Let’s Have an Epiphany

An early fresco of he adoration of the Magil

The Christmas season officially ends today as the Catholic Church and western Christian denominations that borrow its liturgical calendar observe the Feast of the Epiphany.  Theologically it is a celebration of the revelation to the world of Jesus as the fully human God the Son.  As such it celebrates a facet of the Trinity.  Little wonder that my Unitarian Universalists, who deny the whole Three-in-one God deal, don’t make much of the day.

There are several components of the revelation.  The first is the visit by the Magi to the Child in Bethlehem—the announcement of the Holy presence to the Gentile world.  Second is the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by his cousin John, the half mad preacher.  Third is the marriage party in Cana where Jesus was said to have performed his first miracles—proof of his divine power.

Despite the complexity of the multiple stories, in the West the Feast of the Epiphany is largely all about those Magi.  In a fact in most Latin American countries it is most commonly known as the Feast of the Three Kings, which sort of diverts attention from the alleged star.  On the Eve the Magi are finally added to Nativity scenes and on January 6, children wake up to gifts from the Kings.  It was the main gift giving occasion of the Christmas season, or at least was until ubiquitous Santa Claus began invading traditional cultures.

In Jolly Olde England the 5th was Twelfth Night of Shakespearean fame. It was a traditional time for mumming and the wassail. The Yule Log was left burning until the 6th.   It was also a day for playing practical jokes, similar to April Fool’s Day.   Thus all of the foolery in the Bard’s plays which was written to be performed on its namesake.  All of this gayety and mirth, was, of course, squelched by those pesky Puritans and few vestiges of these traditions are still celebrated.

Now about those alleged Kings…First, it they existed at all they were surely not rulers of any sort.  What we know of them comes from the Gospel of Mathew as described in the King James Version:

2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Note that they are not identified in any way as kings.  They are said to be from the east so it is likely that they were meant to represent Persian priests or Asian astrologers.  Nor is any number set.  The early church sometimes used figures up to twelve.  Eventually the number was settled at three and totally un-Biblical tales sprang up around them.  They even grew names and origin stories--Melchior, a Persian; Caspar, an Indian; and Balthazar from Arabia—perhaps from Yemen which then had Jewish kings. 

There is no reason to believe that their visit fit neatly into the later liturgical calendar twelve days after a mid-winter birth.  In fact the kind of Biblical scholars who try to find historical accuracy in the Bible think that the visit may have been up to two years after the birth and that the Holy family may have been in residence in Bethlehem for that long.  They infer this from the fact that Herod ordered the massacre of all male children under two years of age, not just infants.

Then there is the issue of the Star.  Of course if you are a literalist, you believe that an actual star either hovered over the City of David, or actually move, leading the Magi on their journey.  But those seeking natural explanations for the phenomena have proposed various possibilities, most commonly a comet or the appearance of a near-solar system super nova.  The problem with either of these suggestions is that the very careful records kept by Chinese astrologers make no note of either phenomenon in a five year window around the time of Jesus’s presumed birth.  And they surely would have noted it.

One explanation that has gained some traction is that the Star was actually a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pisces which is known to have occurred in 7 BCE, a little late for the story but close enough for some.  But contemporary Babylonian records show little interest in the event and does not suggest that the planets converged closely enough in the sky to create a super bright object.

Then perhaps it was a UFO.  That will probably be a History Channel two hour special next year.

Or the Star and the Magi are all pious fiction and poetry meant to inflate the understanding of the birth of the Messiah to the secular world.  No mention of the Magi can be found in the simple nativity story found in Luke.  Presumably the sudden presence of well-dressed strangers in the stable would have been noted by those shepherds.  And why did they have to follow a Star when God apparently had no shortage of herald angels to tell the travelers just where to go.

But I don’t want to nit-pick a treasured story.  After all, much fiction can be truth in a broader sense, or at least symbolic of a truth.

For the Orthodox it's all about the Baptism.

Back to the Feast of the Epiphany.  The Copts and Eastern Orthodox also celebrate the feast but on different dates dependent on their calendars.  They also celebrate the incarnation of God in Man, but build their observances not so much on the Kings.  They concentrate on the Baptism as the great announcement. 

It was also much more celebrated in the Medieval Western church as evidence by many paintings of the Baptism and concerning Jesus’s relations with his cousin John.  But those virtually disappeared by the Renaissance signaling a change of Christology in the Catholic Church.  Emphasis on John and other earthy relatives of Jesus such as his siblings, like James of Jerusalem seemed uncomfortably close to viewing Jesus as a mortal man, not a partner in a godhead.

Anyway, there you have it—The Feast of the Epiphany.  Celebrate or not as you choose.  But tomorrow it won’t be Christmas any more.