Exploring the Sunday Gospel – Epiphany

Today the Church is celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the journey of the magi (the wise men) who followed from their home in the East the star that they observed at its rising. Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus offers this rich tradition concerning the magi that contains many important images. One of these images is the Christmas journey. According to the tradition, the magi undertook a long and arduous journey in order to find the Christ child. The journey brought them to Jerusalem where they came face to face with King Herod, with the chief priests, and with the scribes of the people. But their journey did not end in Jerusalem. Their journey ended when the star led them to the place where they found the child for whom they were seeking. There they knelt down, paid him homage, and opened up their treasure-chests. On the Feast of the Epiphany we are invited to share in their journey.

For those of you who wanted to do some thinking and preparation for today’s service during the preceding week, I invited you to focus on the image of the Christmas journey. In today’s picture from their book, Christmas time with Teddy Horsley, Teddy Horsley and Betsy Bear have followed in the footsteps of the magi to bring their treasures to place before the Christ child and to worship him. Today we are invited to join them in this act of homage.

Lord Jesus Christ,

you led the wise men to search for you.

Guide our journey,

so we too may be led to find you;

for you are our God.

Amen.

Next Sunday, the Second Sunday of Epiphany, the Gospel reading from the beginning of John’s Gospel pictures Jesus as the link between heaven and earth. The image to help us prepare for that reading is ladders. You can find out more about that theme by looking at the:

Education Resources

Preparation Resources