January 1, 2005

A Note from our Associate Priest

Epiphany -- The Manifestation of the Incarnate God

When I was growing up, the Nativity set, or crèche, was a major symbol of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. We unpacked the figures and set up the scene on the first Sunday of Advent. Baby Jesus was hidden until Christmas morning when the youngest child would place the babe in the manger. The three Wise Men journeyed from the back of the house to the manger over the course of Advent and Christmas, moving a little each day (we took turns). They did not appear at the manger until January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

The word “Epiphany” is a Greek word meaning “manifestation”, or “appearing”. In Anglican Books of Common Prayer the Epiphany is called “The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles”, referring to the story of the three Wise Men who came from the East.

Historically, observance of Epiphany on January 6 by Christians goes back to the second century in Egypt. The feast combined three events: the visit of the Magi (three Wise Men), led by a star to Bethlehem; the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River; and the first recorded miracle of Jesus, the changing of water into wine at the marriage feast of Cana in Galilee. All of these events are manifestations of the incarnate God who is with us.

Eastern Christian churches still celebrate the Epiphany as the primary Feast of the Incarnation, but keep the emphasis on all three events as ways that God was manifest as incarnate, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”. In Western Churches, including Anglican and Episcopalian Churches, the story of the Wise Men has been the event equated with Epiphany. The changes in the lectionary, found in our 1979 Book of Common Prayer, recaptures the trilogy, by celebrating the Baptism of Jesus on the first Sunday after the Epiphany in all three years, A, B, and C. This is one of the four major feast days when we baptize people in the Episcopal Church. The story of the miracle at the wedding of Cana is the Gospel reading for the second Sunday after the Epiphany in Year C.  We are currently in Year A, which began on November 28, 2004, the first Sunday in Advent, and runs until the first Sunday of Advent in 2005.

The Twelve Days of Christmas are from December 25 until the Epiphany on January 6. The Epiphany season goes until Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

I look forward to the three Wise Men arriving at the manger on January 6 and meeting the incarnate God who loves us so much that he came into the world as a baby to reconcile us all to God. I wonder what God is inviting you to manifest in your own life this Epiphany season. 

Yours in Christ,

The Rev. Joanie Delamater