Between Matthew 4 and 19, Jesus ministers in Galilee, never in Judea. As soon as He enters Judea again (19:1-2), He is attacked – just as He was when He was first in Judea, when wise men came looking for the king of the Jews.
This is the first Sunday of the Epiphany season. Epiphany means “manifestation,” and it celebrates the manifestation of the Christ to the Gentiles, the first Gentile being the magi from the East. Jesus is being manifest in Judea , but He is being manifested to the nations.
But we shouldn’t overlook the other side of this manifestation, of Epiphany.
The manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles occurs in the same location where Herod sought to kill Jesus, and the two are intimately connected. The Jewish threat to Jesus and the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles are inseparable. The one is the cause of the other. We can put it this way: Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus to the Gentiles, but already from His first manifestation to the Magi, His life is trailed by blood and death. As soon as Jesus is manifest to the Gentiles, He is manifest as the Crucified King of the Jews.
Now He is back in Judea, and along the way toward Judea, He has reminded His disciples several times that He is heading to Jerusalem to be delivered to the chief priests and elders and that He will be tried and killed and rise again on the third day. As in His original manifestation in Judea , He is manifested again as the suffering, threatened, oppressed, persecuted, crucified Messiah. As he enters the territory of Judea , He comes under threat, and that threat will follow Him all the way to Golgotha .
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