3:1 This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus
for the sake of you Gentiles--
3:2 for surely you have already heard of the commission of God's
grace that was given me for you,
3:3 and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I
wrote above in a few words,
3:4 a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding
of the mystery of Christ.
3:5 In former generations this mystery was not made known to
humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and
prophets by the Spirit:
3:6 that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the
same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the
gospel.
3:7 Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of
God's grace that was given me by the working of his power.
3:8 Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was
given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless
riches of Christ,
3:9 and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden
for ages in God who created all things;
3:10 so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich
variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the
heavenly places.
3:11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has
carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord,
3:12 in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence
through faith in him.
Avery Brooks (who played Hawk on the old "Spencer" series and
Commander Sisko on "Deep Space Nine") does a commercial-I don't
remember who for-in which he defines "Epiphany." He goes through a
list of experiences and after each one he says "That is an
epiphany." (It seems to me like me might also say what isn't an
Epiphany). While I don't agree with the definition of the ad
writers, I thought it might make an interesting starting point,
except I can't remember any of the examples. Does anyone else
remember the commercial, or know where I could find a transcript or
a summary of it?
Since this is a seasonal question not specifically related to a
particular reading, I've posted this at several of the discussions
pages for this day.
Blessings,
Lorinda in IA
It is no accident that the magi are called Wise men. They were non
jews who worshipped one god as lord of all and this god they
addressed as "Lord Wisdom". Long before the greeks had the idea of
logos it was a concept central to the beliefs of the Magi. It is not
stretching the historical evidence to suggest that the magi indeed
believed Jesus Christ to be "wisdom incarnate".
Yes, the magi were astrologers and not just astronomers and it was
their faith that led them to the Christ Child and their faith that
made them great healers. The Christ Child was endowed by the Magi
with far more gifts than just gold, frankensense and myhr.
Manzel
Yes, I am being unorthodox but check the historical evidence, look
at the libraries that Alexander the Great founded after conquoring
Persia, plundering and destroying their libraries, temples and
advanced culture. You will find that democracy is one of the highly
developed concepts that was part of the Magi's culture long before
Alexander and the zenith of the Greek culture.
This is very significant for us as chirstians for several reasons.
The concept of "Logos" is one of the reasons the gospel of John was
branded as gnostic and almost not included in the cannon. It is
popularly assumed that the gnostic writings came only after the new
christian ideas had spread and merged with Greek philosophy. Please
consider the posibility that we may be all wrong about this.
Put the pieces together for yourself and interpret for yourself.
What if A. the Magi worshiped "Lord Wisdom" (the literal meaning of
Aura Mazda"). B. The concept of logos was part of the Magi's faith.
C. the Magi found and acknowledged the Christ Child. D. the divine
spoke to them in dreams and warned them about Herod exactly the same
way that Joseph was warned in a dream about Hearod. E. they were
world renoun healers thee to bless the Christ Child who would become
the greatest healer of all.
Manzel
Yes, I know this sounds scandelous; that the faith of these
magicians and astrologers was really on target. Jesus said "you
shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free". Yes this is
from the gospel of John and part of what has been branded as
gnosticism. But what if much of what we have branded as gnosticism
was a part of our Christian roots long before Christianity spread to
the Greek and Roman cultures?
the Logos Incarnate! it is such a powerful thing. Isn't it worth
further consideration. If the wise men believed this is the identity
of Jesus whom they came to worship, then aren't they wise indeed?
Manzel
Be patient, I admit I am very excited about the Magi. I believe
knowing more about the Magi will help us better appreciate Jesus.
Who you will remember was often accused of being a magician. I have
no doubt that Jesus healings were through the power of God and it is
horrible when people of Jesus day insulted him by suggesting the
power came through black magic.
In this day when we feel the need for peace and know we need to rid
ourselves of prejudice, perhaps we should admit that popular
christianity has been very prejudicial in its treatment of the Magi
and its assumption that it knew what magic is about.
What if the heart of the Magi's faith was wisdom or the logos. Would
it shock you to know that dedication to the truth or "word of God"
was the heart of their faith? Their commitment to the one true god
of goodness and wisdom shaped 3 basic values; dedication to good and
true thougts, good and true words, and good and true actions. So why
do christians so often treat the magi shabbily and with such
prejudice?
Manzel
Yes, here is more on that same theme. It is no accident that the
number one place in the old testament to find prophecies about the
messiah is in Isiah which revolves around the second exile the
captivity in the back yard of the magi. Prophecies about Cyrus the
great are written in Isaiah. He was the servant of Yahweh though he
did not know Yahweh. After Cyrus the Great of Persia conquored
Babylon he not only released the Israelite slaves but helped them
get back to Israel and helped them to rebuild the temple. It is
historically documented that Cyrus the Great instituted the Magi as
official advisers for his government.
The Magi are a bigger part of the history and culture into which
Jesus was born that christians usually admit.
Manzel
I ment to say "the Magi are a bigger part of the history and culture
than Christians admit".
It was significant to Matthew and to people of Jesus day to say that
Jesus was a Nazorite. If we dig into this we find it was the
Nazorean culture more than just the town that was important. Guess
who shows up in this cultural milue? Yehp, the Magi. After the
remnant of Isrealites returned from captivity in Babylon, all of
them carried back cultural influences some more than others. Guess
who was one of the groups especially big on retaining religious
influences gained during captivity in the east? Yes, the Nazoreens.
They had cultural values that were very similar to the Essenes.
Manzel
Nazorites and Essenes held many religious concepts that came from
the cultural influence of the second captivity, especially the
religion of the Magi which later became synonomous with
Zoroastrianism. The concept of Satin is one such concept with became
a very big part of the Jewish religion but was not part of the
Jewish beliefs before the second exile. One such set of such
evidence is the total lack of mention of any Satin in the stories of
Moses. Manzel
I find these contributions on the Magi helpful here at Epiphany, but
what of this Ephesians text and Epiphany? I am wrestling with God's
vision of the church as seen in Paul and our response to it... still
wrestling however. jjinchassc
jjinchassc,
I find this text a testimony to Paul's "epiphany," that the Gentiles
are equals to the Jews in faith, cf. vs. 6- "fellow heirs," "same
body," "sharers." It is uncanny how clear an understanding of his
role Paul had- to the point where I think he knew his greatness in
the faith. I wonder if any of us have sucha clear picture of what we
are called to do to promote the living faith. AEA
All the magi contributions might be helpful in relation to the
Gospel text, but this is the Epistle text. :) Anyway, I'm thinking
that this text is helpful in relating to the New Year, newness, and
Wesley's covenant prayer. It speaks of new things... the revelation
of the mystery of Jesus, the Gentiles being fellow heirs in the body
of Jesus, & Paul being made new by God.
Judge Redd
I'm going to focus in on this idea of the "Mystery" of God's purpose
for the world (Gentiles - ta ethna- included as God's own)manifest
in Jesus. To make things personal I may discuss the fact the Jesus
is the answer to "mystery" of the longing of the human heart, the
mystery of what God is really like, etc. Is that to much of a
stretch on the idea of "mystery" or do you think it's workable? A.H.
in Canada
