Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
SOLEMNITY OF THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD (ABC)
Readings:
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-2, ,
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), and LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
The two Testaments reveal God's divine plan for humanity; therefore, we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
"The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God, and Savior of the world. The great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (Magi) from the East, together with His baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. In the Magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. The Magi's coming to Jerusalem to pay homage to the King of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations. Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship Him as the Son of God and Savior of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. The Epiphany shows that 'the full number of the nations' now takes its 'place in the family of the patriarchs,' and acquires Israelitica dignitas (is made 'worthy of the heritage of Israel')." CCC 528 (quoting from St. Leo the Great, Sermo 3 in epiphania Domini 1-3, 5).
The Theme of the Readings: The Universal Royal
Messiahship of Jesus Christ
The United States and Canada celebrate the Solemnity of the
Epiphany on the Sunday after the Christmas Octave; therefore, it always falls
between January 2nd and 8th. However, other countries
celebrate the Solemnity on the ancient traditional date of January 6th.
"Epiphany" means "appearance, revelation, or manifestation." Today's feast celebrates the first of three joyful wonders that signified Jesus's identity as the long-awaited Messiah. The first epiphany was the visit of the Magi. They followed a star from the East to find the King of the universe to give Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (the Gospel Reading). The second was Jesus's baptism in the Jordan River and the first revelation of the Divine Trinity: God the Holy Spirit descended over God the Son in the form of a dove, and the divine voice of God the Father spoke from Heaven. The third revelation occurred at the wedding feast at Cana when Jesus turned water into wine in His first miracle. In the Gospel accounts of these three epiphanies, we learn that God appears in creation to move forward His divine plan. He reveals Himself as a guiding star, as a dove accompanied by a voice from Heaven, and in the gift of wine that miraculously came from stone water jars to prefigure the miracle of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
In the First Reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the symbolism of light dramatizes humanity's hope of God appearing to a world darkened by sin. The passage looks forward in time to Jesus Christ, "the Light of the world," He who drives out the darkness of sin and death (Jn 1:5; 8:12). He is a divine "Light" shining in the darkness prophesied by God's holy prophets.
The Response Psalm response prepares us for the Gospel account of the visit of the Gentile Magi, promising: "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you." In remembering the Magi's journey and their adoration of the Christ-child, we celebrate the Christmas mystery of the manifestation (epiphany) of the universal dominion of the newborn King of kings. In that event, God became visible, clothed in human flesh, to the Magi, who were the first Gentiles from among "the nations" to worship Christ.
In our Second Reading, St. Paul wrote about the mystery of God's plan to deliver Gentiles and Jews through Christ's work of redemption. He told the Ephesian Christians that implementing that plan to bring the Gentiles to salvation began with the Gospel message delivered by Jesus's Apostles and disciples (Acts 8:26-38 and 10:1-48). However, Paul also wrote that Jesus specifically gave the Gospel message of salvation to him to deliver to the Gentiles as his life's mission at the time of his conversion experience (Acts 9:15).
In the Gospel Reading, the gifts the Magi gave the Christ-child had cultural and theological significance. They prostrated themselves in adoration, giving Jesus gifts of gold (a gift fit for a king), frankincense (incense used in worship and offered by priests), and myrrh (an aromatic spice produced from the gum resin of certain bushes or trees used in the preparation of the dead). The Magi were the first Gentiles to respond to God's call to the Gentile nations to come to salvation through Christ Jesus. The Gentile Magi, who sought out the Christ-child, as opposed to Herod's chief priests who made no effort to find Him, is a precursor to the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish religious leaders and the acceptance of Jesus's message of salvation by the Gentiles.
Jesus Christ, "the Light of the world" (John 8:12), gave a mission to His disciples in every generation when He called them to become a reflection of His "light" by sharing His Gospel of salvation to illuminate the lives of others. May the Holy Spirit instill this mission in you, and may the Church's prayer at the beginning of the Mass be manifest in your life and the life of your faith community: "Father, You revealed your Son to the nations by the guidance of a star. Lead us to Your glory in Heaven by the light of faith. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen."
