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Today, 6 January, marks Epiphany. I’ll put on my preacher’s hat and bring you some biblical basics. The word Epiphany is from the Greek word epipháneia, meaning ‘manifestation’ or ‘appearance’ (Wikipedia). The Feast of the Epiphany marks the revealing of Christ to the Gentile world, as represented by the Magi, or wise men (Matthew 2:1–12). Please note: - We don’t know if there were three of them. Three gifts were given but Matthew never says how many Magi there were. - Matthew never says they were kings either. This is another invention by cultural Christianity! - Matthew doesn’t tell us where the wise men came from, just ‘from the east’. They might have been astronomers or astrologers from Persia (Iran). Their question, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star when it arose and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2) shows they were familiar with Jewish prophecy. Jews were scattered over the ancient world due to the diaspora so the wise men ...

There is so much that ought to be wrong about the story of the Magi . ( Not the Three Kings. We don’t know there were just three of them; there’s nothing to say they were kings; and they might not even have been wee. They could have been of perfectly average stature, boom boom.) We do know they came from foreign parts, which makes it unlikely (though not impossible) that they were Jews; we know for sure that they studied the stars; and we know they saw something there that led them to find Jesus. Studying the stars is not necessarily astrology, though the first astronomers were very probably astrologers first. But it is something very few Jews of the time would have been doing. There’s enough in the Old Testament to make it clear that stargazing is not recommended. ( Deuteronomy 4:19 ; Isaiah 47.13 .) Not illegal – but verging on dodgy, and Jews liked to play safe. It was all sufficiently close to magic and fortune telling that the Jews, God’s people, did not go in for it. But...

Mary I sit here in this shady room where the shadows and silence have flooded back to fill the space left by the angel’s departure. I sit in stillness, pondering; for the power of the Most High God has cast its shadow over me; and the God who is light, in whom is no darkness at all, has a shadow that is brighter than the midday sun. The Spirit of the Lord has come upon me to conceive His holy Child. Last Sabbath, I heard the rabbi read Of Messiah’s promised coming: “To us a Child is born; to us a Son is given… and His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” So this is now the marvel and the mystery of my life and destiny: the Everlasting Father has become my Son. In this moment of reckless abandonment to the purposes of God, I know that from now, and for the next nine months, my womb will be the centre of the universe, and from now and forever, my heart will be God’s throne.   Joseph A carpent...