The word “Epiphany” means manifestation or revelation. It usually refers to something unknown or hidden which is suddenly revealed. Someone is surprised by some new discovery about life that changes the way he or she views the meaning of things. The appearance of the Wise Men at the stable is one of those moments. In contrast to the shepherds who were Jewish and poor, the Wise men were rich and Gentile. Their appearance would have been shocking to most of the people of the day. Who would ever had thought that the Messiah had come for all people, all nations, not only the people of Israel? Who would have imagined that God intended His salvation for all nations, for all races of every age? Who would have previously understood that God calls us to be brothers and sisters of every other person whom He loves equally with us? The calling of the Magi to the manger reveals this clearly and it is something that Christ lives out during His ministry. When He heals the Canaanite women or heals the servant of the Roman centurion He shows God’s love for all and invites us to do the same. In a year in our country when hate crimes have dramatically risen against Black, Asians, Jewish and other similar peoples, it is necessary for us to see them as the Lord sees them, His children equally with us. The epiphany is that each one of us is called to the stable to behold our salvation and, receiving it, to treat everyone else called there-and that means absolutely every other person–with dignity as a child of God.
