TRISTAN SHERWIN

Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume 
breathes a life of gathering gloom; 
sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, 
sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

Glorious now behold him arise; 
King and God and sacrifice: 
Alleluia, Alleluia, 
sounds through the earth and skies.

Day 12 …

The end of Christmas is Epiphany’s eve, the feast marking the Magi’s visit with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The autocorrect desperately wanted that to read ‘Frankenstein’!

‘We Three Kings’ is a carol which doesn’t solely chart the nativity. Like an overture at the start of a musical, the symbolism of the Magi’s gifts preview the coming soundtrack and the story’s climax: Jesus, the King of kings, will be executed and buried. But, He will rise again.

Jesus’ claims rise and fall on his resurrection. As one early follower put it, ‘If Christ was not raised, our faith is futile and we are to be pitied. But, Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.’ (1 Cor. 15:17-20).

This was no Frankenstein-like reanimation of rotting limbs. Jesus’ resurrection body was incorruptible and gloriously alive. ‘Death could not keep Jesus in it’s grip.’ (Acts 2:24)

This was no selfish, self-preserving act, either.

Jesus descended into the grave as an act of war; liberation was his intent, busting open prison doors and setting captives free (Heb. 2:14-15; Eph. 4:8; Rev. 1:17-18).

As @derekvreeland puts it, in his book Primo Credo (p. 56), ‘Jesus tasted death, real human death, so he could swallow it whole, rendering it powerless in a final defeat of our ultimate enemy.’

In the words of St. Athanasius of Alexandria:

‘By the sacrifice of His own body [Jesus] did two things: He put an end to the rule of death which barred our way; and He made a new beginning of life for us, by giving us the hope of resurrection. By man, death gained power over men; by the Word made Man, death has been destroyed and life raised up anew…
… Death has become like a tyrant who has been completely conquered by the legitimate Monarch; bound hand and foot the passers-by sneer at him, no longer afraid of his cruelty and rage, because of the King who has conquered him. … all who are in Christ trample [Death] as they pass and as witnesses to Him deride it, scoffing and saying, “O Death, where is thy victory? O Grave, where is thy sting?”’

The light has shone into our darkness: Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life.

‘O Star of wonder, guide us to thy perfect light.’