Isaiah 60:1-6 / Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 / Matthew 2:1-12
One of the practices during Christmas is to give presents.
The presents can be quite a surprise as they are often wrapped.
The purpose of giving gifts and presents during Christmas is to share the joy of Christmas with others.
By and large, those presents are either food or accessories.
When it is food, then it is usually chocolates or some festive biscuits or cookies or cakes.
If we have received such gifts, then it is either the giver knows we have a sweet tooth.
Or that the giver is wishing us an abundance of sweet and rich foods.
When it comes to accessories, there is a wide variety.
It can come in the form of clothes, and it may mean that the giver is telling us to update our attire.
Or it may be some kind of jewellery, and it may mean that the giver wants us to look nice and pretty and stylish.
Or, it may be accessories and gadgets and whatever the giver thinks we might need.
The main purpose of gifts is to thank the other person for the friendship, and so the gifts are signs of love.
So, if we still have our Christmas presents with us, let us take a look at them again and see what the gifts are telling us.
In the gospel, after Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of king Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east.
They had seen a star as it rose, a unique star that pointed to the birth of the king of the Jews.
The star beckoned the wise men to look for the newborn king and to pay Him homage.
They had thought that the new born king would be found in Jerusalem.
Instead, their arrival startled king Herod who was perturbed by the news.
He then consulted the chief priests and the scribes, who told him that the king would be born in Bethlehem.
But it seems that the chief priests and scribes were rather indifferent about the prophecy and they did nothing about it.
So, king Herod used the wise men to get more information about the newborn king, as he had ulterior motives.
So, the star that beckoned the wise men was not always there to lead them.
But after leaving king Herod, the star appeared again and led the wise men to Bethlehem to where Jesus was.
The wise men were delighted to see the star, but they were also surprised.
They were surprised at the poor and humble place of the newborn king, which was a stable for animals and He was lying in a manger.
And the parents were just poor and humble and ordinary people.
So, did the wise men get it wrong, or did the star got it wrong?
But when they saw the newborn baby, their eyes and their minds were opened.
That is the new born king of the Jews, and they opened up their treasures and offered Jesus their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
(There is this corny joke which said that those gifts were rather impractical. If it were the three wise women, and they would have brought milk powder, diapers and wet wipes.)
But the feast of the Epiphany is not about being practical, or logical or reasonable.
It is about a divine revelation, a revelation for us, a revelation for the Church, a revelation for the world.
Those gifts were for a new born king. Those gifts have meaning, and they also have a revelation.
The gold is a gift for the new born king. But the gold also reveals that the king is not just the king of the Jews, but the King of the universe, the King of all creation.
The frankincense is to honour the new born king. But the frankincense also reveals the divine nature of the new born king, that is, Jesus is divine as well as human.
The myrrh is a precious medicine. It also reveals that Jesus is the Saviour, and He came to forgive and heal our sins.
Yes, gifts have a meaning, and they also have a revelation.
There was one day when I was passing by a marketplace and there were a few of those makeshift stalls.
I casually stopped by a stall selling accessories and gadgets, and I picked up a cute little radio with MP3 player.
The lady saw me looking at it and she said, “Laylong, laylong, cheap cheap, clearance sale, buy la, buy la.”
I thought for a while and I wanted to buy it for my mother as a portable radio, as well as a Christmas present.
Then, at the feast of Holy Family, I thought about family prayer and my mother.
So, I recorded some prayers into the radio-MP3 player, so that my mother can pray with it.
So, from a simple gadget, it became a gift and it became a revelation of how my mother could pray with me even though I may not be by her side.
The feast of the Epiphany reminds us that while our thoughts are on the practical, the logical and the reasonable, God reveals His ways and His wonders in the simple, the humble and even the unusual.
The wise men were truly wise as they were able to see the divine revelation in their gifts.
May we to be wise enough to see God’s revelation in the gifts we have received from others.