Epiphanies Bring Change, But No Promise of Comfort and Joy

by

John J. Dunphy

(Published in the 1/4/20 edition of The Telegraph of Alton, IL)

By this time, you probably have taken down the last of your home’s Christmas decorations and packed them away. You needn’t have been in such a rush, however. The season of Christmas doesn’t traditionally conclude until Epiphany, which falls on January 6.

Epiphany commemorates the Magi, or “wise men,” finding Jesus after being guided by a star. The word “epiphany” means a sudden realization of tremendous magnitude. In this context, however, it refers to the physical manifestation of Jesus to the gentiles, who are represented here by these wise men.

Please note that I wrote “wise men,” rather than kings. The second chapter of Matthew clearly identifies these gentlemen as “wise men from the east” and not royalty. Their transformation into kings came later and was probably inspired by Psalm 72:11, which reads: “Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.” Since Matthew records that these visitors “fell down, and worshiped him,” some Christians later concluded that these wise men were in fact monarchs.

You’ll also note that I don’t refer to these visitors as numbering three . Matthew makes no mention of their number. Yes, they indeed brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there were just three of them.

Christmas traditionalists often refrain from placing the wise men on display in their nativity scenes before Epiphany. Those shepherds were in the vicinity of Jesus’ birth, so they quickly arrived at the stable. The wise men, on the other hand, weren’t locals and had to make quite a journey. The shepherds and wise men wouldn’t have been at that Bethlehem stable simultaneously.

Matthew doesn’t mention the names of these wise men. Sometime in the Middle Ages, however, they acquired the names Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar. They became three of the most beloved figures in the Christian religion. Other magi mentioned in the Bible, however, didn’t fare nearly so well.

For example, Exodus 7:8–12 records a competition between Aaron and Pharaoh’s “wise men and sorcerers” (i.e., magi) as Moses and his brother sought the liberation of the enslaved Hebrews in Egypt. Aaron threw down his staff, which then became a snake. Pharaoh’s magi then threw down their staffs, which also became snakes. However, their snakes were quickly swallowed up by Aaron’s snake!

A “magus,” which is the singular of magi, named Simon got schooled by the apostle Peter. As recorded in Acts of the Apostles 8:9–24, Simon asked Peter, “Give me this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may received the Holy Ghost.” Peter angrily replied, “They money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.” Simon saw the light and voiced his regret at making such an offer.

The release of the film “Cats” reminded me to look up T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Journey of the Magi,” which I hadn’t read in years. Written from the perspective of one of the wise men, the old sage recalls the journey occurring in “the very dead of winter” with the camels “sorefooted” and “refractory.” The “camel men” who accompanied the magi made the trip even more unpleasant by “running away, and wanting their liquor and women.” This caravan passed through hostile territory.

This old magus says nothing about finally meeting the child Jesus and concludes his narrative, “We returned to our places, these kingdoms/ But no longer at ease…With an alien people clutching their gods/ I should be glad of another death.”

His encounter with the Christian God had left him alienated from his own people and the deities they worshiped. He had become a stranger in his own nation. An epiphany changes one’s life, but doesn’t necessarily bring comfort and joy.

John J. Dunphy’s books include From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois, Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois and Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials: The Investigative Work of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, 1945–1947.