Anyone reading the gospels of Luke and Matthew will immediately notice that their accounts of Jesus’ birth are similar in some ways and different in others. The similarities include the virgin birth, the names of his parent(s and guardian) and his place of birth. The differences include the angelic annunciation (to Mary in Luke, to Joseph in Matthew) and the identity of the Christ child’s first visitors (shepherds in Luke, magi – wise men – in Matthew). The differences are relatively minor and are mostly easy to reconcile. It makes sense, for instance, that God would let both Mary and Joseph know about the birth into their household of the Messiah. Luke’s and Matthew’s annunciations complement each other.

The early church had an ingenious scheme for reconciling the respective visitations. The shepherds were local, and, as we read in Luke 2:16, they made haste and visited as soon as the angels left them. Reasoning that the magi (notice that Matthew doesn’t say there were 3 wise men, only 3 gifts) traveled a considerable distance, the church put their visit off a few days – until January 6 to be precise. Notice that the shepherds saw Jesus lying in the manger, but the magi “entered the house” (while Luke tells us that the holy family visited Joseph’s ancestral home of Bethlehem to be present for the Roman census, Matthew regards Bethlehem as the family home until after their “flight” to Egypt). Christmas is associated with Luke, and Epiphany is Matthew’s holiday.

Epiphany means “manifestation” (literally “shining around” in Greek), and it emphasizes the significance of Jesus’ birth for all people, Jew as well as Gentile. The visit of the Magi is the perfect Epiphany story, in as much as Gentiles are the first to visit the Christ child and acknowledge his messianic identity. The Epiphany season continues until Lent, with the Baptism of our Lord as the first Sunday after the feast of the Magi and the Transfiguration as the last. Our attention is drawn from the visit of the Wise Men through God’s acknowledgement of Jesus’ parentage in his baptism, continues in the call of the disciples and, in this year of Matthew, his magisterial preaching in the Sermon on the Mount. The season climaxes with God’s revelation to the inner circle of disciples in the Transfiguration. As Jesus grows (rapidly!) over the weeks of the Epiphany season, so grows the revelation.

Jesus’ true identity seems to unfold over the Sundays following Epiphany, but just as his divine majesty is revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration, we enter Lent and learn that his true greatness is found in suffering servanthood. This reminds us of the church year’s remarkable integrity: Christmas only makes sense in the wake of Advent, Easter’s resurrection is meaningless apart from Lent and Holy Week, and Epiphany effectively links Christmas with Lent. The point of all this, other than to review some biblical basics, is that there are no insignificant Sundays or seasons in the church year. While January 6 and the weeks following are called “Epiphany,” the revelation never ends. See you in church!

In Jesus’ name,



Pastor Robert M. Mountenay

*E-p-i-phan-ic / adj: of or having the character of an epiphany (Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1974.)