What is Epiphany?
Today is one of the most important holidays in Christian tradition, marking the end of the holiday period as Jan. 6 is the 12th day of Christmas. Epiphany is also known as Three Kings Day as it honors the Wise Men who traveled by camel to visit the baby Jesus, bringing him myrrh, frankincense and gold.
The term Epiphany refers to the incarnation or manifestation of the birth of Jesus as the word itself is from the Greek word “manifestation.” The way the kings carried out their journey began with Matthew telling the kings to follow a star in the East.
They do so, finding a baby in a manger and bringing him the three elements as gifts. The three kings are named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar.
The Bible does not explicitly state how many kings there are out there. In fact, it does not mention what their robes, turbans or crowns look like, which has led to plenty of speculation in Christmas pageants surrounding what they looked like.
The holy book does not mention that they rode on camels or how they knew that the star would take them to Bethlehem. Epiphany became a church feast in the second century, making it one of the oldest of Christian celebrations.
Will you be celebrating Epiphany today?
