If we were strict in our interpretation of it, only Jews would celebrate Christmas Day. Shepherd folk, plying the trade of the twelve patriarchs and of King David, received an angelic message which promised peace (that is, security) to men God loved (that is, to Israel), tidings to them, and to all the (Chosen) People; “to, all people” is an inexcusable mistranslation. The Savior, the Christ to whose coming they looked forward, was to be a national Savior, a Davidic Ruler. They asked for no more.
Epiphany, that follows so confusingly on the heels of Christmas, is really a celebration of the same event. But God forbid that we should regard it as a distinction without a difference; this is where we poor miserable Gentiles come in. The word means what our ancestors called a manifestaÂtion, and we call a show-down.
Heaven, for once, shows its hand: the Divine purpose that is at work all the time behind the scenes of history gives itself away, as if by a faulty stage effect, and the light of eterÂnity shines through. It is used, sometimes, of our Lord’s SecÂond Coming, sometimes of his First; in the second chapter of Titus you will find it applied to both. But it is in the first chapter of Second Timothy that you must look for the locus classicus: “It was not because of anything we had done; we owe it to his own design…. Now it has come to light, since our Savior Jesus Christ came to enlighten us.” Not because of anything we had done, sacrifice offered or SabÂbath kept; it was for us Gentiles too. The glorious gift of salvation made at Bethlehem proved, when the wrappings of it were unwound, more glorious than we had dared to hope. We scanned the stars in search of omens and such Âlike fooleries; and for once a real message came through.
That mystery, which St. Paul revealed, that message which St. Paul preached, the emancipation of the Gentiles, has lost something of its thrill for us. We take it for granted now, that the Gospel is meant for all mankind; obviously, why shouldn’t it be? And, as is the way with men who take things for granted, we forget to pinch ourselves and go on asserting it.
Even in our own lives, how fond we are of making a litÂtle enclave, a little Bethlehem that just has head-room for our set, and leaving the rest of the world unshepherded! But Epiphany signals to us that all men have rights, have duties, are dear to Christ. We have seen his Star, and our sympathies must be no narrower than his Planet.