Christopher Campbell

‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’

Beloved in the Body of Christ,

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord to the Gentiles. This feast marks the end of the twelve days of Christmas, and is one of the most important feast days to Gentile Christians.

Epiphany is most well known as the time one traditionally takes down their Christmas decorations, and by today's Eucharistic reading: Matthew 2:1-12 (the visitation of the wise men).

However, what this feast day best represents is the significance of Christian faith within Jewish prophecy.

At the time of Christ's birth, the most common hope among the Jewish people was that the Messiah would be a political liberator; a king who would rise above other kings, and bring them to glory…

This is why, so often, Jesus is referred to as "King of the Jews."

But this was not what happened, and this is so rarely how modern Christians understand Jesus today.

As modern day Christians most of us are not Hebrew, and we can neither trace our lineage back to the twelve tribes of Israel, nor relate to most of the customs of the Jewish faith.

This is because we descend from the Gentiles: those who are not Jewish.

Today is the feast day in which we remember that God handed salvation, not just to His chosen people of Israel, but to us as well. Those who were not born to be of God's chosen people, but baptized into His mercy. Those who were not of the original faith, but redeemed by the witness of the coming of Emanuel.

On this day, two millennia ago, the three wise men came from the east, following a star, to give gifts to a god that they did not know. And upon seeing this child they did witness the one true God…

This is the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. And in his name we have hope.

May you live in Truth, Peace, and Love,

—Christ