Canon Robin Gibbons: The Epiphany of the Lord

Jan 5th, 2026

January 6th 2026

Familiarity with many of our Christmas carols and hymns might easily lull us into that rather comfortable state of joyful contentment. Memories of times past and people loved, our half awakened inner child still able to be partly excited at these days of festivity.

But the adult in us knows not everything is rosy, not all the stories finish in happy endings.

Some of our older carols hint at the darker side of the Christmas message, for instance the 16th century Coventry carol tells of the massacre of the Holy Innocents by Herod, part of the story of the Epiphany which occurs at the end of Matthew Chapter 2 where Herod furious at the 'deception' of the Magi, orders the massacre of the firstborn boys of two years old and under in Bethlehem and its vicinity.

The carol puts it this way:

'Herod the king, in his raging,
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight
All young children to slay'.

It is part of the bittersweet flavour of this feast, the star sheds light on good and evil deeds alike, and the Christ Child, so honoured by the Magi's worship and gifts is destined to grow up and be betrayed unto death on a cross in order that his gift to us of salvation may be discovered in the glorious light of the resurrection, for Christ is the Morning Star that never sets!

Do the Magi mean anything to us this day, this New Year? Perhaps far more than we may at first think, for they represent the unknown amongst us, those others who we regard as foreigners, other cultures we may not yet understand, with customs that are different-yet important for our own understanding of the world that is our home. The Magi represent indigenous peoples, deserving of our attention. They point to those who believe in ancient faiths before our own Christian tradition, or those that come after, that nevertheless reveal the unseen God and deserve our respect as our good Lord Jesus would command us to show.

This is not watering down our own truth, it is letting the diffused light of Christ shine into out hearts and minds, that we too may learn the wonders of God. But the Magi teach us other things too. One we need to be well aware of, is not to make our own the trappings of power and riches. In this story Herod stands for so much of what we still find in the political and business world of today, a place where the light of the truth is refracted, hidden by other illuminations, the lure of riches, the desire to make our mark, the arrogance of those who do not see the little ones, nor listen to their pleading, the wanton destruction of the fragile resources of our earth and its living creatures. The world of Herod is not to be ours say the Magi!

Perhaps one last aspect that we might discern in the Magi is the ecumenism of our own Catholic faith, by that I mean we need to re learn our Christian origins and appreciate firstly the richness of those Catholic Churches of the Orient whose traditions take us back to the teaching and experience of Jesus and the disciples, and whose living faith, though the same, is expressed in different ways, and secondly through them to experience the wider Orthodox and Oriental Churches.

They are the Magi too and offer us rich gifts, frankincense of liturgy and prayer, gold of their saints and myrrh of their martyrdom. May our gifts be as precious as theirs!

'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'.(Mt 2:9-11)

A Poem

Travellers in the night!

Gold fortunes held in boxes.

Scented incense tinged with myrrh.

Camels, tents and roped bound carpets,

Provisions of pomegranates, dates and wine.

All move silently, softly,

Mountain-desert bound.

Mysterious in their intent,

Those travellers in the night-

Eyes and hearts fixed

On the one thing necessary,