Meditation: Looking Toward Epiphany
Epiphany! Theophany! Two good Greek words expressing and proclaiming to the world the showing forth of God in His fullness.
Epiphany is the showing forth of God because it was there, at the Baptism of Jesus, that all three Persons of the Holy Trinity appeared together for the first time.
The Father’s voice testified from on high that Jesus is the Son of God. The Son accepted his Father’s testimony, and the Holy Spirit was seen descending from the Father in the form of a dove and resting upon the Son.
So Jesus was baptized, and as he came straight up out of the water, suddenly heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting upon Him. And with that a voice came from heaven, which said, This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:16).
The three-fold disclosure of God is also the subject of the troparion of the feast:
When Thou, O Lord was baptized in the Jordan,
The worship of the Trinity was made manifest.
For the voice of the Father bare witness unto Thee,
Calling thee the beloved Son,
And the Spirit in the form of a dove
Confirmed His word as sure and steadfast.
O Christ our God, Who hast appeared and enlightened
the world,
Glory to Thee.
Meditation: Light Has Dawned
It has been said that in the hymns and prayers of the Orthodox Church, God is praised more often as light than He is as love or wisdom. Nowhere is this more evident perhaps than in the Feast of Theophany (Epiphany) where the symbolism of light is used most extensively. The troparion of the Feast proclaims that Christ has appeared and enlightened the world. Besides being known as Theophany, January 6, is also known as the Feast of Lights. The theme of the Feast is the illumination of the world by the light of Christ. Listen to the hymns and prayers of the Feast as they extol this theme:
Today we have escaped from darkness, and by the light of the knowledge of God we have been illuminated (Patriarch Sophronius).
Light from Light, Christ our God has shone upon the world,
God made manifest.
Thou broughtest light to all things by Thine Epiphany (Matins).
You who lie in darkness, leap for joy, for a great light has now
appeared to you (Matins on January 5)
Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would come as a great light to enlighten all people: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light; and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, a light has dawned (Matthew 4:1:16). The symbol of light became such an integral part of Theophany, the Feast of Christ’s Baptism, because Jesus is revealed as the Light that dispels the darkness of sin and death.
~ Presbytera Emily Harakas & Fr. Anthony Coniaris, DAILY MEDITATIONS and Prayers for the CHRISTMAS ADVENT Fast and Epiphany: Living the Days of Advent and Epiphany according to the Orthodox Church Calendar
