Now it has been revealed that the Gentiles are coheirs of the promise.

Some scientists think that an exploding star, some tens of thousands of light years from earth, caused the bright start light that the Magi followed to the baby Jesus. Another group of scientists think it was the alignment of the largest planets in our solar system that formed that brightest star over Bethlehem. Whatever it was, God in His infinite wisdom and power used this event to announce Jesus’ birth to the Magi, and to the whole world!

The Magi, probably court astrologers of kings, studied the stars, and knew of the Hebrew prophesy of the birth of a King, from the Old Testament. God used natural events at His will to direct the Magi to His Incarnate Son. Jesus’ Epiphany, His manifestation to the Magi, celebrates the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world, the shining forth of the Light of the World, to the entire world, not just the Jewish world. The Magi symbolize the coming of God to the Gentiles, the entrance of God into the entire world. God reveals Himself to us; we do not find Him. God makes His divinity known to us in our humanity.

The Star over Bethlehem recalls the light, the fire, and the warmth of God’s love. The star points backward through history to the God who revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush, the God who manifested Himself in the fire and lightning that surrounded Mount Sinai, and the pillar of fire that led the Jews through the desert to the Promised Land. That Star points ahead to the tongues of fire that will come on Pentecost to rest on Mary and the Apostles.

Epiphany tells us that God has come to us where we are, as we are. His Light has come into our world and the darkness will not overcome it. God continues to reveal Himself to us today. God’s Light comes to us in many ways, many times through the insights of other people, allowing us to see things in truly new ways. Let us be like the Magi who followed Bethlehem’s star to the birthplace of the Son of David. Let us renew our commitment to see God’s Light in our lives. Let us see God’s light in His beloved Son, born as one of us, to become one with us, so that we can become one in Him.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God has revealed Himself to us in His Son, and calls us, through His Son, to live in His eternal life. All we must do is to have faith and trust in Jesus, the Light of the World. Have a Holy and Blessed Epiphany!

– Bp. Roy Campbell