The First Reading Isaiah 60:1-6 ~ The Glory of God's Church
1 Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth, and
thick clouds cover the peoples, but upon you, the LORD shines, and over you
appears his glory. 3 Nations shall walk by your light and kings by your shining
radiance. 4 Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. 5 Then
you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for
the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations
shall be brought to you. 6 Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from
Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and
proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
The prophecies in Isaiah 60:1-64:11 focus on the restoration of Jerusalem. In its renewal, Jerusalem will become the dwelling place of the glory of the Lord from which all nations will hear the news of God's universal gift of salvation. The most remarkable feature of the restored Jerusalem will be her radiance, mentioned in verses 1-3 at the beginning of the poem and repeated at the end (verses 19-22). The radiance comes from the glory of God.
The Church Fathers saw the Magi's gifts and adoration of the Christ-child as a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in verse 6: Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD. As the Gentile Magi beheld the Christ-child, They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Mt 2:11).
The Church sees the symbols of her universality in Isaiah's prophecy. The nations of the earth will come on pilgrimage to the Church from the east and west. They will bring frankincense for worshipping the One True God and gold as a gift for Christ the King and His Kingdom of the Church that carries on His earthly mission of mercy, comfort, and forgiveness until His return.
There are also eschatological overtones in the First Reading that point to the heavenly Jerusalem at the end of time, which St. John described in the Book of Revelation (see Rev 21:9-27 and Rev22:5). Some of the wording is virtually the same; for example, from our reading, compare Isaiah 60:3 with Revelation 21:24.
| Isaiah 60:3 | Revelation 21:24 |
| 60:3 Nations shall walk by your light and kings by your shining radiance. |
|
We can also compare other verses from Isaiah 60 that are not in our reading with passages in the Book of Revelation. For example, compare Isaiah 60:11 with Revelation 21:25-26 and Isaiah 60:14 with Revelation 3:9. Also, compare Isaiah 60:19 with Revelation 21:23 and 22:5. In the final chapter of the Book of Isaiah, God unites the hope for the restoration of the Jerusalem Temple after the Babylonian exile with the promise of the gift of universal salvation. The "good news" (Gospel) of God's gift of universal salvation through Christ Jesus became the focus of the early Christians in their mission to fulfill Old Testament prophecy by carrying the Gospel of salvation to all the nations on earth.
The promise of universal salvation is in continuity with our hopes in the Church today. The Church's mission is to reach every corner of the earth with Christ's message of eternal salvation before His Second Advent. His return will bring about the end of the Messianic Era and the end of the opportunity for repentance and conversion before the Last Judgment and the creation of a new Heaven and earth (Rev 21:1). At the time of Christ's glorious return, Heaven and earth will dissolve in fire (2 Pt 3:10, 13). Then people will see the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Rev 21:2). The new Jerusalem, described in Revelation 21:2, is the Church, the Bride of Christ, which will come down from Heaven as a city that does not need sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was (Christ) the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and to it, the kings of the earth will bring their treasure (Rev 21:23-24). All God's Covenant people, past, present, and future, look forward with hope for the realization of this radiant image of the Church as their home at the end of time.
Responsorial Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13 ~ The Promise of
the Messiah-King
The response is: "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you."
1 O God, with your judgment, endow the king, and with your
justice, the king's son; 2 he shall govern your people with justice and your
afflicted ones with judgment.
Response:
7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace,
till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to
the ends of the earth.
Response:
10 The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. 11 All kings shall pay him
homage, all nations shall serve him.
Response:
12 For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and
the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the
lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.
