The Gift of Purpose in Life

Van Der Goes' Adoration of the Magi

Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Epiphany, the showing forth of the divinity of the child Jesus to the magi. We really don’t know who they were: wise men, astrologers or spice traders. All we know is that they were non-Jews who, guided by a mysterious star and a sudden illumination of wisdom, came from far away to pay homage to this Jewish child named Jesus.

The word of God from Isaiah takes us back to the 6th century before Jesus. The author speaks about a new Jerusalem. A divine light will emanate and all people will acknowledge and walk by this light. Christians see Jesus as this light.

In the Gospel according to Matthew, we have all the ingredients of a great story:  exotic visitors, a wicked king, court intrigue, a mysterious star, precious gifts, a new child.

The magi give homage with gold, frankincense and myrrh, highly symbolic gifts about the identity of this child. Gold can symbolize kingship or divinity, the things of God; and the coin of this child’s heavenly realm are virtues of compassion, responsibility, friendship, courage, perseverance, faith in God.

Frankincense with its wonderful fragrance and medicinal magic can symbolize healing, and this child came to heal our wounds and bridge the chasm that separates us from God and one another. We too are called to be healers.

Myrrh or ointment can symbolize a burial embalmment, and this child through his dying/rising re-established our relationship with God and made us co-heirs to God’s promise of eternal life.

The early Christian community saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the hopes of ancient Israel. So they called him the Messiah, the anointed one. But the more they reflected, the more they saw Jesus not only as the fulfillment but the foundation. And so they named him the eternal Word. The Gospel according to John captures this magnificently: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh.

Jesus was flesh and blood like ourselves. He was a rabbi, a teacher, a prophet preaching that the kingdom of God was breaking into our lives.

Jesus proclaimed that good ultimately will triumph over evil; he possessed authority to forgive wrongdoings; he promised eternal life. He had a unique relationship with the God of Ancient Israel; he was one with God; he was crucified and then raised up from the dead; the living Christ is alive in our midst; and we are alive with his grace and favor.

Jesus taught that we can participate in this kingdom by living a life of discipleship. So I invite all of us to ask him to grace us anew at the beginning of this new year, so that we might manifest ever more deeply the glory of God in our everyday lives and behavior.