Epiphany is a season about light, about the light that God is, about the Light from Light that God sent, about the light from the Light of Light that shines from the church to draw the nations to the brightness of His rising.
Epiphany is also, inescapably, about darkness. Light came into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. The Magi followed a bright star to the Light, but King Herod tried to douse the light with children’s blood.
Epiphany anticipates that the light of the gospel spread to the corners of the earth; Epiphany also commemorates the thousands upon thousands who have died, and continue to die, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
But we are not left with a Manichean standoff. Every effort to stamp out the light backfires, because martyrs are the brightest stars in the firmament. This is the message of Epiphany: Light shines into darkness, and, try as it might, the darkness cannot stop it.
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