The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home
January 4, 2026 – The Epiphany of the Lord- Matthew 1:1-12
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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Like many I first learned about the three individuals who visited the infant Jesus as kings (from afar) who came to see and pay homage to the Christ child as the newborn future king of the Jews. Careful biblical scholarship has tried to gain a deeper understanding of this event and give us a more accurate understanding of the Epiphany.
First we have learned the visitors were “demoted” from being kings to a more accurate portrayal of their status as magi. Or to be honest, was this really a lowering of their status? We know, for example, that the Near East was a center of cultural, intellectual and scientific growth during the lifetime of Jesus. Some have described the magi as somewhat like astrologers or astronomers who studied the heavens to learn more about creation beyond what was known simply through common sense. They were trying to unlock some of the yet unknown secrets of its many mysteries. I would liken them to today’s scientists and cosmologists trying to decipher the mysteries of the universe through the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Why these magi sought their truth by traveling westward on the backs of camels remains somewhat problematic, but Matthew describes them as genuine seekers of what’s important in their world at the time. They also pay a major role in saving the Holy Family from a vicious Herod. Further, this allows a parallel scenario to be drawn in Jewish history. For just as Moses led the Jews from slavery in Egypt, so does Jesus come from Egypt to do much the same, only at a much deeper level of human life.
The Epiphany also locates the coming of the Christ as a cosmic event. Many, then as now, seek an understanding of human existence that transcends humanly-created boundaries and categories. They try to understand that there is no limit to God’s presence and activity. God is not present in a single place, or only among a particular populace.
Starting with the creation accounts in the Book of Genesis, we can cite many places in the Scriptures where there are attempts to explain the range of God’s presence and activity to the wider boundaries of not only earthly life, but even to the whole of the created universe. This expanded awareness and appreciation of God’s presence and purpose is there in Bethlehem, but it expands outward almost from the start when Joseph and Mary pack up their newborn and head for Egypt. Eventually they will be present where you and I and the other eight billion humans live. And who knows where else?
David M. Thomas, PhD