The Epiphany, or manifestation, of Christ is a celebration of his revelation to the peoples of the world. The Epiphany season follows Christmas and extends to the beginning of Lent.
Epiphany
The name Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning “manifestation” or “appearance.” This festival originated in the third century as a celebration of Jesus’ baptism (Matt. 3:13–17) and retains this character in the Eastern church. In the West, however, from the fourth century, it has commemorated the revelation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, represented in Scripture by the “wise men,” or magi, who made a long journey to see the “King of the Jews” (Matt. 2:1–12). Although many churches incorporate the visit of the magi into their Christmas pageantry, the journey took place some time after the birth of Jesus, perhaps months later. In the traditional Western calendar, Epiphany falls on January 6. The magi, as known from other historical sources, were a class of Persian priests and astrologers, which harmonizes with the account of their following a new star to Bethlehem. The Bible does not say there were three of them; the number is inferred from their threefold gifts to the infant Jesus—gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Neither does the gospel story indicate that they were kings who rode on camels. This idea comes from Isaiah 60:1–6, a passage that proclaims a theophany, or appearance of the Lord’s glory, over Israel: “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.… ” Camels are mentioned later in connection with the bringing of gifts of gold and frankincense (cf. Ps. 72:10–11). The giving of gifts at Christmas is sometimes related to the gifts of the magi, but the practice actually originated in pagan customs associated with festivals such as the Roman Saturnalia. Although some have seen a symbolic significance in the gifts of the magi (cf. the carol “We Three Kings”), this is not developed in Scripture.
In the imagery of Epiphany, the magi represent the Gentiles, to whom the Savior is now revealed. They are, in fact, the first people said to “worship” (bow down to) Christ. The union of Jew and Gentile in the new covenant of Christ is the great mystery celebrated by the apostle Paul and of which he called himself the steward (Eph. 3:1–7). Although the meaning of Jesus Christ and his embodiment of the new covenant, the kingdom of God, cannot be fully understood apart from the background of the faith of Israel, neither can it be understood apart from its universal significance for people of all cultures and ethnic groups. Epiphany is a useful vehicle by which the church may remind itself of this truth and of its mandate for worldwide evangelization (Matt. 28:18–20).
Transfiguration: The Concluding Feast of Epiphany
The Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ originated in the Eastern church, where it was adopted widely before a.d. 1000. It became general in the West by the fifteenth century; the customary date of 6 August was chosen because of a victory over the Turks on that date in 1456. Many churches now commemorate the Transfiguration on the final Sunday of the Epiphany season (the Sunday preceding Lent). This practice places the Transfiguration where it belongs in the sequence of events in Jesus’ life: between his baptism and earlier ministry and the time when he “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51) where his passion and death would occur. The Transfiguration has always received more attention in the Eastern church, which emphasizes in its worship the eternal glory of Christ, whereas the Western church tends to focus on the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
The account of the Transfiguration occurs in all three synoptic Gospels (Matt. 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8; Luke 9:28–36). Having taken his three closest disciples up a mountain, Jesus began to pray and “was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light” (Matt. 17:2). Moses and Elijah appeared, conversing with Jesus; as the awestruck disciples watched, a cloud of glory formed about the scene, and a voice said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt. 17:5). The disciples fell prostrate in fear, but when Jesus touched them and told them not to be afraid, they looked up and saw him alone.
The Transfiguration seems to be a preview of the Resurrection, as verification of Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. It took place about a week after Peter’s confession of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), which is reinforced by the voice from the cloud. What was confirmed to the disciples in the Transfiguration was to be affirmed by them as the focal point of their public preaching after the Resurrection: that God has made Jesus “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Peter, recalling the event in his second epistle, emphasized the declaration of Jesus’ sonship of God (2 Pet. 1:16–18). John’s vision of the living Christ at the opening of the Revelation (Rev. 1:13–18) contains many similarities to the Transfiguration event, including Jesus’ words, “Do not be afraid” (Rev. 1:12–18). According to Luke, the glorified Moses and Elijah were speaking with Jesus about “his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31), a reference to the events of his resurrection and ascension.
The presence of Moses and Elijah is of special importance, for they were the two major symbolic figures of Israel’s prophetic faith. As the last two verses of the Hebrew prophetic canon make clear (Mal. 4:4–5), together they framed the history of the covenant given at Mr. Sinai; it was through Moses that the covenant was established, and Elijah was to restore the covenant bonds lest the curse of its violation take effect. Their appearance with Jesus in his transfigured glory is an affirmation that the gospel of Jesus Christ, however much it may have seemed anathema to the established Judaism of the first century, arose out of the very heart and essence of the covenant faith of Israel. On the way down the mountain, in response to the disciples’ questions, Jesus clearly identified John the Baptist as Elijah. However, John had been unsuccessful in his task of restoring the covenant, for he had been persecuted just as Jesus would be (Matt. 17:9–12). By implication, then, the covenant curse must take effect after all, just as Jesus had predicted before the Transfiguration in his declaration that some standing there would not die before they saw the Son of man coming in judgment (Matt. 16:27–28).
Despite the evident theological significance of the Transfiguration, it remains a mysterious event, a theophany, or revelation of realities beyond the scope of rational analysis. The disciples, stricken with terror—the mysterium tremendum of the numinous—did not know how to respond to it (Mark 9:5–6). The Transfiguration is a fleeting window into the glorified realm of the Spirit, in which Jesus appeared not as an ordinary man but in his true “form” as the Logos, the bearer of the holiness of the eternal God. It is an anticipation of the truth Paul was later to enunciate when he said that, although we once regarded Jesus from a human point of view, we do so no longer (2 Cor. 5:16). The transfiguration of Christ, together with his resurrection, embodies the promise of a corresponding transformation for those who are his. The same Greek word used for Jesus’ transfiguration is used by Paul for the transformation of the life of the believer (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), and John promises that “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).