Response:
The superscription attributes this psalm to King Solomon, son of David. However, verse 20 identifies it as The end of the psalm of David, son of Jesse. This identification only means that the psalm is the end of the collection of Davidic psalms running from Psalm 51 to Psalm 72, and it is different from the first collection of Davidic psalms in Psalms 3-41. Psalm 72 is a royal psalm in which the king, as a representative of God, is the instrument of divine justice (verses 1-4 and 12-14) and a blessing for his people and the world (verses 5-7, 15-17). He prays for wisdom in judging his people with justice and requests the same for the royal heir who will succeed him (verses 2-13). "Justice" and "righteousness" are attributes connected with the saving power of God (see Ps 9:4, 7; 19:9; etc.).
8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the
ends of the earth. [...] 10 The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer
gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. 11 All kings shall pay
him homage, all nations shall serve him.
God's religious representatives to the people were His high priests.
However, Yahweh intended that the kings of the House of David serve as His
civil representatives and the image of divine justice to the world. It was a
dynastic kingship that God promised David would endure forever, with each
Davidic king recognized as a "son" of God (see the promise of the Davidic Covenant
in 2 Sam 7:11-16; a href ="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2samuel/23?5">23:5). All nations, writes the psalmist, must give homage to
God's kingly representative endowed with the righteousness of God. The psalmist
lists the boundaries of the world as he knew it: from the Mediterranean Sea in
the West to the Persian Gulf in the East and from the Euphrates River in the
north (referred to as "the river" in verse 8) to the islands and lands of
southwestern Europe (called "the ends of the earth").
12 For he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. 13 He shall have pity for the
lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.
Verses 12-13 describe the future Davidic king as a
King-Messiah. Endowed with the righteousness of God, he will have compassion
for the poor and the afflicted and will save their lives. All nations will recognize
the King-Messiah's righteousness. They will acknowledge Him and serve Him
(verse 11) because He brings deliverance to all the oppressed of the earth.
The books of the prophets and Jewish tradition identify this ideal Davidic king as the Redeemer-Messiah (i.e., Is 9:1-6; 11:10; Jer 23:5; 30:9; Ezek 34:23; 37:24). Christian tradition interprets the verses from this psalm as a prophecy pointing to Jesus of Nazareth (Mt 1:1; Lk 1:31-32). The Church sees the fulfillment of this passage (especially verses 10-11) manifested in the Magi's arrival and their adoration of the Christ-child (see Mt 2:1-12). The Fathers of the Church also saw fulfillment in Jesus's compassion for the afflicted (verses 12-13) and the universal reach of the salvation Jesus brought as the King-Messiah. St. Peter affirmed Jesus as the Davidic King-Messiah in his homily at Pentecost AD 30 (Acts 2:25-36). Of David, he said: "But since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah" (Acts 2:30). And Pope St. Leo the Great wrote in his encyclical on the birth of Christ: "On this day, too, David prophesies in the psalm when he says: All people will come to prostrate themselves before you, Lord; they will bless your name, and also, The Lord makes his victory known and reveals his justice to all the nations. We know this came to pass when the three wise kings, called forth from a distant country, were led by a star to see and worship the King of Heaven and earth. The docility of those wise men who followed in the wake of the star gives a model of obedience to us, so that amid all the possibilities open to us, we may be servants of the grace that draws all men to Christ" (St. Leo the Great, In Nativitate Domini, 3).
The Second Reading Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 ~ The Good News
of God's Universal Gift of Salvation
2 You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was
given to me for your benefit, 3 namely, that the mystery was made known to me
by revelation. [...] 5 It was not made known to people in other generations as it
has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit 6 that
the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise
in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
The mystery (verse 3) was God's divine plan to deliver Gentiles, along with old covenant Israel, through Christ's redemptive work, a divine plan hidden from old covenant Israel. The resurrected Christ specifically gave St. Paul the mission to implement the plan to bring salvation to the Gentiles at his conversion (Acts 9:15). Later, it was confirmed by St. Peter and the Apostles (Gal 2:7-9).
