But God sent his Son for everyone
Psalm 145:21 I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 24:9-10 Open up, ancient gates! Open up, ancient doors, and let the King of glory enter. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Heaven’s Armies—he is the King of glory.
Psalm 102:15 The nations will fear the name of the Lord. All the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
John 3:16-17 For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
Drumroll please! Because January 6 is a very special day.
In some parts of the world, it’s the day of the Three Kings, Día de los Reyes, the day children receive gifts in commemoration of the magi who followed a star from far-off lands to recognize and honor the baby Jesus with their worship and their gifts.
It’s the day called Epiphany, the day of revelation to the world that this child born in a stable to humble parents is the King of kings for all nations, not only for Israel.
In Eastern traditions, it’s called Theophany, to remember the revelation at Jesus’s baptism, when God’s voice from Heaven declared Jesus to be his beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit attested to this in the form of a dove.
In every case, believers ask on this day for greater and clearer revelation of who Jesus was, is, and will be. “Open my eyes, Lord. I want to see Jesus.”
So, I like the drummers drumming on the twelfth day, reminding us the King is coming! We must prepare our hearts to receive and honor him!
Whatever the origin of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” published in England at least as early as 1780 and popularized in its now-standard version by Frederic Austin in 1909, the number twelve reminds me as well of the twelve apostles, whose task it was to reveal Jesus to the world as the resurrected Christ, the Anointed One (Acts 1:22).
We are invited to share in this joyful task, to beat our drums for the King of kings as we await his full revelation to the world, saying with the Apostle John, Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.
Debra Kornfield 