The church year has historically been divided into seasons. The church year begins with the season of Advent, when we look forward in anticipation to Jesus’ coming. The word “Advent” means “coming” and we anticipate Jesus’ first coming at Christmas and His second coming at the end of time. The season of Advent is followed by the season of Christmas, when the true light of Christmas shines in a sinful world. The true light of Christmas, however, appears to be seen only by those receiving spiritual guidance. The shepherds, on Christmas Eve, only worship the Christ Child with the direction of the heavenly host of angels (Luke 2:8-20). The prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna, when the infant Jesus is presented in the Temple, only recognize Him as the Messiah with the assistance of the Holy Spirit (Luke 2:21-38).
The season of Christmas is followed by the season of the Epiphany. The word “Epiphany” means “manifestation” or “appearing,” and we celebrate Jesus’ appearance to the world at large. The season of the Epiphany begins with the Wise Men (1) searching for, (2) finding, and (3) worshipping the Christ Child (Matthew 2:1-12). The Wise Men are called “wise” because they search for Jesus. Although they follow the star provided by God (verses 2, 9 and 10) and receive a dream warning not to return to King Herod (verse 12), no other divine impetus for their search for the Christ Child is mentioned in the biblical narrative. The Wise Men apparently recognize Jesus as the Christ Child without divine assistance. The season of the Epiphany is, thus, a season of appearance and recognition. Jesus appears and we recognize Him. Two questions arise: (1) what does Jesus appear to be, and (2) do we identify Him as what He appears to be?
Jesus identifies Himself to us as the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. How and why does He do this? And do we identify Him as the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God? The answers to these questions may be found in Jesus’ words and actions and our own desires and expectations. Jesus begins His public ministry by “proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ He said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:14-15). Jesus fulfills the Kingdom of God by bringing us near to it and preparing us for it. He brings the Kingdom of God near to us by bringing us close to God and preparing us for a life in heaven. He does this by giving us God’s Word, which is a word of forgiveness: “For I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). He also does this by putting God’s Word into practice. Jesus sacrifices Himself for our forgiveness. At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist foretells this of Him: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus prepares us for a life in heaven by forgiving our sins. In this way, Jesus identifies Himself as the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.
But, do we identify Jesus as such? Our own desires and expectations of Jesus form our identification of Him. What do we expect and desire from Jesus? We want certain things from Jesus and expect Him to be a certain way. And, because of our spiritual weakness, He meets our expectations. Because of our spiritual weakness, we don’t always believe God’s Word: seeing is believing, so we are told. During Jesus’ public ministry, one of the reasons why He performed miracles was to fulfill the Kingdom of God before the people’s eyes. He healed people because there is no disease or illness in heaven [“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and He healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24)]. He multiplied food and fed people because there is no hunger in heaven [Jesus feeds the 5,000 (see John 6:5-13); Jesus feeds the 4,000 (see Matthew 15:32-38)]. Because of our spiritual weakness, Jesus does miracles to fulfill the Kingdom of God before our eyes. In this way, Jesus prepares us for a life in heaven. In heaven there is only good. In heaven there is nothing bad: there is no disease, sickness, illness, pain, demons, seizures, or paralysis (see Matthew 4:23-24 above). Because of what Jesus says and does, we identify Him for who He is.
