Homily for the Epiphany of the Lord, 2026

In the last line of the Gospel, Matthew gives us a spiritual path to follow “And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” In some ways, this was a dangerous move. In the verses following today’s Gospel, Matthew writes: “When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious.

I have Mass on Sunday, January 4 

at St. Isidore @ 7:30/9:30 am. the 7:30 am Mass is live-streamed https://stisidore.church/worship-online/

at St. Andrew @ 5:00 pm

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Transcript

a reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. 

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is the newborn King of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising, and have come to do him homage. When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet, And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, since from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel. 

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word that I too may go and do him homage. After their audience with the king, they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. 

The Gospel of the Lord 

The Magi are the first humans to speak in Matthew's Gospel, and their question sets the story in motion. Standing in front of the puppet king of Israel, they ask, where is the king? They are standing in the very midst of imperial power, but they are not controlled by that power. The political elite in Jerusalem, the chief priests and scribes, resist God's initiative, while those who are marginal and of little account participate in what God is doing. 

Matthew's Gospel intentionally sets up a collision between two kings, the newborn Jesus and the reigning Herod. St. Matthew's Gospel is contained in miniature, like Hamlet, there's a play within the play. Two responses are made to the Messiah, one in his infancy and later in his ministry. Some will believe and embrace, but others will reject and, of necessity, seek to crush, even to execute. 

Remember that Matthew writes to Jewish Christians, wanting them to understand that Christ is both the fulfillment of their faith and the radical openness of God to all people. Magi were originally members of the Median and Persian priestly caste, who were tasked to foretell the future, read omens, and interpret dreams. Matthew's Jewish Christian audience would remember that they competed with young Daniel to be advisors to the king of Babylon. 

In the book of Numbers, the king of the Moabites hires just such a seer, Balaam. to look upon the Israelites and to curse them. But each time he tries to do this, God commands Balaam to bless this people. In his final attempt, the seer is compelled to pronounce the coming of a great king of Israel. I see him, though not now. I observe him, though not near. A star shall advance from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel. Numbers chapter 24, verse 17. 

This has been our story from the very beginning. What could be lost on us is the story's implication that Jesus is the son of Abraham. Abraham, a Gentile like the Magi, was called to go forth from his country, his kinfolk, and his father's house. God promised Abraham that all the families of the earth will find blessing in you. The fulfillment of this promise is precisely what Matthew portrays in the coming of the Gentile Magi. 

God enters our lives in epiphanies, large and small. This hiddenness is a kind of divine signature. instead of showing forth conspicuously at, say, the Jerusalem temple or a Roman palace, God slips into the world by way of a poor family in a backwater town under the authoritarian thumb of Roman occupation. And instead of showing forth to a crowd of supposed insiders, God will be noticed first by strangers from another culture, another religion, wise ones from the East. God does indeed show forth, but in a hidden way. 

What is certain is that Herod often used religion as a cloak to hide his tyranny. Herod is the strong man. He was wealthy, politically ambitious, and successful. 

On the other hand, the king of the Jews, born in Bethlehem, is born to poor, ordinary people who are at the mercy of the other king. The king of the Jews will grow up to proclaim the coming of God's reign, A reign not of power and fear, maintained by bloodshed, but a reign of peace and justice. Jesus' life will end as he is proclaimed king of the Jews by the charges leveled against him by the Roman Empire. 

In the last line of the Gospel, Matthew gives us a spiritual path to follow. and having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. In some ways, this was a dangerous move. In the verses following today's Gospel, Matthew tells us, When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the Magi, he became furious. But true worship always redraws the map of our allegiances. The Magi understood that you cannot bow to Jesus and continue participating in systems that oppose God's kingdom. The two are incompatible. Jacques Ellul, the French philosopher, reminds us, "When Christians are powerful, they no longer need God." 

The prophet Isaiah shouts, "Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem. Your light has come. The glory of the Lord shines upon you." Isaiah is no optimist. He's not saying that tomorrow will be better. It's up to us to make it so. Isaiah makes his announcement while darkness covers the earth. Isaiah announces hope, even if tomorrow is worse. Hope trusts in the larger, longer future, and it's up to God, not us. Ours is, as our text puts it, to stand. 

This is the path of epiphany, then, the path of spiritual wisdom that trusts the light and follows it wherever it may lead. Christ is the ever-present light, beckoning from the many stars that allure us, leading us inward to the presence of God in our hearts and outward, that we too may offer our lives as gift for the life of the world.