Epiphany- Who are the Magi?
Isaiah 60: 1-6; Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3: 1-12; Matthew 2: 1-12 Epiphany is actually celebrated on January 6th, which is next Tuesday, but the Anglican Calendar has recommended us moving the celebration to today. Generally, that’s done so that we can talk about Epiphany on a Sunday when more of us are present, rather than expecting people to come for a service on Tuesday. … It’s a bit awkward because it cuts short our celebration of the 12 days of Christmas. We had a hint towards our Gospel reading last Sunday when we remembered the killing of the Holy Innocents, when we read about King Herod ordering the killing of the baby boys 2 years and under in and around Bethlehem, which cause the Holy Family to flee to Egypt. The arrival of the Magi was what alerted King Herod to the birth of a child that might be a rival for his throne. The Magi are mysterious. It seems likely that the Magi are Persian priest-sages. They would be involved in observation of the sky and the interpretat...