5b it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit 6 that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same
body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
The Church affirmed the equality of the Gentiles as coheirs
with Jewish Christians at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15. St.
Peter addressed the council and said of the Gentiles: "My brothers, you are
well aware that from early days God made his choice among you that through my
mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe. And God, who
knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit just as he did
us. He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith, he purified their
hearts" (Acts 15:7b-9). At the Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles and early
leaders of the Church recognized the fulfillment of God's promised gift of universal
salvation, prophesied by the prophets like Isaiah in our first reading, and
carried out in the work of the earthly Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12 ~ The Gentiles Come Bearing
Gifts to Christ the King
1 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days
of King Herod, behold, magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying,
"Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have
come to do him homage." 3 When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes
of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They
said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the
prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the
rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people
Israel." 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the
time of the star's appearance. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and
search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I
too may go and do him homage." 9 After their audience with the king, they set
out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until
it came and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 They were overjoyed
at seeing the star, 11 and on entering the house, they saw the child with Mary,
his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then, they opened
their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And
having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their
country by another way.
Bethlehem was a village about five miles south of Jerusalem. Shepherds kept the herds of the Tamid lambs for the twice-daily liturgical worship service and sacrifice in the fields between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It was also the birthplace of King David and where the prophet Samuel anointed David as God's future King-Messiah of Israel (1 Sam 16:1-13). Matthew's announcement that Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Mt 2:1) establishes Him as the "new David" sent to fulfill the prophecy of the prophet Micah (see 1 Sam 6:1, 10-13; Mic 5:1). How perfect it was that Jesus, the "Living Bread," should be born and laid in a feeding trough in the village whose name meant "house/place of bread."
At the time of Jesus's birth, Judah (renamed Judea) was a vassal state of the Romans and ruled by a Roman ally, an Idumaean (descendant of Esau, Jacob/Israel's elder brother) named Herod. Sometime after Jesus's birth, the Magi from the East, following an unusually bright star, arrived in Jerusalem. In profane Greek, the word Magi [magos] referred to members of the Persian priestly caste who believed they possessed knowledge revealed in the movement of the stars and planets. It was a common belief in ancient times among Gentile peoples that the stars determined the destiny of men, and the appearance of certain celestial phenomena signaled the birth or death of kings.
The Magi believed the new star they observed fulfilled a Jewish prophecy foretelling a king's birth. The Jews lived in exile in Persia for 70 years after the Babylonian conquest (2 Chron 36:21-22; Jer 25:11-13; 29:10). During that time, the prophecies concerning the promise of the Davidic Messiah may have become known to them. They must have connected those prophecies of a star/ruler advancing over Jacob/Israel to the new star they followed to Judea. The star the Magi followed could not have been a natural star or planet because it did not rise and set like ordinary stars and planets. Instead, it led them on their journey to a specific destination.
Matthew's telling of the story of the Magi recalls several Old Testament prophecies:
The prophecy that involved a future king and a "star" in Scripture was the prophecy of the Aramaean prophet Balaam before the conquest of Canaan who, inspired by the Spirit of God, said: "I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel, that shall smite the brows of Moab, and the skulls of all the Shuthites, till Edom is dispossessed, and no fugitive is left in Seir. Israel shall do valiantly, and Jacob shall overcome his foes" (Num 24:17-19 NJB). The prophecy of the future ruler, who was "a star" advancing "from Jacob" (Num 24:17), is undoubtedly fulfilled in the kingship of David (c. 1010-970 BC). However, many Church Fathers maintained the prophecy was only partially fulfilled in David but wholly fulfilled in Jesus, son of David (Mt 1:1), who is the star/ruler in the Balaam prophecy, just as He is also the "staff from Israel" (Num 24:17 and Is 11:1).
