The Wonder of Epiphany

Jilian Brown
Jan 6, 2022
4 min read

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,

asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage."

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.

On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

~Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12

I love how God chooses the most unexpected people to participate in His purposes. The shepherds, a simple girl named Mary, and now bursting onto the scene are wise men from the east. Not the Pharisees, not the Scribes, not even Israelites for that matter. The only criteria is a heart that is open and seeking. This blog is called "Illuminate" because of the Ephesians 1 passage, but also because it is one of my favorite aspects of teaching, regardless of the subject, to watch people’s minds and hearts become illuminated to truth. It is the privilege of a teacher to have access to these moments in the lives of others.

The wise men, or magi, were likely astronomers who studied the stars in the east. Though specific details are unknown, they were likely from Persia, which was somewhere around 800 miles away from Bethlehem. God met them where they were and used their gifting by providing a unique and brilliant star to show them where to go to find what God was up to in the world. Another component I find wonderful about this story is that we never hear about them again. Though they play a major role in our nativity sets and plays--which is misguided since they were not there for the birth of Jesus, but came later on--the wise men of the east are only in this particular passage in Matthew and then never seen or heard of again. Their sole purpose is to use their gifts to worship God. The gifts they brought of gold, frankincense and myrrh likely have symbolic meaning and also hearken back to Isaiah 60:6: gold represents Christ's kingship, frankincense represents His deity, and myrrh foreshadows his death as it was primarily an embalming oil. JJ Heller's version of "Star of Wonder" beautifully points this out. These were costly gifts to bring to an unknown child across the world. What was it that drew these foreigners to a small house in Bethlehem? It was illumination. Perhaps it was the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter which occurs every 800 years and occurred last December 21st, if you recall. We all went out in our pajamas to see the "Bethlehem Star."

My very poor quality image of the "Bethlehem Star" from 12/21/2020

I love science and love when it helps explain phenomena in the Bible. However, I am just as comfortable with believing this was an act of God's glory radiating for those whom He chose to experience it--just like He did for the shepherds. Also, it obviously came and went because they saw it initially and recognized they needed to head towards Jerusalem. However, they had to ask around in Jerusalem where exactly they should go to find the baby King.

"When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was."

So, the star was not constant, but rather reappeared over Jesus' house. So, this secret star as it were, went as far as their faith went and finally took them to Jesus. Interesting, isn't it?

Where is God pointing you this year? We must be paying attention like the wise men were if we want to see the light. We also must know the scripture. It is likely that the magi were familiar with prophecies handed down from the time of Daniel when he was in Babylon. They knew to look for the king and their long journey culminated in worship. Simple, beautiful, joyful worship. Christ is the prize. Not our gifts or what they give us, but Christ alone is the prize. I truly believe if we can become a people who worship in spirit and truth, then so much of what divides us will dissipate. Our eyes have become distracted by what is around us. We need to get them up. Also, I love that the wise men were still so in tune with God that they knew how to return home safely, avoiding Herod. God has directions for us. He has help for us. He has illumination at the ready. Are we listening? Are we watching? What is your star of wonder this year?