Epiphany and the beautiful diversity of God’s salvation
Ephesians 3:6 “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
Did anybody say “Merry Christmas” to you on Friday?
Again, I haven’t lost my mind. Friday was January 6 which is also observed as Epiphany, also known as “The Christmas of the Gentiles”. Hopefully by now I haven’t thoroughly confused you.
Think back to the nativity scenes which were often prominently displayed in December. You saw Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. There were the shepherds, probably an angel and likely some animals. Perhaps you also saw displayed 3 wisemen either kneeling with their gifts or riding on camels. If you want to be accurate the wisemen should be nowhere near the nativity scene. The wisemen actually came from a distant country in the East about 2 years after Jesus was born. They didn’t visit at the manger, but rather visited at the home in Jerusalem where Mary, Joseph and Jesus were staying.
Think for a moment what it is that most people think about when they think of the visit of the “wisemen” to Jesus – gold, frankincense and myrrh, correct? Every year there is an organization which tries to place a modern day value on the gifts which Jesus received from these visitors from afar. What is sadly often overlooked is the priceless gift which those visitors instead received. That is the point of our Bible verse for this week.
Go back to what was mentioned earlier about Epiphany (January 6) being the “Christmas of the Gentiles”. When we celebrated Christmas on December 25 we thanked God for sending his Son as our Savior. Epiphany celebrates that Jesus came as the Savior of all people of all races, all abilities, all needs, all social classes and all times. He does not play favorites.
Because the Savior was promised to the Jews, came from Jewish descent and was born in a Jewish city, there had been a perception that Jesus came just as the Savior of the Jews. Nowhere had God ever said or intended that Jesus came to be the Savior of a limited group or class or people.
May it be the mission of each of us each day to make sure that our Savior is not a “mystery” to anyone, but that instead they know that they are “members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”!