Yesterday, we finished the official celebration of Christmas with the occurrence of Epiphany. That is celebrated January 6th each year and marks the time that it is believed the Wise Men first laid eyes on the baby Jesus. There is quite some debate about how many wise men there really were – by some accounts, there could have been as many as 300 magi and others who came to worship the Christ child in the manger.
Traditionally, we think of the three wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. While each of the gifts have some traditional meaning, this is usually looked over when celebrating Epiphany. The three gifts had a spiritual meaning: the first gift, gold, was a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) was considered a symbol of deity and the final gift, myrrh (an embalming oil), was a symbol of death. So you can see that even these gifts were a precursor to the roles and events that Jesus would have during his earthly life.
Most of us have also sung the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” The gifts described in the song are given during the period of Christmas to Epiphany. So, the twelfth day coincides with the celebration of Epiphany. It is also the day that many people take down their Christmas decorations.
While most of us remove our decorations before the twelfth day of Christmas, New Year’s Day has been the traditional day that Americans retire their holiday decor until the next Christmas season occurs. Interestingly, in many cultures, if decorations are not taken down on Epiphany, they must remain up until Candlemas, the 40th day after Christmas.
It was traditional that women who have birth to a son had to be isolated for a period of 40 days until they were considered “clean.” So the end of Epiphanytide occurs on Candlemas, the traditional date that marks the end of the Epiphany season. Now, to be sure, there are denominations that believe due to the virgin status of Mary that this period of isolation would not have applied to her.
One of the other things that is interesting about this time period is that some cultures believe that decorations must stay up until Candlemas if they haven’t been removed on Epiphany. And there are even cultures that believe that decorations stay up until the period of Lent. Candlemas occurs on February 2nd… The day of celebration marks the return of light into the world and is sometimes commemorated by the lighting of candles that signify light and joy.
Our verse for tonight is from the first Gospel, the book of Matthew. Matthew shares with us the story about the arrival of the wise men to worship Jesus. They had been sent by Herod to find the Christ child. We are told, in Matthew 2:9-11, “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
My encouragement this evening is that we are ending one season in the liturgical calendar and entering a time of what is referred to as Ordinary Time. This is a time to reflect between Christmas and the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. My prayer is that we will all use this time to deepen our relationship with the Jesus as we move on to the next season. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…