01/06/2025
Happy Three Kings' Day! 👑👑👑
Three Kings' Day, also known as "Little Christmas" and the "Feast of Epiphany," is a Christian feast day that officially concludes the Christmas season.
Christmas celebrations go on until Three Kings' Day on January 6! For Christians, Christmas Day is just the beginning of the festivities, as it kicks off the celebrations for the Twelve Days of Christmas!
Epiphany is celebrated EVERY January 6th, which is 12 days after Christmas, (some count Christmas Day as the 1st day of Christmas) and it is believed that on this day, the magi or the three wise men—Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar—gave baby Jesus Christ the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
'Epiphany' comes from the Greek word meaning 'to reveal', as it is when the baby Jesus was 'revealed' to the world.
So how long was it really after Jesus’ birth that the Wise Men arrived? We do not know exactly. However, there is sufficient reasoning to know that it was not 12 days. It would have been more than 40 days, but less than two years.
Matthew 2:1-11 - In this passage, we are told that the Wise Men “came into the house and saw the young child." Couple that with the decree of Herod that all children two years old and under should be put to death, it’s easy to understand why some suggest Jesus was near two years of age when the Wise Men arrived. Remember, the Wise Men were supposed to report their finding of the Christ child back to Herod (Matt 2:8). If six months, a year, or longer had passed before Herod realized they had not returned, he might have decreed “two and under” to make sure Jesus would be killed. However, we know that Jesus was spared as his parents took him and they fled to Egypt. Their flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13–23) Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus since King Herod would seek the child to kill him.
How will you celebrate this twelth day of Christmas, Three Kings' Day & Feast of Epiphany?
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” is a fun song to sing; and there’s a fun trivia question about the song: How many gifts were given? Since each day’s gifts are repeated (added to the next day), the total is 364!!! Now, that’s a lot of gifts. But still, they are nothing compared to the single gift given by God when He gave His Son to the world!
"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed."
- Matthew 2:10
May the glory of God fill your hearts with happiness, peace, and love as we celebrate this special day!
Blessed Epiphany from Light of Day Ministries! 🙏✝️💜
You can read more here: 👇
https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/did-the-wise-men-arrive-12-days-after-jesus-birth-or-much-later/
