Epiphany – The Gift of the Magi

Epiphany means manifestation, the idea of making things known. Such a concept speaks directly to the meaning of schools as places of learning because of what is made manifest, what is made known to students and teachers alike. Epiphany speaks to an essential feature of our humanity as intellectual and spiritual beings who, in some sense or another “by nature desire to know,” as Aristotle put it. No doubt that is true though only to one degree or another in terms of how much one desires to know.

Epiphany is also the term used for one of the more familiar features of the Christmas story. It is the term used for the coming of the Magi-Kings to Bethlehem, the proverbial ‘wise-men.’ The story has caught the imagination of artists and thinkers down throughout the ages. Yet the story, like so much of the Christmas story, is rather sparse on details. It is, however, rich in symbol and significance which is very much a feature of learning through what is made manifest and taught. A star, it seems, led the Magi-Kings, though we easily forget that Matthew, who alone gives us this story, tells us that it is Herod who actually sends them to Bethlehem. He is hardly in favour of the idea of a King arising in his territory. His fear will lead to one of the most disturbing and yet most significant stories in the Christmas mystery, the slaughter of the Holy Innocents.

Who are the Magi-Kings? How many come? We know very little about them, neither their names nor their number. Holy Imagination will go to work to fill in the gaps and give them names and cultural identities. We assume there were three simply on the basis of the three gifts which they bring to the child Christ. The most we can say is that they ‘came from away’ - the proverbial ‘come-from-aways’ - and the proverbial ‘Johnny-come-latelies,’ too. They are not from Israel but from Anatolia, whether what we call Turkey in Asia Minor or perhaps even Persia. The point is that they are Gentiles - a term that simply refers to those from outside of Israel. Their coming means symbolically that Christmas is omni populo, for all people. This speaks to the universality of the Christian story.

Other religions and philosophies also convey a sense of things universal, things which are for all and not just for some. There is, it seems to me, a wonderful creative tension between the universal and the particular as well as the idea that we come to the former through the latter. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddah, for instance, comes to learn about the universality of human suffering, dukkah, out of which develops the various forms of Buddhism and the idea that suffering arises from our desires. This leads to the idea of the non-self; no self, no desires, no suffering. There is no you, in this view. That is very different from the assumptions about the self in western cultures.

The Magi-Kings from Anatolia are not just ‘Gentiles’ and thus symbolic of how the mystery of Christ’s birth is for all. They come with a purpose. They come to worship and adore. That too is seen as something universal, as belonging to Aristotle’s insight. Their coming is occasioned by their seeing. They see, they come, they worship. Worship, too, belongs to intellectual and spiritual life; it is about a sense of wonder that belongs to our learning, to the idea that there are things to be known that ultimately dignify and ennoble our humanity. Epiphany gives a sense of primacy to seeing or knowing. I like to think of these different ‘universalities’ as complementary rather than competing thus transcending the problems of a conflict narrative which simply pits one group against another.

The Magi-Kings signal equally the universal sense of giving gifts. The gifts of the Magi are gifts which teach us about the meaning of Christ’s birth, of God made man who dwells with us. They offer “sacred gifts of mystic meaning”to the child: Gold signifies that Christ is the King of all Creation, Frankincense - an aromatic gum from trees which when burned on coals gives off a pleasant aroma and smoke which rises as a symbol of prayer, thus signifying that Christ is God. But it is the third gift which is particularly significant, and which relates to the deeper meaning of gift-giving. It is not about buying favour or bribing people to do your bidding for that would be about using one another for our self-interest. The third gift is Myrrh, the ancient burying spice which symbolises Christ’s sacrifice and death.

Gift-giving in its deeper sense is about honouring one another and seeking the dignity and truth of each other. Gifts are not necessarily or even primarily useful. That is at best a secondary concern just as we should not seek to use one another for our immediate interests. Gift-giving in its truth honours one another in the truth of our humanity. This is, I think, the deeper meaning of the Magi-Kings and the gifts which they present to the child Christ in Bethlehem. Sacrifice is the gift that belongs to the radical meaning of gift-giving.

The point is wonderfully made in a lovely and classical short story by an American writer, William Sydney Porter who went by the pen-name of O.Henry (not to be confused with the chocolate bar, O’Henry!). ‘The Gift of the Magi’ makes known the deeper meaning of the Magi-Kings of the Epiphany.

It tells the story of a young couple, Jim and Della, in an urban setting, perhaps New York in the early 20th century. They are somewhat poor and are struggling to make ends meet. There are two things which they treasure most: Jim’s golden watch inherited from his grandfather, and Della’s beautiful hair. Yet each sacrifices what is most dear to themselves for the sake of the other unbeknownst to each other. Della sells her hair to get money to buy Jim a gift worthy of him and her love for him. She buys a gold chain for his watch. Jim, on the other hand, sells his watch to buy lovely combs for Della’s hair. Both gifts are ironically useless since each has sacrificed what is most dear to themselves for each other. But the point of the story as O.Henry makes clear, is that “of all who give gifts these two were the wisest,” like the Magi. Why? Because of sacrifice, the idea of which underlies the pursuit of learning. It is really about love. You as students have to give of yourselves to what is made manifest, to what is made known to you so that it can live in you. Such is the gift of the Magi.