Hello,
Even though most Christmas pageants include the arrival of the Wisemen on the night of Jesus’ birth, the Biblical story does not have them arriving until sometime later. How much later? We don’t know, but to mark the span of time to their visit, Christians for centuries have celebrated the Wisemen’s arrival twelve days after Christmas, January 6th. There’s a name for this day, which is the day on which I am writing this Bungee Cord, and it is called “Epiphany”. “Epiphany” means “making known”, and it is on this day that Jesus is made known as the one whose saving grace extends to all people, because the wisemen were foreigners who were drawn to Jesus’ side.
Over the course of the centuries, much speculation has been placed upon the Wisemen. They have been given names. They have been designated to be different races. Their travel has been assigned to camels.
In fact, though, from the Biblical witness we don’t know any of these things. Truth is, we don’t know much at all about them. We don’t know exactly where they came from. We don’t know how many there were. We don’t know how they travelled. We don’t know exactly what they did for a living. We don’t know if they had good reputations or if their past was a bit checkered.
Other than the three types of gifts that they brought Jesus, the only thing that we really know about the Wisemen is that they were welcome at Jesus’ side.
To me, that is the most important thing to know about them, because if the Bible does not place any descriptive details upon those first visitor’s to Jesus, then I can be confident that there are no descriptive details placed upon me when I come to Jesus side. Nothing needed to be there. Nothing possessed that would keep me away. All we know about the Wisemen was that they …whoever, or whatever they were….were welcome at Jesus side, and so am I.
Somehow that message has gotten lost, and people hear of limiting conditions. If you struggle with believing in Jesus…if you have done something that the world has deemed absolutely shameful…if you are too busy to make time for Jesus in your daily lives…if you haven’t been to church for years, or decades…if you have a lot of money and you spend it all on yourself…if you have a temper that is hard to control…if you tend to gossip…if you are so confused in life about who you are………..on and on the list could go.
On occasion there has been someone walk into a church that I have been a pastor, and when they walk in, you can feel the astonishment and you can hear the whispering (neither one of which apparently happened when the Wisemen came into Jesus’ presence), “What is he/she doing here?” And when that person has taken a seat, you can see people making sure that they don’t sit to closely.
That is not what happened on the first Epiphany. Those Wisemen….no matter who or whatever they were…..were welcomed at Jesus side. That is why in every church that I have been in I have worked hard to overcome the limits and conditions that people may place upon those who wish to draw near to Jesus. After all, Jesus himself, didn’t just wait for outcasts (lepers, prostitutes, taxcollectors) to come to him…..he went to them!
I know that there are lots of churches who work hard to be Epiphany people, people who place no limits or conditions to be welcome at Jesus’ side. So, let me offer this Epiphany invitation…..no matter who you are…..no matter what you are….Jesus came to be with you, and you are welcome at his side!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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