Epiphany is the start we need for 2021
Are you a little sad that Christmas is over? Me too. By the end of 2020, our whole world needed the joy and generosity of the Christmas season so badly, and 2021 still needs the hope of Christmas. I hope my neighbors keep their lights up well into February. Thanks, neighbors!
In many Christian churches around the world, Christmas is not over yet! For many, Christmas lasts for twelve days, ending on January 6, the feast of Epiphany, which commemorates the wise men’s visit to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. In many Spanish-speaking countries, there are big parades and children receive gifts to celebrate El Día de los Reyes. My church doesn’t usually celebrate Epiphany, but this year my kids and I are going to bake a King’s Cake and chalk our front door with a traditional blessing.
This December our family read a great book called Ishtar’s Odyssey by Arnold Ytreetide. Part daily advent devotional and part adventure novel, Ishtar’s Odyssey tells the story of a ten year-old prince of Persia who discovers a new star in the sky and joins his father’s caravan on a dangerous journey to deliver gifts to the newborn king of the Jews. The book is one of four stories featuring 10 year-old children who have many exciting adventures on their way to witnessing the birth of Christ. We highly recommend this whole series!
Ishtar’s story reminded me of two poems about the magi from the twentieth century, “The Magi” by William Butler Yeats and “Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot. Together, these poems capture the great sacrifice and faith involved in the wise men’s journey, as well as the mystery and longing at the heart of their story.
The Magi
Now as at all times I can see in the mind’s eye,
In their stiff, painted clothes, the pale unsatisfied ones
Appear and disappear in the blue depths of the sky
With all their ancient faces like rain-beaten stones,
And all their helms of silver hovering side by side,
And all their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more,
Being by Calvary’s turbulence unsatisfied,
The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.
William Butler Yeats
This is kind of a weird Christmas poem, right? The wisemen are like ghosts from a painting hovering in the sky, on an endless quest to glimpse the infant Jesus once again. What I love about this poem is how well the last line captures the awe of discovering the incarnate Son of God in a stable. Later in their lives, no other experience could ever have surpassed those moments of wonder when they recognized the Savior of the world in the form of a helpless baby.
Instead of a dream journey, T.S. Eliot’s poem describes what the magi’s journey from the east might really have been like and the hardships they would have endured: “the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, . . . the villages dirty and charging high prices.” Here is the end of the poem:
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
T.S. Eliot
Like the magi in the first poem, Eliot’s magi has been deeply changed by his encounter with Jesus and is unsatisfied with his old life. No longer comfortable with his old religion, he longs for something more. Finding the baby was like dying to his old self, and now he longs for death.
We know very little about the biblical magi. It’s possible that they were priests or scholars from Persia or Babylon who studied the stars and may have been involved in astrology, dream interpretation and magic. They were likely familiar with Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah because of the Jewish exile to Babylon.
What we do know is that they undertook a long, costly, dangerous journey based on a sign in the sky and a prophecy. We do know that the magi were overjoyed when they found the child Jesus and worshipped him and gave him precious gifts.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Matthew 2:10-11
Here are three reasons why I think the story of the magi is worth pondering as we enter into a new year.
- The magi’s genuine spiritual curiosity and deep commitment to finding the baby who was prophesied is not the only response to Jesus in this passage. There is also ruthless violence and chilling apathy. King Herod was so obsessed with maintaining his power that he ordered the murders of all baby boys under the age of two in Bethlehem and the surrounding region. The Jewish religious leaders and scribes knew that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem and sent the wise men in that direction but didn’t bother to investigate personally, even though Bethlehem is only a six-mile walk from Jerusalem. How often I am too busy with my own agenda to listen to what God is trying to tell me.
- This story shows that everyone who seeks God will find him and that Jesus came to reconcile all peoples to God. Epiphany is special because it marks the first manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God to the Gentiles. But it is entirely consistent with God’s promise to Abraham 2,000 years earlier that through his family “all nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). And it is consistent with God’s promises throughout the Bible that he will draw near to those who seek him. “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you” (Jer. 29:13). Let’s seek God with the humility, sincerity, and persistence of the wise men.
- This story also highlights God’s wise and powerful care. After the wise men left, Mary and Joseph fled with Jesus into Egypt to save Jesus’s life from Herod’s evil orders. They most likely used the magi’s gifts to pay for their journey and their stay in Egypt. It’s amazing to me that God brought a caravan of Gentile wise men hundreds of miles across a desert region to deliver the resources that would sustain Jesus and his family in their flight to Egypt. Herod’s murder of the innocents reminds me that Jesus was born into a world of suffering and darkness, much like our world 2,000 years later. How amazing that Jesus’s Father can be our Father too. He knows what we need, and we can trust him to help and care for us, no matter what this new year brings.
Wishing you a happy Epiphany! And a happy New Year!
Handy links:
“The Magi.” William Butler Yeats
“Journey of the Magi.” T.S. Eliot
Ishtar’s Odyssey and the whole Jotham’s Journey series by Arnold Ytreeide
“The Hopeful Mistake in Your Nativity Scene.” A helpful article from the Gospel Coalition with more information about the wisemen.
“Distinctive Traditions of Epiphany.” Ideas for celebrating Epiphany with your family, including the King’s Cake, the house blessing, and lighting candles.
