Sarah Edmonds, our Area Dean, will lead the family service on 4th January at 11am.  We shall be celebrating the Epiphany, commemorating the visit of the wise men to Jesus.  They are known by different titles, but the fact that they had studied the stars does suggest that they were astrologers, wise men rather than kings.  Western tradition sets their number at three, probably based on the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh presented to the infant. Around the 8th century they were identified by name probably reflecting their lands of origin: Melchior hailed from Persia, Gaspar (also called “Caspar” or “Jaspar”) from India, and Balthazar from Arabia. Their gifts had special symbolic meanings as well: gold signified Jesus’ status as king; frankincense represented the infant’s identity as the Son of God; and myrrh touched upon Jesus’ mortality and suffering.  All this is brought together in the well-known and much-loved carol: We Three Kings.

In our nativity scenes, we tend to merge this event with the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke’s Gospel.  However, Matthew says that the wise men paid homage to Jesus ‘on entering the house’ – not stable, and the detail he gives leads us to conclude that up to two years could have passed between the visit of the shepherds and the visit of the magi.

The Eastern Orthodox tradition has twelve magi, and because the eastern churches use a different calendar from ours, Christmas and Epiphany are rolled into one great feast in early January.  Whatever your take on the details of the story, the important thing about Epiphany(meaning ‘revelation’) is that we celebrate because Jesus shows us in human terms what God is like.  He makes God accessible within the limitations of our understanding.

Blessings to you all and very best wishes for the year ahead.

God Bless.

George

Revd George Heighton

Email re********@*****ok.com

Telephone 01295 680 201