What is Epiphany Worship? 12 Days?

How do Epiphany and worship go together?

Let’s start with Epiphany’s definition:

The word epiphany comes from a Greek word that means “to manifest” or “to show,” and on this date the church has traditionally commemorated the visit of the magi and the “epiphany.” What epiphany?

God’s manifestation to the Gentiles. God showed himself in the person of Christ to the Gentiles. That’s what that holiday is all about.

Crossway.org

And worship?

“The Greek verb is proskenein, and that word is never used of anything but worship of the gods; it always describes a man’s feeling and action in presence of the divine.”

William Barclay, as quoted by David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary–Matthew 8

The Magi and Epiphany Worship

In the western Christian church, we celebrate Epiphany on January 6, or twelve days after Christmas.

In some places, folks refer to Epiphany as “Three Kings Day.”

Obviously, it commemorates the magi visiting baby Jesus–probably when he was about two years old.

Were there really three kings? Did they really traverse from afar? Why?

I wrote about the reasons here.

Obviously, God captured their intellect, their imagination, and their knowledge to send them on a mission.

They didn’t rest, they dodged complications, and kept going.

The Messiah beckoned to them. They wanted to know. They wanted to worship Him–whether they knew why or not.

Honest intellectuals and brilliantly curious–they found their Messiah.

(And cherished Him enough to defy the ruling authorities not to betray Him before returning home).

The 12 Days of Christmas Song= Epiphany Worship?

Yes. What a surprise–but, again, the work of people determined to worship Jesus.

According to Steve Patterson in CourageousChristianFather.com:

From 1558 until 1829 Roman Catholics in England were not allowed to practice their faith openly. During that era, someone wrote ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas‘ as a kind of secret catechism that could be sung in public without risk of persecution.

The song has two levels of interpretation: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of the church. Each element in the carol is a code word for a religious reality.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Here’s the why–(see the website for far more details and a printable calendar.)

• A Partridge in a Pear Tree means The one true God revealed in the person of Jesus.
• Two Turtledoves: The Old and New Testaments
• Three French hens: Faith, hope, and love.
• Four Calling Birds: The Four Gospels.
• Five Golden Rings: the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Old Testament.
• Six geese a-Laying: a laying, creation, or the Six Days of Creation.
• Seven Swans a Swimming: The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• Eight Maids a-Milking: the Eight Beatitudes.
• Nine Ladies Dancing: the Nine Fruits of the Spirit.
• Ten Lords a-Leaping: Ten Commandments
• Eleven Pipers Piping: The Eleven Disciples who did not betray Jesus.
• Twelve Drummers Drumming: The Twelve belief statements in the Apostle’s Creed.

Epiphany–such an interesting word

I always think of Epiphany as a light suddenly shining on a truth.

As the Merriam-Webster dictionary explains, the second meaning is, “a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way.”

That happened to me a half-century ago when I first had an epiphany worship: understanding that Jesus’s death on the cross was for me, personally.

(Oh, and for you, too, of course).

I hadn’t seen that before and with the light of understanding shined on the Word of God for the first time, I felt awakened.

Suddenly, a book I’d never understood before (and thus never tried to read again past that initial list of genealogies in Matthew), made incredible sense.

I’ve never been the same. And seldom has a day gone by when I didn’t read it or think about its words.

The Word became flesh and dwelt in me.

All I can do, my only response, is to worship the God who created me, sent His son to die for me, and provided the Holy Spirit to guide me–every single day.

Thanks be to God.

Epiphany worship is my life.

Tweetables

What is Epiphany and why? Click to Tweet

The real meaning of those 12 Days of Christmas (song and truth). Click to Tweet