Thursday, January 2, 2014

OT Notes Is. 60 for Epiphany

Mostly I wish to highlight how our  images of the Magi are affected by reading the first verses of this passage along with Ps. 72. Apparently, the two gifts are close enough to connect this with Mt. 2, but I don;t get why the three gifts appearance in the tabernacle construction don;t get similar treatment. The ethnicity of the Magi has its roots here as well, in part. I wonder if this is not a reprise of the three sons of Noah for the new age and its global reach.
Since epiphany has a sense of light and shining, this passage certainly fits. One could go a good way talking about enlightenment in Christian and/or Buddhist terms. One could look at neo -Gnostic approaches as examined by Thomas Long in his preaching lectures at Yale, I think that  goes after those who emphasize personal illumination, in Preaching from Memory to Hope

Of course one could also look with care on the political view inherent here in ways that make Americans both comfortable and uncomfortable.Also Adam Smith got his title the wealth of nations, the bible of capitalist thought in some ways from this passage.

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