The Magi innocently decided the best place to find the new king was in the current King of Judea's household. King Herod was understandably shaken and called in the chief priests and scribes to tell him what Sacred Scripture recorded about the Messiah's birth. The restrictions of the Law for a legitimate king of Israel undoubtedly made Herod uneasy. According to the Law, only an ethnic Israelite could rule Israel (Dt 17:14-15), but Herod was an Idumaean, a descendant of Esau of Edom. It was for this reason that most Jews regarded Herod as an illegitimate king. Herod also would not have missed the fact that the Balaam prophecy predicted the dissolution of Edom, a troubling prediction for Herod the Edomite/Idumaean.
The priests informed King Herod that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judah, King David's hometown. They quoted from verse 1 of the prophecy of the Messiah in Micah 5:1-4a: They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel" (Mt 2:5-6). They probably also told Herod that the Messiah, like his ancestor David, would be a "shepherd" to His people (Mic 5:3).
The prophecy describing the Messiah as the "shepherd" of His people is significant since, in the symbolic imagery of the ancient Near East, "shepherd" was a synonym for "ruler" or "leader" (2 Sam 5:1-3). God told the 6th-century BC prophet Ezekiel to speak against the "shepherds" of Israel, the kings and elders who failed to lead the people in righteousness. In Ezekiel 34:10-31, Yahweh promised to come against Israel's priests who had "scattered the flock": I myself will look after and tend my sheep ... bringing them back from foreign lands where they have been scattered (Ezek 34:11-16; underlining words referring to God added for emphasis). The prophecy continues: I will appoint one shepherd over them to pasture them, my servant David; he shall pasture them and be their shepherd (Ezek 34:23), identifying the future Messiah as a descendant of the Shepherd-King David who was born in the town of Bethlehem (1 Sam 16:19; 2 Sam 5:1-3).
Herod's response to the report was to question the Magi to determine when they first saw the star. Then, pretending he also wanted to do homage to the new king, Herod asked the Magi to tell him when they discovered the new king in Bethlehem. The Magi found the child (Greek = paidion) Jesus (not the infant) living with Joseph and Mary in a house (Greek = oikia) in Bethlehem and not in a stable. There is no discrepancy between Matthew's account and Luke's story of the birth of Jesus. At least a year passed since Jesus was born, and the Holy Family moved from their temporary shelter into a house in the village. This is why Herod ordered his soldiers to murder all male children from infants up to two years old (Mt 2:16).
The gifts the Magi gave the Christ-child had cultural and theological significance. They prostrated themselves in adoration, giving the Christ-child the gifts of gold (a gift fit for a king), frankincense (incense used in worship and offered by priests), and myrrh (an aromatic spice produced from the gum resin of certain bushes or trees used in the preparation of the dead). The Magi were the first Gentiles to respond to God's call to the Gentile nations to come to salvation through Jesus Christ. The story of the Gentile Magi, who sought out Christ, as opposed to Herod's chief priests who made no effort to find Him, is a precursor to Jesus's rejection by many of His people, the Jews, and the acceptance of His message of salvation by the Gentiles.
12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to
Herod, they departed for their country by another way.
The angel told the Magi to avoid Herod and to return to
their home by another route. We must also take this advice to heart by avoiding
those who present themselves as a hindrance to our faith or our mission to
honor Christ and spread His Gospel message of salvation to the ends of the
earth (Mt 28:19-20).
Catechism References (* indicated Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 (CCC 1066*)
Matthew 2:1-12 (CCC 486*); 2:1 (CCC 528); 2:2 (CCC 439*, 528); 2:4-6 (CCC 528*); 2:11 (CCC 724*); 2:13-18 (CCC 530*); 2:13 (CCC 333*); 2:15 (CCC 530*)
Christ the light of the nations (CCC 280*, 529*, 748*, 1165*, 2466*, 2515)
The Church: the sacrament of human unity (CCC 60*, 442*, 674*, 755*, 767*, 774, 775*, 776, 781*, 831*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2013; revised 2022, revised 2023 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.