今天是主顯節，是紀念在詩歌《朝拜新生王》（We Three Kings of Orient Are）所描述的事件。當時，有幾位外邦的智者前去朝見嬰兒耶穌。這幾位博學之士來自東方，不過他們不太可能是三個人。

然而，他們確實帶了三件禮物，這首詩歌細說了每一件禮物的含意。當這些智者抵達伯利恆，俯伏敬拜嬰兒耶穌的時候，便「揭開寶盒，拿黃金、乳香、沒藥為禮物獻給祂」（馬太福音2章11節）。這些禮物象徵耶穌的身分和使命。黃金代表祂君王的身分；乳香是聖殿中所燃的香料之一，代表了祂是神；沒藥則是用於防止屍體腐爛，而這令人深思。

這首詩歌的第四節寫道：「獻上沒藥苦味至濃，表示我主將受傷痛，憂愁嘆息流淚死亡，被葬孤寂墓中。」我們不會把這樣的情景寫進聖誕故事裡，但是上帝的計劃卻是如此。耶穌的死是我們得救恩的關鍵，希律王甚至在耶穌還是嬰孩的時候，就企圖殺害祂（13節）。

在詩歌的最後一節將這三個主題交織在一起：「基督復活榮耀輝煌，被殺羔羊救主我王。」這一節完成了聖誕節的故事，也激發你我歡然回應：「哈利路亞，哈利路亞，聲震天地四方！」

Today is Epiphany, the day which commemorates the event described by the carol “We Three Kings of Orient Are” when gentile wisemen visited the child Jesus. Yet they weren’t kings, they weren’t from the Far East (as Orient formerly meant), and it’s unlikely there were three of them.

There were, however, three gifts, and the carol considers each. When the magi arrived in Bethlehem, “They opened their treasures and presented [Jesus] with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11). The gifts symbolize Jesus’ mission. Gold represents His role as King. Frankincense, mixed with the incense burned in the sanctuary, speaks of His deity. Myrrh, used to embalm dead bodies, gives us pause.

The fourth verse of the carol says, “Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume / breathes a life of gathering gloom; / sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, / sealed in the stone-cold tomb.” We wouldn’t write such a scene into the story, but God did. Jesus’ death is central to our salvation. Herod even attempted to kill Jesus while He was yet a child (v. 13).

The carol’s last verse weaves the three themes together: “Glorious now behold him arise; / King and God and sacrifice.” This completes the story of Christmas, inspiring our response: “Alleluia, Alleluia, / sounds through the earth and skies.”