The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
One of the reasons I enjoy the Bible so much is that it is full of word-play. Over and over, we find little puns or jokes in the Bible. Of course, most of them don't "come across" clearly in the English translations we use here in America. But most of our Bibles do have little notes at the bottom of the page to alert us to these puns and word-plays. You find them especially in the giving of names, for example, in the Old Testament you find Abraham's son Isaac is given that name, which means "he laughs" because his mother, Sarah, laughed when she heard that she would have a child in her extreme old age.
Every once-in-awhile, however, the word-play becomes clear even in English translation, and that is true of today's lessons. Today, of course, is the feast of the Epiphany. The Greek word epiphany means to show forth, or to make manifest (or make clear) . You won't find that word epiphany in the Bible, and that's probably because the whole Bible is the story of how God made clear to people who God is and why they should obey him. But the feast of the Epiphany is connected, in Church teaching, with three separate events: the visit of the wise men from the east (probably from Iran, Iraq or Turkey) to the young child Jesus; the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, which we will celebrate separately next Sunday; and Jesus' first miracle, the changing of water to wine at the wedding in Cana. All of these events made it very clear to people who know and understand their Bible, just who Jesus is: God the Son.
I don't want to talk too much about the details of all the Bible readings for today, but I am going to point out a few of the word-plays in today's readings that may help us understand better how these events point out the fact that Jesus is God the son, the Messiah.
The reading from Isaiah talks about a light shining in the darkness. Naturally, a light coming on in a dark place makes clear the things in that place. The people of Israel were surrounded with proofs of God's love, but they took it for granted and didn't pay much attention. Jesus' birth was supposed to be the light shining in the darkness of their minds, to point out the fact that God was among them, Emmanuel, God-with-us. (One of the meanings of the name Israel is a mind that sees God .)
One of the Church Fathers, Jerome, points out that one of the things that happened as a result of Jesus' life, death and resurrection is that the Gentiles or non-Jewish people, became equally part of God's promises...fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah that all the nations, not only the Jews, would come to know and follow God. The light, you see, is dawning on the people who never knew God before!
Paul talks about the mystery of Christ, which has now become known to all humankind, not just to the Jews. Again, the thought is of light shining on something, making clear what was not understood before, the fact that God is a God for everyone, not just for one nation or city as the pagan gods were. He also makes it clear that once we've seen the light of Christ, we have a responsibility to pass it along to others...which fits in with the Baptismal promises that we will be repeating next week.
Then we have the story of the wise men from the East coming and giving to the young child Jesus gifts that are symbolic of who and what he is: gold for the crown of a king, frankincense (which is used to make incense) for the incense burned to honor God in the temple, and myrrh, which was used in some cultures to embalm the dead, looking ahead to Jesus' death on the cross. The light of the star had obviously shone into their minds and motivated them to bring those specific gifts. But more than that: another of the Church Fathers, John Chrysostom, says that the fact that the star kept moving, drawing them to the place where Jesus was, and finally stopped right above the place, is also an epiphany...only the power of God could make a star behave in such an odd way. And so they knelt down and worshiped the child, gave him the gifts, and departed home by another way, so as not to let King Herod know where the child was...another kind of enlightenment of their minds. And Joseph then received a similar enlightenment in his dream, a warning to take the child Jesus and his mother, and depart in a hurry for Egypt, because King Herod was looking for the child Jesus in order to kill him.
At Jesus' baptism, which we will celebrate next week, a voice from heaven gave the epiphany in sound: This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him! And the holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, came down upon Jesus, so there could be no question about who God was talking about.
And, of course, when Jesus did his first public miracle at Cana, again he demonstrated the power of God to change matter...he changed water into wine. We will be hearing more about these miracles in a week or two, so I will not discuss them in detail now. But each of them, in its own way, made it clear who and what Jesus is and was going to do...if only the people would pay attention!
Each of us has experienced epiphanies in our own lives in one way or another. We have looked down at the perfection of a newborn baby, and
marveled at how something so tiny could be so perfect. Yes, God did it! We have escaped an accident by the hair of our teeth. Yes, God is taking care of us. We have seen an awesome sunrise or a wonderful sunset, and felt a silent worship in ourselves. Yes, God is still at work in the world. We have found the last empty parking spot in a crowded mall parking lot while Christmas shopping. Yes, God always makes room for those who trust in him. Perhaps we have been at a deathbed, and seen how peacefully the dying person reached out to God, who of course was waiting to welcome his child home...and we have gone away knowing we have experienced something wonderful and filled with God's peace. Miracles surround us every day of our lives. Do we recognize them for epiphanies of God's presence in our lives, God-with-us, Emmanuel? Or do we just shrug our shoulders and say, "God, I'm lucky today!"? Amen.
