07/01/2024
Epiphany
Epiphany is one of the important Christian festivals, as it shows how God comes to His people and reveals His salvation to the world. The word Epiphany came from a Greek word'epiphaneia' which means'appearance' or'manifestation'. This also means the manifestation of a supernatural or divine reality. This festival is also called'Theophany', which means'God Shining Forth'. This feast is mainly connected with the visit of the three wise men from the east called'magi' to Bethlehem to see and worship the king of Jews, Jesus Christ. They came to Jerusalem and enquired about Jesus as they have seen His star rising, to announce His birth (matthew2:1-2). On finding out that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, they went there and saw Jesus in the hands of His mother Holy Virgin Mary and worshipped Him. The Gospel of Matthew says in 2:9-12'when they came into the house, they saw the little child with Mary, his mother and they fell down and worshipped Him and they opened their treasures and offered to Him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh'. The three wise men were Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar. Tradition says that among the three Melchior was older with grey hair and a long beard and he brought the gift of gold to Jesus. Gold was the gift traditionally given to kings and the wise man thought that Jesus was a king. The second wise man Caspar brought the gift of frankincense, which is a gift usually given to priest, as he thought Jesus was the High Priest of humanity. The third wise man Balthazar gave the gift of myrrh, which is a gift given to one who is to die. So the wise men thought that Jesus was born to die for the salvation of humanity and not to live a worldly life. The three wise men are considered as Gentiles (non-Jewish people) and Jesus Christ revealed Him to these Gentile people shows that He was born for the salvation of not only Jews but also of all other non-Jewish people.
In most part of the world including United States this feast of Epiphany is celebrated on the Sunday that falls between 2nd January and 8th January. In some countries like Greece, Ireland, Italy and Poland, this feast is celebrated on 6th January. In the Eastern Christianity, this feast puts more emphasis on the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist where Christ revealed Himself as the God's own Son, as the Father the God talked from the heaven. In some places more emphasis is given to the miracle of turning the water into wine at the marriage of Cana. Jesus Christ manifested himself to the humanity as the true Son of God by His every action.
