Epiphany Sunday, January 7, 2024
“And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.” [MT 2:12]
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [John 14:6]
Happy Feast of the Epiphany! I offer this simple thought in consideration of the final sentence of today’s Gospel and the fact that the Magi went home by “another way.” I couldn’t help but think of this in terms of the guidance of the Holy Spirit (not necessarily a dream though) that leads the us along a “way” that is different from the way of the world .
I pulled out my Greek NT and did a quick check in reference to John 14:6 in which Jesus says He is the “way.” Both the text from MT 2 and the one from John 14 use the same Greek word ὁδος – a way, a path, a road, a journey …. Perhaps it’s just a coincidence of vocabulary. There may not be that many words in Biblical Greek for “way.” But that doesn’t mean that we cannot engage the text in an imaginative way.
So, just as the Magi went home or moved forward on a journey by a “different way,” we who are baptized, born anew into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, move in the journey of this life in Christ, who said “I am the way ….”
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. [from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost]
The road less travel is a common theme in many modern works of literature. Seem like the message of Jesus is to be mindful in following a less known road and take this time to contemplate life’s messages. Be still and be with God!