Feast of the Epiphany
Bishop of Lake Charles
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
January 2, 2011
Feast of the Epiphany
“They were overjoyed at seeing the star.” Matthew 2:10
The difference between how ancient Israel viewed stars and how their pagan neighbors viewed them is—well—the difference between night and day. For the ancient pagans, the stars were gods, along with the sun and the moon. The predictable position of the stars allowed for their calendar to be measured. There seemed to be a rhythm to their movement, and in the mind of the ancient pagans this meant that they transcended history. They gave names to the constellations and thought that somehow these luminous bodies manifested supernatural powers. Stars in the Bible were seen very differently.
Stars were considered part of Creation in the Jewish world. In the Old Testament, stars were part of the array of God’s court. I think of the beautiful Psalm 148 which reads, “Praise him [the Lord], all you angels; give praise, all you hosts. Praise him, sun and moon; give praise, all shining stars” (Psalm 148:2-3). They are created, as are all the other celestial bodies and everything in creation, to give glory to God. They are creatures, just like everything else. The Lord, “… who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn, and darkens day into night” (Amos 5:8)), is seen in the glories of His creation. There is order, light, radiance, and beauty all around us, and the stars testify to a God who is known by His People. “Rise up in splendor! Your light has come,” (Isaiah 60:1) says Isaiah, as the prophet foretells the coming of the Messiah. Little wonder that the Church chooses this passage to open our scripture readings for this the Solemnity of the Epiphany. As one scripture scholar expressed it, the stars are purified of their idolatrous meaning, because “…they now symbolize earthly realities which manifest the providence of God” (Xavier Léon-Dufour). It is only appropriate that a star should play a part in announcing God’s ultimate plan of salvation in Jesus Christ to the world.
God has provided us with a Savior. As a matter of fact, the Savior is God Himself, born of a virgin. He sleeps in Bethlehem, and creation cannot help but speak His glory. So a star leads Magi from the East to where the child lives. God has emptied Himself out, “… taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7). The Almighty God, whose power is overwhelming and mastery universal, has taken flesh and now rests in the arms of Mary as a vulnerable infant.
The star of the Epiphany shows us that what the pagans worship in ignorance is in fact a creature of God’s making who must lead the way to God’s ultimate manifestation. A star whose course is set and predictable gives testimony to the birth of the Savior of the world.
In some way, I do not think we can fully appreciate the role of the star in the account of the Epiphany, if we do not know the Book of Revelation. In Revelation there is a beautiful passage in which the Son of God says the following in describing His victory: “… as I received authority from my Father. And to him I will give the morning star” (Revelation 2:28). Here it sounds as though the “morning star”—which is noted for its brightness—is something apart from the Son of God, but if we read on to the end, we discover the star’s true identity. In the final verses of the Book of Revelation, Jesus says, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star” (Revelation 22:16).
I find all of this wondrous. Epiphany is wondrous because it is a further manifestation of who Jesus is. He is light. All of creation has prepared for His coming, and when He arrives, it cannot keep silent. However, creation speaks not in words but with its beauty. The Season of Christmas, of which Epiphany is a part, is beautiful. It is as beautiful as a newborn infant, a starry night, a band of angels, and a virgin mother. It is mysterious too, because beauty makes us pause and wonder, as mysterious as Magi coming from the East with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
I must ask a few questions, as we very soon come to the end of the Christmas Season. Does the often crass and crude materialism of a pagan world have anything quite so beautiful to offer? Does the modern day “culture of death” that makes every effort to destroy everything that Christmas represents have anything to offer us? The King Herod’s of the world are abundant even in our own day, with their messages of death, destruction, and despair.
They would kill the author of life, as well as they would kill us. However, Christmas speaks to us of life, goodness, innocence. These they cannot kill. Christmas brings us gifts, immaterial benefits, supernatural wonders, that rescue us. “[A] bright morning star” arises to lead us to regain our innocence, just as surely as it led the Magi to come from afar with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.