The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

© 2025, Dr. Tamilio

Wise Men from the East, the Magi — they followed a star that led them to a manger in Bethlehem.  They came to pay honor to the Christ child: the one who was born King of kings and Lord of lords.  It is a curious story captured only in Matthew’s Gospel.

Many people, even non-church-goers, know some of the basics of the story, particularly the strange gifts that the Magi bring: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  We’ve spoken many times before about how expensive and symbolic these gifts were.  There’s so much here about giving presents fit for a king — and offering items that were used for anointing and embalming.  Clearly, when we combine them, we see how fitting they are for who Jesus would be when he grew up and what would happen at the climax of his ministry.

To some extent, Epiphany is like Christmas and Easter in that there are only so many ways you can interpret the event without feeling as if you are saying the same thing year after year.  This year, I want to focus on the star that they followed.  I want to focus on the light.

When I was a kid, I remember looking up at the North Star, the brightest one in the sky, and wondering if that was the same one that the Wise Men followed.  I wondered if I followed it, would I have ended up in Bethlehem?  This was the beacon that led the Magi many, many miles.  According to some estimates, it was a 900-mile trek.  That would be about the equivalent of traveling from Canton to the southern part of Myrtle Beach — by camel!  According to Dejan Ivanovic, “On average, a camel will walk for about 12 hours a day during winter when being a part of a desert caravan.”[1]  That is a 75-day trek.  That wouldn’t have worked for the younger me.  If I had to walk for more than 30 minutes, it was a chore.  Nowadays?  Fuhgeddaboudit!

 This not only highlights the stamina of the Magi, but also their faith.  They saw the light — and recognized its significance.

We see the light, too.  Not the North Star, but the light of Christ that shines all around us.  Was not “light” God’s first act of creation?  “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).  The opening of the Gospel of John offers a nice corollary: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (1:5).

I imagine that when Jesus told the disciples to “follow me,” he was suggesting that he would not only show them the way but that he would light the way as well.  Indeed, he is “the light of the world” (John 8:12).  What did he mean when he said that?

In literature, light almost always stands as a symbol for the truth.  In Plato’s famous “Allegory of the Cave,” the sun stands for the truth — the ultimate source of enlightenment.  Plato was an amazing mind — one of the greatest in Western thought — but he died about 350 years before Jesus was born.  Maybe he saw a star in the sky similar to the one the Magi saw.  He definitely had great insight into the truth.  I wonder what he would have seen if he was a contemporary of Jesus, or if he was born after him.  I wonder if he would have seen what we see?

The light of Christ shines in many ways.  We see it all the time.  You do not have to literally stand before the manger bed to look upon it.  It emanates from the Scriptures.  Through the biblical witness, we hear the words of Christ.  We experience them.  They resonate with us at a level deeper than any other literature: be it Plato, Shakespeare, or even T.S. Eliot.  Jesus is the Word made flesh, as John tells us, and Scripture (also referred to as the Word) is a witness to Jesus as the Word.  This became one of the central foundations of Karl Barth’s theology.

But the light of Christ shines primarily through us.  As Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, “You” (meaning those gathered on that mountaintop to hear that sermon, as well as you sitting here today) “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

I’m sure that many of you have heard those verses many times in the past, but have you ever stopped to think about how staggering they are?  Jesus is not saying that he is the light of the world, as he does in John’s Gospel.  He is saying that you are, and that you are to let God’s light — the same light that illuminated the path of the Wise Men from the East — you are to let God’s light shine through you.  It is staggering because we do not typically think of ourselves as God’s light bearers.  Jesus?  Sure.  The disciples?  OK, them, too.  Some of the great saints in the history of Christianity?  Absolutely.  But you?  Me?  We are the light?  Really?

Yes, really.  That is what it means to be a follower of Christ.  It is to deny yourselves, meaning your own agenda, and to live according to the example set by him.  We are to live it so that others can see it and follow it as well.

But here is the catch: we have it easy by comparison.  Jesus knew a cross faced him and he knew that his first followers (especially the Apostles) would face persecution as well.  He told them this!  There are many historical records and legends that tell us what became of them.

• We know that Judas hanged himself after betraying Jesus.
• Paul was beheaded.
• Peter was crucified upside down — at his request because he did not feel worthy to be crucified the way Jesus was.
• Andrew was crucified in Asia Minor.
• Thomas died by the spears of four soldiers in India.
• Matthew may have been stabbed to death in Ethiopia.
• Bartholomew most likely died as a martyr, but the accounts are unclear.
• James was stoned and then clubbed to death.
• Simon the Zealot: “The story goes, he ministered in Persia and was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.”[2]
• Matthias was burned to death.
• John was imprisoned on the island of Patmos where he wrote the Book of Revelation.

We have it easy in comparison.  No one is asking you to make such a sacrifice.  You may face some difficulty in doing so.  Maybe that is the cross you have to bear.  But the command is the same.  The light of truth that is in the hearts of all believers must shine.  It does no good being a light hidden under a bushel basket.  It must be hoisted onto a stand for all to see.  It must be proclaimed loudly with words as well as actions.  You are called to let your light shine.  So let that little light of yours shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Amen.

[1] Dejan Ivanovic, “How Does a Camel Walk — Pacing Gait, Speed, Distance, and Animation, from The Daily Wildlife (online).  Published October 26, 2023.

[2] This quote and these details on the death of the Apostles comes from Ken Curtis, “What Happened to the Twelve Apostles and How Did They Die?” taken from Christianity.com.  Updated December 10, 2024.