from far distant lands. They came, you see, and they asked for him, saying,
SERMON 199
ON THE LORD'S EPIPHANY
Date: uncertain1
Christ the cornerstone
1. Recently we celebrated the day on which the Lord was bom of the Jews; today we are celebrating the one on which he was worshiped by the Gentiles; because salvation is from the Jews (Jn 4:22); but this salvation reaches to the ends of the earth (Is 49:6). On that day the shepherds worshiped him, on this one the Magi. To those the message was brought by angels, to these by a star. Both learned about him from heaven, when they saw the king of heaven on earth, so that there might be glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will (Lk 2:14).
For he is our peace, who made both into one (Eph 2:14). Already from this moment, by the way he was bom and proclaimed, the infant is shown to be that cornerstone;2 already from the first moments of his birth he appeared as such. He began at once to tie together in himself two walls coming from different directions, bringing the shepherds from Judea, the Magi from the East; so that he might establish the two in himself as one new man, making peace; peace for those who were far off, and peace for those who were near (Eph 2:15.17). Thus it is that those hurrying up from nearby on the very day, and these arriving today from far away, marked two days to be celebrated by posterity, and yet both saw the one light of the world.3
The Jews did not understand the time of Christ's coming
2. But today we must speak about these ones who were led to Christ by faith from far distant lands. They came, you see, and they asked for him, saying,
Where is the one who has been born as king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the East, and we have come to worship him (Mt 2:2). They make an an¬ nouncement and ask a question, they believe and they seek; representing, as it were, those who walk by faith and long for sight.4 Hadn't other kings of the Jews already been bom so many times in Judea? How is it that this one is recognized by foreigners in the sky, sought by them on the earth; shines out on high, lies