I was somewhat surprised to receive, on January 6, a “gift from the Three Kings.” In our household we normally mark the twelfth day of Christmas only by packing away the decorations and sweeping up the needles from the drooping tree. No reading of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”, no touring Sternsinger or other mumming and wassailing.
Methodists should not, however, neglect the insights written into Matthew’s nativity narrative [ch. 2] of the visit of the magi to the infant Christ in Bethlehem. Making a long journey from the east following some celestial sign, they brought treasured gifts and offered homage fit for a king. These eastern Gentiles, like Luke’s Jewish shepherds, had somehow divined the special character of Jesus. Christ’s incarnation was not just for the Jews, but for the world: for us all.
In continental Europe, January 6 is celebrated nationally and even politically. After David Cameron’s recent defence of Britain as a Christian country, we might hear even more about Epiphany in future years. The card manufacturers might catch on to it too!
