The Season of Epiphany

The word epiphany means “manifestation,” and the Feast of Epiphany, celebrated on January 6, commemorates the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Magi, who represent the entire Gentile world.

This is a feast day in the life of church because God revealed himself not just to the people of Israel, but also to the Gentiles—that is, those outside the Law and promise of God. The Magi were the first, but the gospels record Jesus’ interactions with other Gentiles and the book of Acts demonstrates God’s plan to bring salvation in the name of Jesus to every tribe, tongue, and nation. Most of us are, by God’s grace, recipients of this kindness, and so we celebrate the fact that the doors of salvation are open wide to those not numbered amongst the Israelites!

The Season of Epiphany, which is a season of Ordinary Time, follows the feast day. Ordinary Time (a green season) is an extended period of time where we get to “work out” what the feast day introduced. (The other, longer period of Ordinary Time is the Season after Pentecost, where we “work out” what occurred at Pentecost.) Thus, during this season, we are given the chance to focus on who God has revealed himself to be in Jesus Christ. We are encouraged to celebrate not just a general revelation of God’s existence, but instead the specific manifestation of God in the character of Jesus Christ, who is God-in-the-flesh.

Prayer during Epiphany should spring from the desire to understand Jesus Christ. Rather than emphasizing application or obedience, our devotional reading should focus on simply seeing Jesus clearly. In this season, we pray that God would reveal himself to us as we read, and we should hunger to understand the character of our Lord Jesus Christ, because in him, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are made manifest!

Steven+