It’s striking that while the world awaits the premier of what’s being dubbed the most anticipated movie of all time, Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, the world is also in the season of celebrating a star that appeared a long time ago, but not in a galaxy far, far away. The galaxy happened to be very local. And while the star was a beacon for the birth of “peace on earth,” today it is often the subject of its own star war. Was the star a miraculous event, a natural occurrence, or simply a made-up story? Why is the star only in Matthew’s gospel? Did Matthew make the story up to provide divine credence to the Jesus tale he was about to weave?
The war on the Bethlehem’s star represents the war on the Bible itself as seen in the different degrees of explanation regarding recordings of miracles in general, the star in particular. Is the miraculous event:
- a “miracle” event created by Bible writers to give credence or divine authority?
- a literary device to express the faith journey of a people?
- an actual physical event that was later ascribed to God?
- an actual event orchestrated by God, either within or outside of the bounds of natural physical laws, in a word, a miracle?
As with Jesus’ resurrection, each gospel writer presents his own version of Jesus’ birth. Matthew is the only gospel writer to include the star and magi; Mark, who must not like kids, opens with Jesus as an adult; Luke, the details guy, gives us the “orderly account” that we have all come to know and love; John, not one for orderly accounts, waxes poetic about God’s incarnation. With each version we get a fresh perspective and a fuller picture of history’s fulcrum event.
A scholarly discipline known as “higher criticism” of the Bible, which began in earnest in the late 1800s and gained popularity in recent decades through pop news magazines like Time and Newsweek, is an effort to explain the Bible as a human document. Since the star is noted only in Matthew’s gospel, it represents the obvious dangling thread for critics to pull to unravel the entire nativity, and in turn, the gospel message.
You can pull on the thread. But the story doesn’t unravel.
If you were to give Matthew 2:1-12 a careful read (and you may want to do that right now), you’d notice a few things about the star. For instance:
- It was Jesus’ star: The magi said they had seen “his star.”
- The star rose: This was apparently a heavenly body unique to all other night-sky risings.
- It rose at a specific time: Herod was able to ascertain from the magi when the star rose.
- The star moved: The star “went before” the Magi and rested where the child was, obviously leading the Magi to a specific place.
It’s worth noting that Matthew speaks rather matter-of-factly about the star—its appearance and movement. We’re given the clue that Matthew does, though, observe the star to be unusual in Matthew 2:9 when he uses the word we translate “behold.” It’s like us saying today, “Check this out!” But Matthew seems to reserve his most awestruck verbiage for the moment the wise men encounter the child. Matthew reverently writes, “They fell down and worshiped Him.” It seems that, for Matthew, this was the point. While the presence of the star wasn’t superfluous, it wasn’t the reason for the story.
This scene depicts the humility of the last-shall-be-first kingdom that Jesus was to usher in. It’s not insignificant that wealthy Gentile Magi (descriptions derived from their origin and their gifts) would fall down and worship a Jewish child of obvious low socio-economic means. Many prominent themes in Matthew’s gospel are represented in this single scene.
This post is not intended to be an air-tight, scholarly apologetic, but more a reflection and an observation. Whether or not the Bethlehem star represents a story-unraveling thread to pull depends on how we approach the Bible in general. Do we start from a position of faith or from a perch of cynicism? The Magi were obviously anticipating Jesus’ star. When they saw it rise, they began their quest and they found what they were looking for.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us this: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
We will never be able to explain biblical miracles through reasoning and science alone. At some point we are asked to take a step of faith. And that’s okay. As Hebrews 11:6 shows us, this step of earnestly seeking (a great parallel to the journey of the Magi) unleashes a powerful force, “…he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
And, if I may, that’s a welcome force that will always be with us.