On Epiphany: a reminder of tolerance and diversity
On 6 January 2019, the Christian Church celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany celebrates the journey of the wise men, or Magi, from the East to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus, to offer gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Prior to the 19th century, the Epiphany was more celebrated than Christmas Day. Today, many countries, communities and traditions continue to focus on Epiphany, rather than 25 December. Here in the UK, our focus has shifted to the 25 December, but Epiphany represents a message of equality that is more timely than ever.
A message of equality
The Feast of the Epiphany is inclusive. It is a celebration for people of every race and nationality, because the Magi represent God’s people throughout the world.
The message of Epiphany is that there are no outsiders in God’s family: shepherds or kings, people from East or West, homeless or palace-dweller, different races, nationalities, colours or religions – no foreigners, no strangers, only children – brothers and sisters – each of us made in the image and likeness of God, and God, being born in the image of our humanity, embraces all. So, for all of us this is something to celebrate.
A message for today’s world
Epiphany challenges us to examine how far we reflect tolerance and acceptance of ‘difference’ in our own lives.
We are lucky to work and study in a relatively tolerant and liberal democracy. Through our Mary Ward characteristics in school, we highlight ‘celebrating diversity’ but are we always genuine, conscious and committed when it comes to giving all people the honour and respect they are due as children of God, or, if you prefer, children of the human family.
It is easy to fall into talking about “them” or “they”, categorising types – even if in general we are very tolerant and accepting. Epiphany reminds us that tolerance is too easy if we are only willing to be tolerant and welcoming of people who are like us!
The story of the Magi
The gospel of Matthew tells us that the Magi (wise men) travelled from the East braving hardships of a long journey into unknown lands to follow the star to Jerusalem. They were then directed to Bethlehem by King Herod who asked them to return to tell him when they finally found the child.
“Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And suddenly the star they had seen rising went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
The Magi were not Jews like Jesus’ people, nor members of a religion anything like Judaism. They represent people of all races, cultures, religions and non-religious people who are searching for meaning and for truth. In the story they encounter Jesus and his parents and recognise that, in Jesus, they have found what they were looking for.
Different threads
Just as the story of the Magi brings a message of diversity, it is important to appreciate that the story itself is different around the world.
In the bible, the gospel of Matthew, talks about wise men or kings bringing three gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh – so perhaps that is why in our nativity scenes, and plays we usually include three kings. However, there are other traditions within Christianity.
Syriac Christians, living and worshipping in parts of Turkey and Syria and the Middle East, have a language and a script which is similar to Aramaic which, at the time of Jesus, was spoken across the Middle East. The Syriac Christians of south east Turkey have variations on the wise men theme: St Jacob refers to 12 kings. St Michael the Syrian names 11 kings: Dahdandur; Shuf; Arshak; Zarwand; Aryo; Artahshasht; Ashtanbuzan; Mahduq; Ahshiresh; Sardanh; and a second Marduk.
The names for the three wise men, which are not in the gospels but with which some of us may be familiar - Melchior, Balthasar and Caspar – seem to belong to a different and possibly later tradition.
There is another legend told in southern Turkey about an important star appearing in the night sky just over 2000 years ago, after which twelve kings from the East gathered at the ancient town of Hah, before three of them were delegated to continue to Jerusalem and then Bethlehem where they gave the three gifts and received, in return, a piece of Jesus’ swaddling clothes as a souvenir, about which there is a further strange legend, but that’s for another time perhaps.
If these different legends are inconsistent or seem far-fetched, why do they continue to be important in the calendar of all Christian communities today? The answer is that Epiphany celebrates the belief that Jesus is for and revealed to all people.
Themes of tolerance, diversity and understanding continue to shape our society. As the Nobel Laureate and former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, recently reflected:
“When we are very young and sit down with a bunch of crayons to draw a picture of our family, mum might be purple, dad orange, and grandma blue with a green Mohican. They may look a little garish, but they exude love, compassion, inter-dependence, dignity and security. The sun is shining, large flowers are blooming; perhaps there’s a rainbow in the sky. This is the human family, God’s family; God carriers made for goodness – all of us.
"As we grow and are exposed to prejudice, pride, greed and envy, the picture changes. We disavow our inter-dependence and common humanity, and become increasingly conscious of perceived differences, superiorities and inferiorities. In this distorted context discrimination becomes justifiable, and the irrational becomes rational. We become fearful and mistrustful of members of our family who don't look like us, dress like us, worship like us.
"In the Book of Matthew, Jesus is asked which of the commandments is the most important of all. Jesus responds that the first and greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbour as you love yourself ... the essence of our humanity is more powerful than prejudice and when we invest in loving our neighbours, in hearing their voices and upholding their dignity, we are investing in God and in a secure co-existence for us all.”
"... the essence of our humanity is more powerful than prejudice and when we invest in loving our neighbours, in hearing their voices and upholding their dignity, we are investing in God and in a secure co-existence for us all." Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate and Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town
- Daniel Bennett, Head of Religious Education and Director of Christian Life