willing to celebrate this day with us;4 because they have no love for unity, and
SERMON 202
ON THE LORD'S EPIPHANY
Date: 405-41ll
Magi, the firstfruits of the Gentiles
1. What cause for celebration does today's feast offer us, known as it is throughout the world, or what does its yearly recurrence commemorate? The season warns us that we must speak about this in the yearly sermon. Now
"Epiphany," a Greek word, can be called "manifestation" in English. On this day, you see, the Magi are held to have worshiped the Lord, after being alerted, that is to say, by the appearance of a star, and led by its going ahead of them. On the day he was bom they saw the star in the East; and they realized whose birth it indicated. And so from that day till this day they traveled to the meeting. They scared king Herod with their news, and from the answers the Jews gave them out of the prophetic scriptures, they found out about the city of Bethlehem, where the Lord had been bom. Then with the same star leading them, they came to the Lord himself, worshiped him when he was pointed out to them, offered gold, frankincense, and myrrh, went home by another route.2
The Lord, of course, was also manifested on the very day of his birth to the shepherds, alerted by an angel. On the same day he was also announced to those men far away in the East; but it was on this day that he received their homage. So the universal Church of the Gentiles has enthusiastically undertaken to celebrate this day; because what, in fact, were those Magi but the firstfruits of the Gentiles? The shepherds were Israelites, the Magi Gentiles; the first were near, the latter far off; yet both converged on the cornerstone.3 Coming, as the apostle says, he preached peace to us who were far off and peace to those who were near. For he himself is our peace, who made both into one, and established the two in himself as one new man, making peace, and reconciled both in one body to God, killing their enmities in himself (Eph 2:17.14-16.20).
He couldn 1r yet speak with his tongue on earth, so he spoke from heaven with a star
2. It's what you would expect, that the Donatist heretics have never been willing to celebrate this day with us;4 because they have no love for unity, and