The feast of the Epiphany is one of the multiple epiphanies of the Lord Jesus to human beings. If the word means manifestation, revelation, then we should find similar ones along the gospels.
On this special manifestation to three wise men, three gentile kings of the orient, they acknowledge the newborn child as God, King and Man. That is what we learn by the gifts they offered, incense to God, gold to the King and myrrh to the Man who would be buried and rise again.
Going forth with the Gospels after Jesus grew and started preaching, we learn that the number one manifestation of Jesus about his mission among us is his revelation to the shepherds. Why is that? Because when the Angels invited these humble and simple men and women to go to Bethlehem and see the newborn, they said:” You will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Lk 2,12)
Moreover, before starting his public ministry, Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. “Jesus passed, and John stared at him and said, “there is the lamb of God.” Why is he introduced that way? Because right there, Jesus is seen as the Man who is to give his life for our salvation. The shepherds were those who prepared carefully the lambs to be offered in sacrifice in the Temple. They were the ones who would wrap in swaddling cloths the lambs without defect to be taken to Jerusalem before Passover. So then, to the shepherds, Jesus shows himself as the true lamb destined to give his life for the salvation of humankind, and the wise men show it by their offering of myrrh to the child Jesus as a sign of his death and burial.
Next when Jesus performs his first sign, turning water into wine, Scripture says: “He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.” (Jn 2,11) He is known to this point as been the son of Mary, he showed himself being God, as having the power of God. The wise men showed their belief in this truth by offering incense to the newborn child.
Last, Jesus will reveal himself as King. In a first instance, He entered Jerusalem acclaimed as a king. “They cried out: “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!” (Lk 19,18) And going further, Pilate will say to Jesus:” So, you are a king? It is you who say it, answered Jesus. Yes, I am a king, I was born for this.” (Jn 18,17) The wise men predicted
that truth with their offering of gold to the child Jesus.
So, on this so great a celebration, shouldn’t we renew our loyalty to Jesus, our God, our King and our brother, who shares our humanity, who died and rose again to take us in his glory at the end of our earthly pilgrimage? Won’t we do as the wise men did after seeing this little child, like any of ours, acknowledging him as King and Lord, renew our fealty to him, starting a new life? After this, our first encounter with him in the new year, let each one of us decide to go to the end of 2025 by another way. (Mt 2,12)
Let us renew our commitment to live, not as gentile people, who have not yet acknowledged Jesus as the son of God, the son of Mary and our universal king, but as faithful believers in the one promised and sent
to us by our merciful Father and who gave his life to set us free and lead us into the glorious kingdom of our God and Father.