Epiphany Epiphany Sermon Illustrations

In Greek, "manifestation." It is the feast of Eastern origin on January 6 It may be considered the older celebration of the birth of Jesus than December 25. It was designed to take the place of the pagan celebration of the winter solstice. When Christmas (Dec.25) came to be celebrated by Eastern Church, then Jan. 6 was considered the celebration of Christ's baptism and the adoration of the three wise men.

In most churches, Bible readings and sermons during this time of the year deal with Jesus' identity, beginning with His baptism.

Epiphany Season begins on the Epiphany, which is 6 January, and ends on the day before Lent.

The theme of the first Sunday after the Epiphany is the Baptism of Our Lord in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches.

The purpose of the liturgical calendar is to relive the major events in Jesus' life in real time. To fulfill the requirements of Leviticus 12:2-8, Mary had to present Jesus at the Temple and offer a sacrifice. According to Luke 2:22-24, she did just that. If Jesus were born on 25 December, then this would have occurred on 2 February. Therefore, 2 February is known in the historic church as The Presentation or The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple.

By the fifth century, the Western Church celebrated the feast of the Epiphany with the themes of the adoration of the wise men, the baptism of Jesus, and his first miracle of changing water into wine at Cana.

Balthazar, one of the three Wise Men, taken from a Neapolitan crèche. A striking example of realistic features and luxurious costume.

Included in the article are some sermon illustrations that can be used during the Epiphany Season.

Illustration #1

If you have adjacent rooms connected by a doorway you may want to try an experiment. Have the lights on brightly in one room. Have the door closed to the adjacent room where there is total darkness. Now open the door. What happens? Does the darkness sneak into the lighted room? Not at all. The reverse is true as the light travels into the dark room and the lighted room loses none of its brightness. Life is also that way. At Christmas, Epiphany, the Light came. Lift Jesus up. Let the light shine through you.

Illustration #2

The Quakers had a slogan which is a good one: "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." God did just that when he sent his Son, Jesus, to be the light of the world. God could have condemned the world but he chose rather to save the world. It is sometimes easier to get people to march in a crusade against something than to get them to stand up for something good. We are more prone to complain than we are to commend.

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