Matthew 2:1-12
Wise Men Visit Jesus
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Epiphany is defined as when one has a sudden moment of insight or revelation...And when one has this sudden moment of great insight, they often ponder on it...It is a paradigm shift in one's thinking...And paradigm shifts are usually not easy to grasp at first or may take a while to believe on understand what has just happened...
The twelfth day after Jesus' Birth is called the Day of Epiphany...The Day of Epiphany is also known as Three Kings Day...The day is also know as Theophany...The Day of Epiphany celebrates the magi, the wise men coming to visit Baby Jesus in Bethlehem...When wise men journeyed across the desert to seek and find a mysterious Babe who had just recently been born, it was the very first Day of Epiphany...Christians and Catholics view Epiphany as more about the wise men and magi visiting Jesus, while Greek orthodox religion focus more on the baptism of Jesus...
Epiphany blesses the home, the water of the Jordan River (where John Baptized Jesus), exchanging gifts like the magi did, and the eating of the King's cake, or three King's cake...
The Day of Epiphany is usually celebrated on January 6th of each year...The Day of Epiphany reminds us that a paradigm shift has happened...Jesus is born and is still alive...The waiting and watching for our Messiah to come has arrived...It is time to take this great insight and ponder on what it means to have Someone like this born in our world...