The Epiphany (05.01.14)
Experiencing Epiphany
An epiphany is an experience of a sudden and striking realization. It brings clarity and, essentially, truth. The word, originating in ancient Greece, became clothed in Christian religious significance with the Birth of Jesus the Christ, God made Man. From the earliest days of Christianity, ‘The Epiphany’ (with definite article and a capital ‘E’) became synonymous with the pilgrimage of wise, foreign travellers to Bethlehem in search of Jesus that is celebrated on 6th January.
Our Gospel for this Feast (Matthew 2:1-12) gives us the question the wise, foreign travellers voiced on their arrival in Jerusalem:
“Where is the new-born king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
Clearly, they were clueless about the political minefield they had entered and the murderous storm their question would unleash.
King Herod (74–4 BC), known as Herod the Great, was the Roman ‘client king’ in Judea when Jesus was born. Client states, both in antiquity and more recently, for example in the era of the British Empire, are economically, politically and/or militarily subordinate to a more powerful state. Herod was a local despot subservient to the Roman Emperor. Fixated on power, Herod willingly murdered even his own family as well as many fellow Jews to protect his power base. He truly was ‘the evil genius of the Judean nation’ as well as the greatest builder in Jewish history. When the distinguished foreign visitors publicly asked: “Where is the new-born king of the Jews?” they caused Herod and his court to panic.
The Epiphany scenario presents us with contrasting extremes. On the one hand, there is Jesus, God-made-Man, in who is the wholeness of Truth, Justice and Mercy. On the other hand, there is Herod enmeshed in unrelieved corruption and murderously evil duplicity. Yet one of Herod’s personal epiphany moments was the arrival of these wise, foreign travellers. As a Jew he would have been schooled in the prophets of his people:
“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
One who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
(Micah 5:2)
For Herod, this epiphany moment came and went unrequited. Herod, blinded by his fear of losing power, did not choose the graced moment. Though he is long since consigned to history, the evil he represented continues. Within living memory are Stalin, Hitler, Mao, the Khmer Rouge and so many more still living and still delivering as yet untold evil across too many nations. Just think of those tiny infants delivered by their mothers to a paedophile for him to abuse last November.
Thank God, Jesus remains with us: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28.20) Unbelievers will continue to shout, “If there is a God, why do these atrocities happen?” The answer is the same now as it was in when Jesus was born. God empowered human nature with free will and the grace to know the difference between good and evil. When we think of people deprived of choice, the exercise of their free will, we may focus on the victims of such depraved regimes as currently exist in North Korea. But there are others, as free to roam as are we, whose repeat choice of evil has enslaved them to Satan. Media outlets carry titillating ‘tip-of-the-iceberg’ reports of human depravity and duplicity that enthrall readers and viewers. Tragically, so many people remain insufficiently alert to the mortal moral contagion that freely stalks our streets. If the citizenry were sufficiently alert, Christianity would be flourishing not declining in our countries.
So, now in 2014, we are presented with The Epiphany scenario. The danger is in its very repetition. There’s the temptation to adopt the attitude of ‘been there, done that and got the ‘T’ shirt’. Whereas, in truth, God is offering us an epiphany moment such as we have not previously experienced because we have not lived this very moment before. The past, like the future, is not within our grasp but we do exercise free choice over the present moment. We tend to answer a question such as, ‘Do you believe in God?’ in the past tense, ‘Well, I used to pray … used to go to church … etc’. The question was ‘Do you …. ?’ not ‘Did you .….?’ In so many instances people undermine their freedom of choice in the present moment by contaminating it with their historic failures.
The thief crucified alongside Jesus on Calvary didn’t say to Him, “I would ask you to remember me when you come into your kingdom if it weren’t for my previous sinfulness.’ He said,
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
(Luke 23:42)
In his epiphany moment, the thief chose to recognize and accept the unconditional love of the One, also dying, on the cross next to him. Epiphany moments, like the gift of God’s grace itself, occur in the ‘real time’ of the present moment. The wise, foreign travellers chose to listen to their consciences. They returned to their own countries without going back to Herod to identify the location of the “Infant King of the Jews”. Herod’s trickery failed.
Joseph, the foster-father of Jesus, in his epiphany moments listened to his conscience and took Mary home as his wife and, later for reasons of safety, took Mary and the Infant Jesus out of Bethlehem to the unknowns of Egypt.
Our 21st century Epiphany scenario is not religious history frozen in time. It is a ‘real time’ challenge. Am I as committed to seeking Jesus in the present moment as were the wise, foreign travellers in 1 AD? And, in formulating your answer, beware of the trickery of the Deceiver prompting you to say, “Well, I would do more but there’s just not the time what with the job, the home, the children and so forth, but I hope to in the future.” At the same time, it is necessary to be aware that a committed caring for wife/husband, children and home is the Baptized married layperson’s prime location for seeking Jesus. For the Baptized single person, the focus includes the wider family, colleagues at work, competitors in sport and partners in recreation.
Is our search for Jesus reduced to just one day a week; one Sunday a month or a year or ?? Contrastingly, at this time of a new year, we’re awash with diaries, wall charts and spreadsheets, all pressurizing us about a future over which we have no ultimate control. Our Baptism calls us to live with the Lord in the present, moment by moment.
A significant illumination was providentially provided for those wise, foreign searchers on their courageous journey. Likewise, for us, in the ‘moment of our personal providential epiphany’, should we choose to open our hearts and ears and lift our eyes to the Lord, there will be all the illumination we need.
http://www.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk/