Wednesday, January 4, 2023 – Epiphany (January 6)
“Then the star
appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them
on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain
themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!” (Matthew 2: 9 – 10, The Message)
And before you remind me that Christmas
is now over and done with, old news, let me remind you that Christmas is not
over until the Magi show up. And by the biblical account in Matthew’s Gospel,
that may take some time. Maybe as much as two years, reading into King Herod’s heinous
act of killing all children under the age of two, also to “get to” Jesus, but
not in the manner I am going to suggest.
The Magi were astrologers, maybe
princes, maybe priests, or nobles, from the Far East – possibly Parthia/Iran or
Persia. But in fact, we know very little about them. We may deduce that they have
travelled a great distance over considerable time (months perhaps) to find the one
whom they were looking for, putting their trust and faith in a bright and uncommon
star. They arrive in Bethlehem, after a futile side-trip to Jerusalem, not at
the first staging of Christmas (Luke 2:10), not to find a babe wrapped in swaddling
clothes and lying in a manger, but discovering a very ordinary family, doing very
ordinary things in a very ordinary little village of Bethlehem. Perhaps not the
“Christmas” they were picturing.
We might wonder, if it were you or
I in their sandals, whether it was a bit of a let down to come all that way for
all that time to find an almost toddler getting under his mother’s feet. This
child was born king of the Jews? This
child was the Messiah? God works in mysterious
ways, but c’mon, we came all this way for this?
But to their credit, the Magi
found their Christmas, even if we might argue a little late. They were filled with joy as they found Jesus
and his family. Their Christmas, deferred, delayed, overdue, was in the right
place and the right time. But one just has to be open minded, open-hearted,
open -spirited to understand that our epiphanies about Jesus happen in diverse
and surprising ways. Not controlled by the date on the calendar, not defined only
by shepherds and angels, not limited solely to December 25th.
It just takes some of us longer
to get to Christmas.
We will know it when we finally
arrive at the threshold where Jesus is to be found. We will have that “aha!” moment when we recognize
that maybe this new Christmas isn’t what we expected but it is what we needed.
It is the oncoming spirit of a small child, smiling, laughing, playing, full of
life, vim and vigour, and still the Son of God, the Word made flesh, but kept simple
so that we might understand and enjoy the experience. We are left in awe and
wonder. This is indeed the right place, the right time.
Some say it is the journey and
not the destination. But I say in this case it is not so much the journey but
the destination that matters. To arrive
and find Jesus and stop in our tracks and appreciate, revel and enjoy the surprising content of God’s Love for us.
We’re not too late.
Jesus is always waiting to be discovered.
May you find yourself in the right place and may this be the right time
for you!
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