Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Epiphany of the Lord - Year B

Colorful image of Mary holding Jesus in the stable with the 3 wise men, a donkey and a horse

Epiphany is also known as "3 Kings Day" and I think I may have been an adult before I was aware that the wise men didn't arrive on the night that Jesus was born (not that that was likely to have been December 25th.) Then again, most of what I know about the Christmas story I learned from playing with the nativity scene.

Today's Lectionary readings are:


I was particularly taken by the last 3 lines from the psalm (Psalm 72:12-14):
For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.

He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.

From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.[NRSV]

This is very much a description of what Jesus did in his lifetime.

WWJD? (What would Jesus do?) is a common catch phrase you hear a lot. And even for those who take their faith beyond catch phrases, the Messiah (whether we believe him to have appeared or are still waiting), like the prophets, is someone we should look to as a model for our behavior. This seems like good behavior for us to model.

Image Attribution:
He, Qi. The Magi, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46096 [retrieved December 7, 2014]. Original source: heqigallery.com.
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20141206 typo and link corrections, added attribution for image

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