eve-letter-signaling-mental-health-crisis/ar-AA1wW5M4
[2]Text: © 1941 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110004659
Leave a Reply