Sermon 201

SERMO 201

ON THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

The manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

A few days ago we celebrated the birth of the Lord: but today we celebrate with no less due solemnity the manifestation by which he began to be revealed to the Gentiles. On that day, Jewish shepherds saw the newborn; today, the Magi coming from the East adored him. For that cornerstone had been born, the peace of the two walls, from the circumcision and the foreskin, coming from no small diversity; so that in him they might be united, who became our peace, and made both one. This was prefigured in the Jewish shepherds and the Gentile Magi. From this beginning, it would bear fruit and grow throughout the whole world. Therefore, let us regard both days, the Nativity and the Manifestation of our Lord, with most grateful spiritual joy. The Jewish shepherds were brought to him by the announcement of an angel, the Gentile Magi by the demonstration of a star. This star confounded the vain calculations and divinations of astrologers, as it showed to the worshippers of the stars the Creator of heaven and earth to be worshipped instead. For he himself declared a new star upon being born, who darkened the ancient sun upon being crucified. By that light, the faith of the Gentiles was initiated; by those darknesses, the perfidy of the Jews was denounced. What was that star, which neither appeared among the stars before nor remained to be shown afterward? What was it but the magnificent language of the heavens, that would proclaim the glory of God, that would announce the unprecedented birth of a virgin with an unprecedented radiance, after which the Gospel would follow, appearing throughout the whole world? Finally, what did the coming Magi say? Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? What does this mean? Surely there had already been many kings born of the Jews before? Why did they so eagerly desire to know and adore the king of a foreign nation? We have seen his star in the East, they say, and have come to worship him. Would they have sought this with such devotion, desired it with such piety, if they did not recognize him as the king of the Jews, who is also the king of the ages?

In Pilate and the Magi, the nations are signified.

Hence, even Pilate was surely influenced by a certain breath of truth, when during His passion he wrote the title: King of the Jews, which the Jews attempted falsely to correct. To whom he responded: What I have written, I have written, because it was foretold in the Psalm: Do not destroy the inscription of the title. Let us therefore observe this great and wonderful mystery. The magi were from the Gentiles, Pilate himself also from the Gentiles: they saw the star in the sky, he wrote the title on the wood: both, however, sought or acknowledged not the king of the Gentiles, but of the Jews. The Jews themselves neither followed the star, nor agreed with the title. Already, therefore, it was foreshadowed what the Lord Himself later said: Many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons of the kingdom will be put into outer darkness. For the magi came from the east, Pilate came from the west. Hence, they attested to the king of the Jews from the east, that is, at birth; and he from the west, that is, at death: so that they might recline in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, from whom the Jews derived their origin; not propagated from them through the flesh, but grafted into them through faith: so that the wild olive about which the Apostle speaks, destined to be grafted into the olive tree, might already be foreshadowed. For this reason, indeed, not the king of the Gentiles, but of the Jews, was sought or acknowledged by these same Gentiles; because the wild olive comes to the olive tree, not the olive tree to the wild olive. The branches, however, to be broken, that is, the unfaithful Jews, responded to the magi inquiring where Christ was to be born: In Bethlehem of Judea; and, being reproached by Pilate for wanting their king to be crucified, they raged obstinately. Thus, the magi worshipped, with the Jews showing the place of Christ’s birth; because in the Scripture, which the Jews received, we know Christ. Pilate, from the Gentiles, washed his hands, with the Jews demanding the death of Christ; for by the blood which the Jews shed, we wash away our sins. But of Pilate's testimony through the title, in which he wrote that Christ was the king of the Jews, there is another place for discussion: which is the time of the passion.

The Jews are guardians of the Scriptures for the salvation of the Gentiles.

Now, as it pertains to the manifestation of the birth of Christ, on whose day of manifestation, which is called Epiphany in Greek, He began to be revealed to the Gentiles when the Magi adored Him, let us say a few remaining things. For it is indeed delightful to consider how, when the Magi were seeking where Christ was to be born, the Jews responded: "In Bethlehem of Judea"; yet they themselves did not come to Him, but the star led the Magi to the place where the Child was, after they had left; thus it was shown that the star could indicate the city, but withdrew itself somewhat for the Jews to inquire. Now, the Jews were asked for this reason: to show that they carried divine testimonies not for themselves, but for the salvation and knowledge of the Gentiles. For this reason, that nation was expelled from its kingdom and scattered across the lands, so that they might be compelled to become witnesses of the faith they were enemies to, everywhere. For, having lost the temple, sacrifices, priesthood, and the kingdom itself, they preserve the name and lineage through a few ancient sacraments; so that, mixed with the Gentiles, they may not perish indistinguishably, and lose the testimony of truth: just as Cain received a sign, so that no one would slay him who, out of envy and pride, killed his righteous brother. Certainly, this can be understood fittingly in the fifty-eighth psalm, where Christ speaks in the person of His Body and says: "My God has shown me in my enemies, do not slay them, lest they forget Your law." Indeed, in those enemies of the Christian faith, it is demonstrated to the Gentiles how Christ was prophesied: lest, when they saw the prophecies fulfilled with such great manifestation, they might think these same Scriptures were fabricated by Christians, when what was foretold about Christ is recited, which they see fulfilled. Therefore, the books are brought forth by the Jews, and thus God shows us in our enemies; whom He did not kill, that is, did not utterly destroy from the lands, lest they forget His law: which, by reading, and observing some aspects of it carnally, they remember, to bring judgment upon themselves and offer testimony to us.