Thursday, January 6, 2005
Epiphany Day
Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.
FIT FOR A KING
Our daughter is almost two years old and it was a lot of fun watching her open presents on Christmas Eve this past year. She scattered shreds of wrapping paper throughout the living room. I enjoyed shopping for her too, but when I walked the aisles at the store I found myself especially drawn to the toys that I remembered as a child. Sometimes those toys weren't the best choices-- at least not yet. With my wife one day I spied a large set of Tinkertoys on the shelf. "Excellent!" I said. "We've got to get her these!" To which I received the answer, "She's only 20 months old and I'm not going to be pulling Tinkertoys out of her nose this Christmas." Disappointed, I too had to admit that she really wasn't ready to receive such a gift.
When the wise men visited baby Jesus, they brought gifts. They brought gold, incense, and myrrh. Was he ready to receive such gifts? After all, these were gifts fit for a king and Mary cuddled but a little Child in her arms those days. Maybe the wise men should have waited with their gifts until such a time as the young boy could really appreciate them.
Yet Jesus was ready even then to receive gifts fit for a king, wasn't He? Even in His mother's womb the angel had said, "He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end" (Lk 1:33). The magi didn't bring their gifts too soon, nor did they bring inappropriate gifts. Jesus was a king from His very conception; born to reign in our hearts forever; born to do exactly what good kings do-- to protect and defend His people. How indeed He carries out these kingly activities, guarding and defending us not just from earthly enemies, but from the spiritual forces of the devil Himself! Look how He truly defended His subjects with His very life!
"All this that I should be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness; even has He is risen from death, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true." 