Ephesians 3:8 [1]
On this Epiphany Sunday, we hear the Apostle Paul describe his ministry as bringing “to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ”.
It is a beautiful description of the truth we celebrate on this day.
When the magi present their gifts to the Christ Child, we are pointed to “the boundless riches of Christ” - for the magi’s gifts proclaim the Christ and the rich blessings which flow from Him.
The words of the traditional Epiphany carol [2] suggest the meaning of the gifts:
Gold - “King for ever, ceasing never, over us all to reign”, for the kingdom brought by Christ is the rule and reign of God, and His kingdom never ends;
Incense - “owns a Deity night … worship Him, God Most High”, for Jesus Christ is God with us, the One who "is of one Being with the Father" [3];
Myrrh - “sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb”, for in the death and passion of Jesus, the eternal love of God is poured out for us, for our forgiveness.
In the words of the Apostle, here are “the boundless riches of Christ”; at Epiphany we behold “the astonishing and boundless treasures of grace” [4], which are ours in Christ.
That it is the magi - “wise men from the East” - who present the gifts which proclaim “the boundless riches of Christ” is also a cause for celebration.
The magi are Gentiles, not the descendants of Abraham, the one to whom God’s covenant promise was given; they are not of the children of Israel, the people called by the God of Abraham, Moses, and David, those to whom the prophets had been sent, those to whom God’s blessing had been promised.
Throughout the Old Testament, however, we glimpse in the visions of the prophets and the words of the psalms, another promise: that all nations, the Gentiles, would be brought to know the covenant blessing of God, first given to Israel.
This is what is fulfilled, through Christ, in the New Testament. And so the Apostle Paul, one of the central voices heard in the pages of the New Testament, says that his ministry is “to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ”.
How fitting it is, then, that the New Testament opens with the account in the Gospel according to Matthew of the magi - Gentiles like us - bowing before the Christ Child, presenting gifts which speak of the “boundless riches” found in Him.
As the Christmas season draws to a close, the Epiphany - the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles [5], to all peoples - wondrously sets before us the Incarnate Word, the Christ Child, as the One who is - as we heard in the Christmas Gospel - “full of grace and truth” for us all: these “boundless riches” that are for all, through faith in Christ.
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[1] From the Epistle reading (Ephesians 3:1-12) appointed for the Epiphany. The lectionary in BCP 2004 permits the use of the Epiphany readings when 2nd-5th January is a Sunday.
[2] 'We Three Kings of Orient are', Church Hymnal no.201.
[3] Nicene Creed, Holy Communion Two.
[4] From Calvin's commentary on Ephesians 3:8 - "By the unsearchable riches of Christ are meant the astonishing and boundless treasures of grace, which God had suddenly and unexpectedly bestowed on the Gentiles".
[5] The secondary title given to the Epiphany in BCP 1662/1926; it is unfortunately omitted from BCP 2004.
The picture is Harry Clarke’s 'Nativity and Adoration of the Magi' in St Barrahane’s Church of Ireland, Castletownshend, Cork.
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