I’m sure you’ve heard and perhaps have even sung that old familiar children’s nursery rhyme:
Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are.
I’m sure the Magi (wise men) from the East that followed the star were wondering the same thing. Did the wise men know this was a special star or did they just follow it out of curiosity? Many of the early church fathers believe that the fourth book of the Pentateuch contains a prophecy of a Messianic star:
“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.” Numbers 24:17
Many of the God-fearing Jews that were deported to the east may have taken a copy of the Pentateuch with them or remembered some of the key passages and shared them with people in influential positions. Whether there is a connection between the wise men who followed the star, and this prophecy is not clear (this may only be conjecture), but the point is that God will use people and circumstances to carry out His mission and His plan of salvation. The season of Epiphany celebrates the “revelation of God” in Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. When the Gentile Magi came to worship Jesus, they showed that everyone has access to God.
All people who are walking without the knowledge of God’s plan of salvation, are walking in darkness. Yet we walk with hope, for: “The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who have dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined.” Isaiah 9:2 What a joy and privilege we have to reflect Christ’s light.
The light that Isaiah prophesied did appear, it was Jesus the “Dayspring from on high … (who) dispersed the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight” (LSB 357 verse 6). John in his Gospel says that,
“In Him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … (Jesus is) the true light, which enlightens everyone coming into the world.” John 1:4-5 & 9.
As a result of God’s grace, love, and mercy we have more than a casual friendship with other believers, we are all members of one Body. John in his first epistle writes, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.
This Epiphany season, as part of the Body of Christ, God gives us the opportunity to respond by reflecting Christ’s light into the world; “for at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” Ephesians 5:8. So, let His light shine in and through you this Epiphany.
Pastor Schuldheisz
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