BOOK: Epiphany – The Season of Glory

By Fleming Rutledge | Amazon.com | 152 pages
Published in November of 2023

SUMMARY: Most Christians are familiar with the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Lent while fewer are acquainted with Epiphany. In Epiphany – The Season of Glory Episcopal priest Fleming Rutledge simply, compellingly, and theologically explores the significance of the Epiphany season by highlighting and revering the divine glory of God before exploring the four themes of the season.

But, before diving into the specifics of Epiphany, Rutledge fittingly begins by making the case for the value of the liturgical calendar. Her advice? It takes a lifetime commitment with plenty of grace and perseverance.

“Entering into and receiving the riches of the liturgical cycle requires humility and patience,” Rutledge writes. “Above all, a willingness to ‘read, mark, learn and inwardly digest’ the biblical foundations of the season is essential…Full immersion is necessary, and that can happen only with embodied commitment over periods of years–two or three years to begin with, and a lifetime to absorb and make one’s own.”

Epiphany begins on January 6 (the Feast of Epiphany) and ends on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Some denominations have ordinary time between the Feast of Epiphany and Ash Wednesday, while other traditions do not. The focus of the season centers on the manifestations of God’s glory with four specific themes. The four themes, the visit of the Magi, the baptism in the Jordan River, the miracle of the wine at the wedding at Cana, and the transfiguration of Christ in the presence of his chosen disciples, were established in the 6th century.

Rutledge devotes a chapter to each theme, but before she digs into the details she establishes that God’s glory is not dictated by human spirituality or piety nor is it something we earn or produce. It is inherently God’s alone to reveal.

“The glory of God is not summoned by human striving or wishing. It cannot be conjured up by anything we can do. It is pure gift. It comes to us solely at the will of the Creator. It comes from another dimension, over against the world of human bondage to sin and death. It is not accessible to the unaided human eye,” Rutledge writes.

With that in mind, Rutledge turns her focus to the four themes of Epiphany pointing out that each is a “gradual revelation of his being” and “a revelation of Jesus’ identity and power.” These epiphanies or manifestations of God’s glory distinguish himself from all past and future religious leaders.

The Magi’s visit reveals the promised king while Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River reveals himself as the Son of God. The miracle at the wedding in Cana reveals his divine power while his transfiguration reveals his divine glory.

“Without these epiphanies, no matter how admirable or how worthy of emulation Jesus may be, he becomes indistinguishable from other prominent religious leaders such as the Dalai Lama. It is knowing Jesus as the Son, transcendently unique in his relationship to God the Father, that we come truly to follow him as participants in his victory over Sin and Death.”

In closing Rutledge pens, “The season of Epiphany offers an opportunity to focus for several weeks on the glory of Christ as the second person in the Trinity, in all his intrinsic, immutable, inestimable glory, which can never go away.”

Amen!

KEY QUOTE: “The season of Epiphany is designed to show that there is no road to the glory of God through human seeking; it cannot be summoned by human endeavor. It cannot be repeated too often: it comes as pure gift. It is revealed only from God’s being, from his will and his self-revelation, for the salvation of his creatures.”

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LISTEN: Watch or listen to Rugledge discuss her book on the Crackers & Juice podcast.

OF NOTE: Epiphany is part of The Fullness of Time series in which six authors provide an introduction to a season of the church year (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Pentecost, and Easter).

DID YOU KNOW? Sunday to Saturday has a Good Reads page where we post all of the books we have read – even the ones that didn’t make the cut.

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