What Matthew Thinks Epiphany Means

For millennia, we have focused on the Epiphany as being the moment that God's light has been revealed to the Gentiles. And it is. But looking at its context in Matthew's Gospel, and especially in the context of the Hebrew Scriptures (including the two readings for today), we see that Matthew sees it as proof that God's kingdom on earth has begun. All the prophecies that someday the nations will worship the one true God are now going to be fulfilled, even if that kingdom must start small, grow in pain, and still not be perfect today—it still has been revealed as happening.