Revealed Beyond Expectations

We are entering the season of Epiphany. The word epiphany means “a revealing.” It names a moment when something that was unclear becomes clear. We often use the word for those times when understanding finally arrives. You struggle with something for a while, and then suddenly you see it. You think, “Oh. Now I get it.” That moment of clarity feels good. It feels like a gift.

That is what Epiphany is about in the life of the church. It is not about us figuring Jesus out. It is about Jesus being revealed to us. As we watch Him, listen to Him, and notice what He does, things slowly become clearer. Not all at once. Not always in dramatic ways. But the real Jesus is revealed to those who will listen.

This series, Revealing the Real Jesus, is built around the idea of letting God guide our epiphanies. We are slowing down and watching Jesus. Instead of looking for confirmation of what we already believe to be true, we are paying attention. Each week we will notice things about Jesus, including things we may not have seen before.

Sometimes what we notice is comforting. Sometimes it is unsettling. But whatever Jesus is doing in us, one thing remains true. Jesus is always working in love.

The Epiphany story begins with unexpected seekers.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men arrived from the East. They were not from Israel. They did not share the same language or customs. They were outsiders in every sense. Yet they came looking for Jesus. They did not fully understand what they were seeking. But they knew enough to look. They were willing to follow the light they had been given.

That alone tells us something important about Jesus. He is not a tribal king. He is not a private possession. He is not building a small group of insiders who get special access. He is a King who draws people from far away.

The prophet Isaiah once wrote that God’s servant would be a light to the nations and that God’s salvation would reach the ends of the earth. In the visit of the wise men, we see that promise beginning to take shape.

The same revelation that draws the wise men troubles King Herod.

When Herod heard that a new king had been born, he did not celebrate. He felt threatened. Herod was the kind of ruler who clung to power at any cost, even killing members of his own family. If Herod was afraid, everyone around him was in danger. That is why Scripture tells us that all Jerusalem was troubled with him.

Herod’s problem was not a lack of information. It was a desire for control. Jesus, the new king, was born without Herod’s involvement in any way.

This raises a hard question that shows up again and again in Scripture. The question is not whether God is on our side. The question is whether we are open to what God is doing.

There is a scene in the book of Joshua that captures this clearly. As Joshua and the Israelites approached the city of Jericho, Joshua encountered a figure with a drawn sword. Joshua asked, “Are you for us or against us?” The answer was surprising. “Neither. I am the commander of the army of the Lord, and now I have come.” God was not choosing sides. God was taking charge. Joshua was expected to be on God’s side, not the other way around.

Revelation does that. It does not just show us something about God. It also reveals something about us.

The story of the visit of the Magi continues with another quiet but important contrast.

Herod consulted his advisers. They knew the Scriptures. They knew where the Messiah was supposed to be born. They answered the question. But they did nothing in response to their knowledge that the promised King of the Jews had been born.

This is a warning worth hearing. Knowing Scripture is not the same as following Christ. Knowledge is not the same as worship. The Bible can be studied in a way that confirms what we already believe, or it can be listened to in a way that draws us toward Jesus.

Jesus later spoke directly to this problem. He told the religious leaders that they searched the Scriptures because they thought the Scriptures would give them life. But those same Scriptures pointed to Him, and they refused to come to Him.

Then the story of the Magi reaches its center.

The wise men followed the star to Bethlehem. Not to a palace. Not to a place of power. They arrived at a house. They saw a child with His mother. And they worshiped.

Imagine the scene. A small home. A young mother. A child. And suddenly an entourage of foreign dignitaries arrived. It was strange. It was unexpected.

The wise men responded to Jesus with joy, generosity, and reverence. They offered gifts fit for a king. Not to buy favor. Simply to honor Him.

Jesus is worthy of worship no matter where He is found.

The visit of the foreign Magi fits a larger pattern in Scripture. God’s mercy has often reached beyond the boundaries people expect.

During a famine, God sent the prophet Elijah not to a household in Israel, but to a widow in a foreign town. God provided for her and her son. Later, God healed a Syrian general named Naaman, a man who was not part of Israel and who even owned a Hebrew slave. God’s mercy reached him too.

Jesus pointed to these stories in His first sermon in Nazareth. He reminded His listeners that God had always been at work beyond their mental boundaries and their sense of being the chosen people to the exclusion of others. Their response was fierce. They tried to kill Him.

The wideness of God’s mercy is often unsettling.

We want to know who is in and who is out. We prefer clear lines. Jesus refuses to draw them the way we expect.

But there is deep comfort here as well.

If God’s mercy reached foreign widows, enemy generals, Ninevites, and Babylonian wise men, then God’s mercy is wide enough for us. Especially in those moments when we feel like outsiders ourselves. When we are ashamed. When we feel unworthy. When we wonder if we still belong.

The early church father Augustine once wrote that God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. That kind of love does not run out.

One more thing to keep in mind. Jesus does more than reveal who God is. He also reveals who humanity is meant to be. The Bible calls Him the second Adam. In Him, we see what life looks like when it is lived in trust, humility, and openness to the Father.

The story of the Magi gives us a lot to consider. It shows seeking and resisting, worship and fear, openness and control. It does not tell us exactly what to do. It shows us what happens when Jesus is revealed.

That is the posture of this series.

We are watching Jesus as He is slowly revealed. What we notice may comfort us. It may unsettle us. Sometimes it does both at once. That part is personal. That is between each of us and Jesus.

Our task is simple. Pay attention. Notice what is being revealed. And trust that clarity, when it comes, is a gift.

In the weeks ahead, we will keep watching.