The Star That Hovered Over Bethlehem
by Dr. Harold Sala
“…and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” Matthew 2:9-10
The star of Bethlehem what was it, really? In 1613 the question occurred to Johannes Kepler, the European astronomer. It was just a week until Christmas and Kepler was fascinated by the confluence of the two planets Saturn and Jupiter in the constellation of Pisces.
“Could it be,” thought Kepler, “that the star which guided the Wise Men was really these two planets?” Kepler was intrigued by the idea and began to study. Whether he wanted to prove his idea or to discredit it is not certain, but before he died, Kepler’s brilliant mathematical deductions showed that a conjunction of the two planets did take place in the year 7 BC.
Kepler died before scholars discovered that the time table he used contained a seven year error which would add new credence to his theory. Then in 1925 scholars translated a Babylonian astronomical tablet that told of the rendezvous of Saturn and Jupiter in 7 BC, which could have really been the time of Christ’s birth.
In the past years, however, astronomers have proposed another theory: that the star which guided the Wise Men to Bethlehem was really a giant thermonuclear space explosion that could reoccur any time. They base their theory on ancient Chinese and Korean records of men who are said to have seen the star during the star’s appearance. The Royal Astronomical Society of Britain published the learned article in its journal.
Without casting any reflection upon the ability or the credentials of the men who have advanced the theory, I will dare to suggest that again this year you will hear of new theories explaining the star that went before the Wise Men. Men have always sought to explain the cause of the supernatural rather than really to discern its true purpose or significance. What caused the star? To my way of thinking, it is not nearly as important as what it did, which was to guide the Wise Men through a world of confusion to the feet of the Christ child, whose entrance brought eternal light into our dark world.
I am reminded of the story of the office manager who needed to hire only one boy, yet a dozen wanted the position. Bringing them together, he told a story about a certain farmer whose chickens were being raided by a sly old fox who would break into the hen house and steal the chickens. He told how the farmer wakened one night to hear a commotion in the hen house.
He grabbed his old shotgun and a flashlight and headed out the door, but just before he got to the hen house he caught a fleeting glimpse of the four legged culprit stealing the chicks. At that moment, however, he tripped over a pail in the dark. The flashlight went flying, and both barrels of the shotgun discharged.
“Now,” said the business manager, “have you any questions?” “What kind of chickens were they?” asked one boy. “What kind of gun did the farmer have?” asked another. And on and on, but finally one boy asked, “Mister, did the farmer hit the old fox that was stealing the chickens?” This last boy’s question won him the job.
Regardless of how God chose to hang the star over the stable at Bethlehem, the central fact of the matter is that God put something special there to guide the Wise Men who had to traverse the hills of doubt and skepticism. Nonetheless, they finally got there and bowed their knees, proclaiming the Christ child as the Anointed of God. Have you ever bowed your knees and proclaimed Him as King of your life?
Trying to discover the “why” of the incarnation, many wise men never see the miracle of new life in the Babe who died that all might live. That is the true miracle of the light over Bethlehem.
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