A King for All
“See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.”Isaiah 60:2
On the feast of the Epiphany the Church celebrates the revelation of God to all the peoples. The three Magi or the “Wise Men” or the “Kings” followed a star they saw in the sky and traveled from the East to Bethlehem to see and meet the king to whom that star pointed. The Magi saw a sign, they discerned, and they followed. What a great act of humility on their part. Learned men with great respect and probably royalty too, saw a star, studied, and understood that something greater was happening, something that moved them to leave the comforts of their own countries, homes, and palaces to traverse through dangerous and uncertain terrain to meet not a king known already, a king whose reputation preceded himself, but rather a newborn king. A baby! They came all this way to see a helpless, vulnerable baby whose throne was a manger, the place where animals fed, and whose palace was a cave, a dirty, cold stable, and when they arrived, they neither complained nor judged, but rather they laid prostrate on the cold, dirty ground before this baby because they knew that He was the newborn king, of not only the Jews, but also for them, Gentiles. They knew that who was before them was the newborn King for all.
The pilgrimage of the Magi helped fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah will be worshipped by kings and also represented all Gentiles. The Magi approached Herod and asked where the “newborn king of the Jews” is to be found, they were told Bethlehem. When the Magi arrived, they realized that this newborn King was not just for Jews, but for Gentiles too, so they knelt, prostrated, and worshipped. At the beginning of their journey, they went to the local king, Herod and heeded his call to “go and search diligently for the child.” But after meeting the newborn King, it was not Herod’s word that they heeded (to bring him word on where Jesus was), but rather the call of the messenger of the newborn King, the true King, who in a dream told them to not return to Herod but rather leave another way. And so they did. It is Jesus’ authority now that bears weight. When we have come to encounter Jesus and His humble majesty and profound love and boundless mercy, our lives will never be the same again. We ought to drown out the voices of “other kings” and live our lives differently, and do so like the Magi, to journey by a different way, one led by the star of the newborn King and His Cross.
So, brothers and sisters, this journey of faith led the Magi to the One true God, and in response they worshipped and they left as pilgrims who have seen the Lord, and now His light shines upon them, and they have no need for the star to guide their way for the light of the Lord in their hearts now leads them. The clouds of hatred and despair has darkened our world, but His light still shines. No matter how much the Enemy may try to darken this world with the clouds of violence, selfishness, and death, if we have encountered the Lord, there is a light within us that can never be extinguished. When we come together as one, our light becomes one and can shine through the dark clouds, lighting the path for those who have yet come to know the Lord, so that they may come to encounter this newborn King and know and experience His love, He who was born for us all.
