The Epiphany Season

Celebrated on the 6th January, Epiphany is one of the oldest Christian
festivals. In Australia, as in the entire Western Church, Epiphany falls on
the same day as the celebration of Christmas in the Russian Orthodox Church,
whose festivals are still determined by the old Julian Calendar, which is
twelve days behind the calendar that we use today.  The word "Epiphany"
means "appearance."  What is meant is the "appearance" of God's glory in
Jesus Christ.  "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen
His glory" (John 1:14).  The report of the homage paid to the newborn Child
by the wise men from the East, as recorded in Matthew 2:1-12, quickly gained
acceptance as the Gospel reading for this Festival, which folklore later
designated as "the day of the three kings," although in the Gospel reading
itself there is no mention of "three" or of "kings."  The Gospel describes
the coming of the first heathen or non-Jews to Jesus.  For this reason, the
theme of "mission" is closely associated with Epiphany. According to an
older lectionary, Epiphany was the only Festival with two Gospel readings:
the arrival of the wise men from the East, followed by the report of our
Lord's Baptism (Matthew 3:13-17). As we have it in our lectionary today,
however, the account of Jesus' Baptism is read on the first Sunday after
Epiphany, but because the Festival of the Epiphany is celebrated in most
congregations on the Sunday after January 6th, the danger is that the
Festival of our Lord's Baptism is hardly ever observed, if at all.  The
number of Sundays during Epiphany is determined each year by the date of
Easter. Should Easter be very early, it can happen that there are only four
Sundays after Epiphany.  In other years, when the Easter Festival falls
later in April, you could have up to eight Sundays after Epiphany.  The last
Sunday after Epiphany is always set aside for the celebration of our Lord's
Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9).  In this incident, too, we can observe the
appearance of our Lord's glory, which shines through all the Gospel readings
on these Sundays after Epiphany.

David Borgas