Today is Epiphany, that day in the church year when we celebrate the arrival of the Magi who have come to see the One "who has been born King of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:2) We believe that the Magi traveled many months covering hundreds of miles in order to worship the new born King.
Try as we may, it is nearly impossible to imagine what it must have been like as these men first set their eyes on our Immanuel, God with us. But author Richard Lauersdorf points out that we also have our own Epiphany experience.
Whenever we open that Word, we see the Savior. All of its teachings revolve around its central message of God's Son coming into the world to pay for sin and prepare peace again with our Maker. Guided by that star, we have knelt at Jesus' baby bed and cruel cross. We have rejoiced in His resurrection and received the promise of His return. "We have seen His star," we say with the Magi, not in the east, but, better still, in His Word.
So, it is not just the Magi who have the great blessing of seeing the Christ child. We too, with the eyes of faith, see Jesus. We see Him overcome the devil in the wilderness. We see Him have mercy on those weighed down by sin. We see Him show the religious elites as hypocrites. We see Him cradle children in His arms while He encourages us to desire to have a faith like theirs.
We also see Jesus arrested, tried and sentenced to death. We see Him hang in agony on the cross. We see His suffering which is caused by our sinful ways. We see Him breath His last and die.
We also see an empty tomb, an angel telling the women, "He is not here; He is risen!" We see the shock and awe as the risen Jesus appears before His cowering disciples. We see Him ascend in majesty into heaven. We look for His return to judge the living and the dead. We await His gathering up of all who believe in Him to be in His presence forever.
Enjoy your very own Epiphany today and give thanks for a faith that sees Jesus!
