Bible Study: Isaiah 60, 1 to 6. Ephesians 3, 2 to 6. And Matthew 2, 1 to
12.
Today’s Liturgy is packed full with a lot of meaning. The fact that
today’s solemnity is called by the name “Epiphany”, the fact that “wise men”
came from the “East” led by a “Star”, bringing “Gifts” of “Gold, Frankincense
and Myrrh” and they headed straight to Herod’s Palace in search of new born
king, speak volumes to us. There is more to what we are celebrating today than
what our reading literally present to us.
Without Epiphany, Christmas loses its universal significance. As the
word “Epiphany” implies, today we are celebrating the revelation, the manifestation,
the unveiling so to say, the coming to light or announcement to the whole world
that the little baby who was born Nine days ago was no ordinary child. In the
Epiphany, we celebrate the fact that Jesus was born not just for the household
of Joseph the Carpenter, not just for the Jewish nation, not just for the
so-called chosen people, but for EVERYONE, regardless of tribe, religion or
nationality.
These wise men who are also referred to as, the Magi or the three kings
represent you and I; gentiles not originally from the Jewish nation. By their
visit, we get an understanding that Jesus did not come for a few people or a
single country but for an entire humankind. Jesus is not just a national hero
but a world saviour. He is the light that has come into the entire world
shining to all nations. This is what the Prophet Isaiah speaks about when he
declares: “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the
peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your
rising.” Isaiah 60, 2 to 3. Even our responsorial psalm today proclaims “All
nations on earth shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.”
The wise men saw the star from their various homes, they could read the
star and they understood its meaning. They could have remained in their homes
and simply amused themselves saying it did not concern them, but they decided
to move. They left their homes, they left their comfort zones, they translated
their knowledge into action; they allowed their curiosity push them to discover
Jesus. Today, we too are called to move. We are invited to embark on a
pilgrimage of faith, to leave our comfort zones of sin and spiritual laziness,
we are called to follow the star to meet Jesus.
Do you notice that we humans are always looking for something? We are always
trying to achieve one thing or another. What we often do not realise is that “Our
entire life on earth is a pilgrimage and if this pilgrimage does not have Jesus
as its primary focus and end, we end up never satisfied or happy. This explains
why we constantly set targets for ourselves, we create goals we want to reach
and no sooner had we gotten one thing, the desire or longing for another
springs up from no-where. We humans are such a bundle of restless creatures!
Now, the holidays are over, just watch and see how our city would get crazy once
again from tomorrow morning.
Like these wise men, we get distracted with external appearance at times.
What on earth led them to the palace of Herod? They saw a star and followed it
all the way but at some point in their pilgrimage, they started using their
rationality to navigate. They reasoned it out that since they were looking for
a King and kings were only made in palaces, and there was only one palace, this
king must be found right there. For this costly mistake, Herod would later on
decide to kill all the male children born around that time in Israel. Too often
we make the mistake of allowing reason dictate to us instead of faith. We push God
aside and try to figure things out with our brains.
Dear friends, as this New Year begins, let us keep our eyes fixed on the
star and look diligently for Jesus. Let our sole aim in life be how to get
closer and closer to Jesus. If we take eyes off Jesus, we only end up in
Herod’s palace, a place of deception and lies where nothing ever satisfies. Imagine
if the wise man had not left Herod’s house, but kept insisting that a king was
there. A lot of Christians today are searching for peace and fulfilment in the
wrong places, we have refused to leave Herod’s house because of its outward
attractiveness.
And come to think of it, it was by reading the Bible, (the Old
Testament) that the chief priests and scribes got to know where Jesus could be
found. How often do we read the Scriptures? How can we ever find Jesus when we keep
ignoring the Bible? If you say you have better things to do, than to open God’s
word, you only end up wasting your time because everything that you are looking
for be it money, success, fame, children, prosperity, just name it, proceed from
God. From the very beginning, there was no money on earth, no house, no car, only
God was there, and it is what he spoke that became all these things we are seeing
today. Why search in vain for what is freely available in the word of God?
The wise men did not embark on their quest empty handed. They went with gifts.
The journey was long and arduous, but they were inspired to push on because they
did not want to return their gifts home. Even in the very gifts themselves, we see
another epiphany of Jesus. Gold manifests or reveals to us that Jesus is King, the
ruler of heaven and earth, the one who will come to judge the living and the dead.
Incense manifests his Priesthood, hence all our prayers end with “In Jesus Name”
or “Through Christ our Lord.” And then Myrrh manifests his role as Saviour, the
one who would shed his blood on the cross for our Salvation.
In our own pilgrimage to Jesus, we too must not go empty handed. In fact,
the reason why we easily abandon our quest for deeper relationship with Jesus is
that we begin the journey without any gift, without anything precious from us, without
something costly for which we would be prepared to overcome any hurdle so as to
present it to Jesus. We make New Year resolutions to be better Christians but no
sooner had the month gone half way, we abandon our resolutions because we are not
prepared to give away our precious time, we are not prepared to give up our comfort
for Jesus. Once our resolutions are no longer convenient, once we experience even
the slightest difficulty, we give God an excuse and snap back into our old ways.
The greatest gift you can ever give to Jesus is the gift of your time, the gift
of making him known to the world. Why not resolve this year to spend an hour or
more in daily personal Bible reading! Why not think of more creative ways to manifest
Jesus to the world and let that be your own gift to the baby Jesus as a wise man
or woman that you are.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, my whole life is a pilgrimage to you, save me from unnecessary
detours. May my life itself be my gift to you. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you. Happy first Sunday of 2016.
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