The Lord Made Known
A Homily for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord
Merry Christmas, everyone! Even though New Year’s is over and the secular world has taken down the trimmings and trappings of Christmas, we are actually in the middle of the Christmas season. You can think of the Christmas season as a triptych, with Christ’s Nativity on one side which we celebrate with the Octave of Christmas from Christmas Day to the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and on the other side of the triptych is the Baptism of the Lord at the end of the Christmas season; and right in the middle is where we are today, the Epiphany of the Lord.
The placement of the Epiphany in the middle of the Christmas Season is no accident, because in a very real way Christmas is the Epiphany Season. An epiphany is a revelation; it’s a “making known” of a previously hidden truth. So what we celebrate on the Feast of the Epiphany is not just wise men coming from the east with their gifts; that’s just one part of the larger Epiphany, the making known of the Lord that is the central message of Christmas.
If you go back and read the gospels for Christmas Day through the lense of Epiphany, you’ll see that they are all about the making known of the Lord. The gospel at the midnight Mass tells of the angels making known to the shepherds that a savior has been born in the City of David “who will be for all the people.” At the Mass at Dawn, the gospel continues with the shepherds saying, “Let us go to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” And when they find Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, it says, “they made known the message that had been told them about this child.” Then at Mass on Christmas Day, we sing Psalm 98, which says, “The Lord has made his salvation known.”
Christmas is all about Epiphany. It’s about making known what was hidden. In this case what’s being made known is the good news of the Incarnation, that Christ is Emmanuel, “God with us.” But when did that happen? It didn’t happen at Christmas. That’s when Christ was born, but the Incarnation happened nine months earlier when Word of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit and became man. We celebrate that on the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25.
So if the Incarnation is celebrated on March 25, why does Christmas get such fanfare? Because even though God was with us in the world, his presence was still hidden in his mother’s womb. Expectant parents know how this is. You become parents the moment your child is conceived, not when your child is born. During the pregnancy, you know there’s a baby in there. You might even know if it’s a boy or a girl. You’ve maybe even seen pictures of your child’s face on ultrasound. You know you have a child but you don’t really know your child yet. The day of your child’s birth is a revelation because you finally get to meet this new little person who’s already been a member of your family for nine months. But after they’re born, you get to know them.
We celebrate Christ’s birth because it is an epiphany. Christ is being made known to the world. Mary and Joseph can finally look into his eyes and hold his little hand in theirs. Emmanuel is with us. And this epiphany is not limited to his parents. When the angels proclaim the birth of a savior to the shepherds, that is their Epiphany.
And we can follow this thread of the Lord being made known all the way through the Christmas season up to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord that we celebrate next Sunday when Christ’s public ministry is ushered in with an Epiphany from the Father himself saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” He makes known who Jesus Christ is.
But what does it mean to know the Lord? Knowing Christ is not just an academic exercise for theologians. Just like an expectant parent knows that they have a child before birth, but doesn’t get to know that child until they are born, we want to know Christ in that latter sense. In the language of the Bible, to “know” someone means to have intimate friendship with them. This intimate knowledge of another finds its highest expression in the marital covenant, as when Adam “knew” his wife and she bore a son. God wants to be known by us in this way, which is why he speaks most often of his covenant with us in terms of marriage. To know the Lord is a matter of profound communion. So when the Lord announces his presence, it’s an invitation to us. It’s like the Ghost of Christmas Present in the Christmas Carol saying to Scrooge, “Come in and know me better, man!”
And this invitation is not limited to Israel. This is part of the great Epiphany we celebrate today. In our psalm, we proclaim that every nation on earth will adore him. This is why it is significant that Matthew tells us the wise men come “from the east.” He doesn’t say where specifically. “The east” might be Persia or Arabia, but it doesn’t really matter. They are from somewhere else. They are not part of the Chosen People, but nevertheless Emmanuel is made known to them. Their epiphany was the light of a star that led them to Christ.
Christ is the light of the human race. Isaiah’s prophesy that we read today has been fulfilled; God’s light shines from Jerusalem over all the world. Christ sent his Apostles out with the great commission to make disciples of all nations. The Epiphany that began at Christmas has never ended. Emmanuel is still being made known. He was made known by angels to shepherds at his birth. He was made known by a star to the magi. He was made known to us by parents, catechists, pastors and preachers. We have all received an Epiphany. We have all received that invitation to know the Lord. How have we responded?
When the birth of Christ was made known to Herod, the gospel says, “he was greatly troubled.” Why? Herod received the news of Christ as a threat to his status, his power, and his comfort. He did not want to acknowledge Christ as king, because he wanted to be king. Don’t you and I often react in the same way to the good news of Jesus Christ? Don’t we sometimes feel troubled by Christ’s message? When we do, it’s for the same reason as King Herod. We also perceive it as a threat. We are afraid of the changes Christ might ask of us. We are afraid to acknowledge him as king because we want to be kings and queens of our own life.
And maybe that’s where some of us are right now. Maybe Christ was made known to us long ago, but that knowledge troubled us, so we didn’t respond to that invitation, at least not fully. Or maybe we’ve known him academically but not in the intimate, personal sense that God desires. We find him interesting. We like learning about him. But maybe we haven’t known him as a friend. If that is where you are, may today be a new Epiphany for you, a new invitation to know the Lord.
By contrast, when the magi saw the star “they were overjoyed.” They sought Jesus out; they did him homage and offered him gifts. This is how you and I should respond to God’s revelation — with joy and with action.
The magi left their homes and embarked upon a journey to seek out the Lord and pay him homage. We need to do the same. We should be willing to leave our homes, maybe not literally, but to leave the homes of whatever comfort zones we have established for ourselves, to embark upon our own journey of faith to seek out Christ and draw close to him. And when we come to him, let us offer him our gifts. The magi gave him gold, frankincense and myrrh — symbolic gifts representing not only his kingship, but also the death he was to suffer for us. The best gifts we can give him are our hearts. That’s what Jesus wants for Christmas. That’s all he ever really wants from us; our love. He wants to be known by us.
The Christmas Season officially ends next Sunday with the Baptism of the Lord. But the season of Epiphany never ends. The Lord has made himself known to us. Let us make him known to others. Let us pass along that great gift that is the knowledge of Christ, the knowledge of God, that today is born a savior, Christ the Lord. God is with us. Let us make him known to the ends of the earth.
