Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

MANIFESTATION

            Has the Messiah “manifested” himself already or he is yet to “manifest” himself? This is a question that comes with different opinions depending on Jewish or Christian perspectives or the indifferent perspective of those who will just give the response of “do I care, whether he has come or not?” Anyway, today is not the day for this debate. Let us take a closer look at Christian meaning of epiphany.

            Epiphany, or theophany, has been commemorated by Christians since ancient times as one of the most important feasts of the faith. Celebrated just 12 days after Christmas, it is one of the two poles around which the Christian calendar is organized, the other being Easter, celebrated 50 days before Pentecost. Yet despite the great significance and antiquity of the feast, Christians are not of one mind regarding its symbolism. In the Orthodox East, it commemorates the manifestation of Jesus as Son of God during his baptism as well as the manifestation of the Trinity on the same occasion; in the Catholic West, it commemorates the royal manifestation of Jesus to the Magi. Furthermore, the feast of Epiphany also commemorates the manifestation of Jesus’ divine power at the Cana marriage and at the feeding of the five thousand. At greater variance with other churches, the Armenian Christians celebrate the Annunciation and the Nativity as part of Epiphany. Thus, their common name apart, all these diverse events appear to be unified primarily by their observation on the same day, January 6.

            In simple terms, whenever we celebrate the feast of Epiphany, we celebrate the manifestation of God among men through the mystery of Incarnation. The manifestation of the Lord is for all nations as against the Jewish thought it would be for them alone. And so, the Gospel depicts the arrival of the Gentile astrologers who have seen the rising of the star of redemption and have followed it. Through an unusual star in the midst of customary constellations God sent a message to them that shocked them and made them ready to listen, while Israel had become so accustomed to God’s Word that it had become deaf to such revelations, wishing not to be disturbed in the normal course of its dynasties. (So too it at times is with the Church when a saint blindsides her with an unexpected message). Directed at the Jews or the Church, the naïve inquiry of these outsiders: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews?” causes embarrassment, even fright. This results in a cleverly disguised plan of murder on the part of Herod, but, led by the star, the astrologers reach their goal: they pay homage and escape unharmed, led by God’s providence. The event is symbolic, for it prefigures the election of the Gentiles – more than once Jesus will find greater faith among them than in Israel. Often it is converts, seldom welcomed, who reveal to the Church new and faithful paths (cf. Acts 9:26-30).

            Those like the Jews who are still skeptical about the manifestation of the Lord, the first reading has a message for you. In the first reading Isaiah calls on Jerusalem to brighten up, since she seems unwilling to recognize her Redeemer. Thus, he tells her, “Rise up in splendor, for your light has come.” We need to note that the question of light in Jerusalem expresses two theological positions. Firstly, that God was first revealed in his creative act, by the light of what he created. Secondly, he is revealed in Israel’s history, in his redeeming works on behalf of his people. Jerusalem has no light of her own, even when she thinks she does, yet she shall see nations and kings coming with their treasures, not to her but to her light. And only in this light can she gather herself together out of the diaspora that has descended on her. She cannot reassemble herself by cutting herself off from the people who are now bringing her the “riches of the sea” from the most distant lands, rather, she can do this only in unity with them. What is brought together there will be a new people, the “Israel of God”, over which Jerusalem will shine and feel her “heart throb”. If “all from Sheba shall [now] come”, this is now something other than the queen who traveled to find Solomon’s wisdom, it is really a people of God chosen from all the nations of the earth and announced by the first arrivals, these astronomers who follow the light and pay homage to the child.

            At heart Israel should have had some sense of the “secret plan” now revealed to St. Paul (in the second reading), namely, that ancient Israel would open itself to all people so that they might “share in the same promise in Christ Jesus” and be “co-heirs” with Israel. Yet, even though God told Abraham that the nations would be blessed in him, Israel did not grasp the hint and indeed resisted the “newborn King of the Jews.” Only “through the Holy Spirit” was it revealed to the “apostles” and New Testament “prophets” that the ancient promise to Abraham and the even more ancient covenant of Noah with the entire creation were fulfilled in this newborn. It is in the Church of Christ that we first see what sort of star has risen and what kind of epiphany brightens the whole world.

            Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars. Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die. May Christ who manifests himself to us continue to guide us as the star guided the Magi to him. Amen