HIDE AND SEEK
A few days ago churches around the world started a journey through a new, and often ignored, season in the Church Calendar. We celebrate the incarnation at Christmas, but we need to understand what it really means. The season that helps us to do this is called Epiphany – which means simply “to show” or “to reveal”.
Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th (or on Sunday January 3rd) and the season usually continues until Ash Wednesday. The biblical characters we meet all discover something of who Jesus really is – and take us along on the journey. From the Wise Men, to Jesus' mother at the wedding in Cana, to Jesus' proclamation of his mission in the synagogue (Luke 4), to the first disciples, to the transfiguration, we are invited to learn the truth about this Jesus.
But what is it that Epiphany teaches us? Here are a few highlights.
THE WORLD JESUS CAME FOR
The story of the Wise Men carries an important message. The first people to recognise who Jesus was were Gentiles – strangers from outside of God's chosen people. Their gifts reveal their understanding of Christ's person and work – Gold for Royalty, Incense (symbolising prayer) for Diety, and Myrrh (embalming fluid) for the Sacrifice Jesus would one day be. In these three gifts lie the essential meaning of the incarnation!
What Matthew seeks to impress on his Jewish readers, and on us, is that the Saviour came not just for a specific chosen group of people. Jesus came for the entire world, and all of its peoples – including these strange foreigners. In a nation still wrestling with xenophobia, we need to hear this story again.
THE JESUS WHO CAME TO THE WORLD
As we follow the rest of the Epiphany journey, we see this Jesus through the eyes of those around him. We see him as the one who brings joy through turning water to wine, enhancing a wedding celebration. We learn from his own mouth that he has come as the fulfilment of the Jubilee promise spoken through Isaiah to liberate, heal and restore. We see the impact he has on the first followers who cannot resist his call, and we are witnesses with his three closest friends of that moment of transfiguration that reveals the truth about Jesus – and of his self-sacrificing mission.
It's like a game of hide and seek – here a glimpse, there a sign, there a small piece of evidence – that leads us into a growing realisation that Jesus truly was God made flesh, and that this changes everything.
Our worship is the play ground for this game. If we will allow it, God will draw us into a journey of learning to see the signs, recognise the evidence and know the truth. And as we find the Jesus we seek, we will be changed, a little more each week, into those who reflect him to the world.
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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.