1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod
the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where
is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and
are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and
scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the
prophet, 6 and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the
princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people
Israel. 7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them
diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said,
Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring
me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king,
they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them,
till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star,
they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house,
they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him:
and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold,
and frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should
not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. ~
(Matthew 2:1-12 KJV)
Over the course of many years, there have been numerous attempts to
explain the Star of the Magi, (or Star of David, or Christmas Star) through
science, let us look at three of the most common ideas.
First, some scholars think this “star” may have been a comet, an
object customarily associated with important events in history, likes the birth
of kings. If we look at the records of comet sightings there are none that
match with the birth of Jesus. One example being Halley's Comet which was
present in 11 B.C., however the first Christmas was observed around 5 to 7 B.C.
Second, there are those who believe that the Star of Bethlehem was
a conjunction, or combination of several planets in the night sky. Since
planets orbit the sun at different speeds and distances, they occasionally seem
to come close together and appear as one bright star. Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630), a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer preferred this
view. Multiple planets aligning in the night sky do not take on the look of a
single light source, as depicted in Holy Scripture. Plus the alignment of planets happen quite frequent and are not that unusual, therefore practiced astronomers
and astrologers would not be surprised by them. Looking at history, we find
that there was a convergence of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in 6
B.C., and an even closer conjunction in 66 B.C., however these were too early
to mark the birth of our Lord and Savior.
Lastly, there are those who have proposed that an exploding star,
or supernova, to explain the Christmas Star. There have been stars that have
become unstable and explode in this manner causing a bright shining light in
the sky. If we take a close look at historical records, there is no indication
of a supernova or exploding star at the time of the Christ's birth.
We can see that all three of these explanations for the Star of David
fall short of the account of the nativity
story in Matthew which was predicted in Numbers 24:17.
Two of the details in Matthew draw special interest; first, the scripture
suggest that only the Wise Men saw the star. If it were a comet, conjunction, or
an exploding star would it not be visible to everyone on earth? Second, the
star went before them and led them directly from Jerusalem to Bethlehem,
(Verse 9). Looking at a map of that time, we can see that this is a distance of
about six miles (about 9.6 kilometers), going in a north to south direction, every natural object
in the sky moves from east to west due to the earth's rotation. Also how can a
natural light lead the way to a specific house?
Researching and learning all this we must conclude that the Star
of Bethlehem was not a naturally occurring incident that we can explain by
science. This “start” was a brief and divine light. After all, was not the
first Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Savior a time of miracles?
Many times, God has used supernatural heavenly lights to lead his
people, for example the glory of the LORD that filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38)
then there was the “cloud” that filled the temple (1 Kings 8:10)
and we can not forget “a light from heaven” that shone upon apostle Paul on the
road to Damascus (Acts 9:3).
All these seeable displays of God's presence known as the Shekinah Glory, the
settling or dwelling place of the Divine Presence of God. This divine light seen
by the Magi is a visible embodiment of divine majesty.
This inspiring mystery of the birth of Christ Jesus, Immanuel, is not
about what caused this special guiding light. The great riddle is why the Wise Men were
chosen to follow the light to baby Jesus and why we are offered the same beckoning
today. Are you ready to follow?
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