The Epiphany:Laying it All at His Feet

 The Epiphany: This is  a traditional Christian observance on January 6th  that speaks of the coming of the "wise men" to see Jesus Christ at Bethlehem.

This observance is, aside from the commemoration of the resurrection , the oldest Christian "feast".
It is commonly found in more liturgical Christan bodies. The word  Epiphany in the Koine Greek is ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, "manifestation", " "appearance" . Epiphany or sometimes referred to as the “Theophany”.

 In the Ancient church The Epiphany commemorated three separate occurrences’ the visit of the Magi,

The baptism of Jesus and the miracle at  Cana- over the years in the western church tradition the emphases has shifted more to the view toward the visits of the Magi-Each of theses was a type of "Epiphany" of its own.

The Magi saw his star in the east and came to where He was. 

There has  always  been a lot of conjecture as to the events and what took place  at the birth of Jesus-and the time right after – most of those thing are secondary or  of no importance, what is important is that He came to reveal  God to us, to be "God with us".

The early Church understood that Jesus' coming was the appearance of God in the flesh, that Jesus was not just a bringer of a new philosophy  but rather He was the very creator of all things having entered His own creation and joined us to Himself.         

 

 "and the Word became Flesh and lived among us" John:1:14

The Magi

Many often wonder who these visitors were and from whence did they come, it is also probable that their arrival was most likely up to two years after Jesus' actual birth. in many ways it does not matter, the real point was, and is ,that they came when God got their attention,  and drew them there to that  place  in Bethlehem where they had an encounter with the Lord Jesus .And  they came bringing what they could to honor Him, they brought it all to Him laying it all at Jesus' feet and worshiped Him; the gifts were only symbolic of the transformation that happens when we come to Jesus. Jesus is the real point.

 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”Matthew:2:1-2

"where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:“‘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 be the shepherd of my people Israel.’”Matthew:2:5-6

"they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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 and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew:2:9-11

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace":Isaiah:9:6

Matthew's account tells of their search for the "King of Jews".  God had gotten their attention and they responded. What most do not realize is, that all of us are looking for Jesus, and in His providence God will send us a star to get our attention

Incarnation

God , in the person of His Son Jesus, took on our humanity. He became one of us, limited Himself never using His deity for His own advantage in Jesus all of God is seen. That is, He is Incarnate, this is what the Magi found, there, two thousand years ago,  in that out-of-way place; and what we can still find today. Our search for a life of meaning is ended when we come to Bethlehem, that is, that  place where  we find Jesus.

"For in him dwells  all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" Colissians:2:9

This self disclose of the great God in Jesus , is  ongoing . His humanity makes this possible and allows us to have  a relationship with the Great God.

They Respond

For those who see His star, and follow it to that place where Jesus is,  their search is over. When we come to believe in Jesus we accomplish everything that our lives were ever intended to accomplish, we all were  literally  created and born to believe in Jesus.  Remember the Magi came from afar off, they were willing to come even great distances . It was worth the journey, but this journey to Bethlehem would not have occurred had they not responded to the star that God had sent.

When they arrived there at that place, where the star directed them they came and presented to Him their gifts and worshiped Him.  Matthew:2:9-11

Their Gifts

The gifts given are powerful symbols for us, with much meaning.

Gold- The recourses of their lives, all they had for Him as our King.

Incenses- Their worship as their recognition of Who He is, the Great God incarnate and our High Priest.

Myrrh-The laying down of their lives,in recognition that He would lay down His own life in death for all. , and embracing His death for us and the death of  the old self.

  

 All Things Forever

They knew that their lives could never be the same and  that all human history would be changed

now that He has come.They knew that this young child would be the One Who would change all things forever. So here they were "great men" and they knelt before this young child and gave gifts that represented more then time allows to expound upon

 His Epiphany into our lives, demands a change, when the Lord is revealed to us,  that is, when we have

an Epiphany , when He manifest Himself  to us, when we are called, are willing to make any journey that we are  calls to make no matter what the distance , are we willing to lay our lives at His feet?

No distance was too far to journey to find Him, the Magi saw his star in the east and came to where He was. Because He came to where we are.

 All Things at His Feet

None of us, who truly encounter Jesus, can remain the same-,the One who has changed all things

forever calls out to us ,  we need to forsake the old life and follow Him.  If you are searching for meaning in life, then come to Bethlehem you will find our Lord is there.

There are many who hear the invitation to come to Christ, many to whom He has been manifested,

they metaphorically “see His star” and they now realize that He is present, but they  hesitate.

Do we see “His star over an house”, that is where is He working, do we worship?

Do we acknowledge His rightful place?

His Epiphany Our New Life

When Jesus is manifest to us we have a chance to experience   new life, which demands changes within us…an all  new life in Him.

His Glory-

Our God, in Jesus, is always manifesting Himself to us from Genesis to the nativity, or that Sunday Morning to the “Lord’s Day” in 90;s AD on the pathos to John-to us here today.

As we come to know Him when He is manifest daily among us and to us we should be

 transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit , to be growing in the likeness of the Son of God.

Every time we gaze upon Him, come into His presences,  we are transformed.

When His Glory manifest- He calls upon us to to come to Him and  ,  to lay all things before Him, as did the Magi two thousand  years ago. It will be worth the journey Amen.

Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor

The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion

Washington, Pa 

Fountain of Life Broadcast heard on RKP Radio 1710 & 1670 AM in Washington, Pa.and 1710 AM in Bentleyville , Pa. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com