See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. The entire cosmos speaks of Christ, announces his coming, yet only a few dare look to the sky and seek the light in the darkness. Three wise men, gazing heavenward as much with their hearts as with their eyes, they seek the King of the Jews. They are of one mind: to bend the knee before the king. Where is the newborn king of the Jews?
Come and adore him, Christ the Lord! Approach the feet of this hidden king! Pay him homage, your Lord, the King!
One glorious acknowledgement of royalty by the Gentile people. One momentous epiphany of divine presence—but then obscurity. Thirty years of quiet, thirty years of sawdust and prayer: where is the King of the Jews?
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, where is your king? You herald of good news, where is your shepherd? From lowliness, from poverty, he comes forth: here is your God!
Again the created world produces a sign: heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove. From the heavens a voice resounds, the voice of one crowning a king: You are my son; today I have begotten you. With you I am well pleased. And the Spirit rushed upon him, anointing him as the kings of old. The royal Son of God rises from the waters and sets out, heading up to his throne.
Hail, King of the Jews!
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Image: Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi, The Adoration of the Magi
