We know as Epiphany the divine manifestation of Jesus Christ, the first of these being the wise men from the East. But this fact has a much greater meaning, it is the manifestation of the Son of God to the Gentiles, to the people who were not Jews, in other words, to all of us. This manifestation not only happens when they finally find baby Jesus, but even before starting their journey, since these wise men arrived in Jerusalem because they had seen His star rise (Matthew 2:1-2), that is, even before they had him in front of them, the light of Jesus Christ (John 8:12) had already been revealed to them.
When the wise men reached Bethlehem, following the star again, it stopped over the place where Jesus was (Matthew 2:9-10). They entered the abode and paid homage to him by offering him gifts (Matthew 2:11): gold signifying his royalty as a son of the Most High, a descendant of the line of David (Isaiah 11:10); frankincense, used as an ingredient in the incense that was burned as an offering in front of the ark of the covenant (Exodus 30:34-37), recognizing him as high priest and also as God’s new covenant with the world; and myrrh, a perfume that was an ingredient in the sacred oil used to anoint high priests and kings, again acknowledging his role as high priest and king of kings.
They left us a great teaching: Jesus Christ from his birth was destined to be the salvation of the world, we are all now the new chosen people of God (1 Peter 2:10), and called to be his children because we enter into communion with Jesus Christ through of the Holy Eucharist.
Just as the wise men from the East recognized in Jesus Christ the promised Messiah, God’s new covenant with the whole world, let us also recognize the body and blood of Jesus in the consecrated bread and wine, source of eternal life, which was offered in sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins and thus we can achieve salvation.