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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Star of Wonder |
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Matthew 2:1-12 Epiphany January 6, 2008 Stars are everywhere at Christmas. They’re on Christmas trees, Christmas cards, wrapping paper, and so many other places they are widely accepted as one of the symbols of Christmas. The star St. Matthew wrote about is also the subject of much controversy. Many say his star of Bethlehem was a comet, a meteor, or a conjunction of the planets of Jupiter and Saturn. Much ink and paper has been spent advancing each of these theories. Of course, there have always been scoffers who reject the existence of any star at all. The Biblical account, they say, is a myth. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury recently cast doubt on the existence of the star, saying something like, stars don’t act that way. Of course he is right, at least in one sense. Stars don’t just appear over night, then disappear for a while, then reappear and lead people to a place and a person. Normal stars don’t do that. And that is just the point. This star of Matthew’s second chapter is no normal, no, ordinary star. This star is a “Star of Wonder.” A Real Star The first thing we can say about this star is that it was a real star. That should not cause anyone any intellectual problems. If you believe God created this vast universe, you should also believe He can make a special star if it suits His purpose to do so. If you believe Christ is, as the Bible teaches, God with us, then you should have no trouble believing He made a special star to announce His appearance on earth. I know many people have a intellectual “reservations” about the Virgin Birth. And these are often people “in the Church.” But I don’t have any problems believing in it. I believe God, in fulfillment of promises made hundreds and thousands of years beforehand, visited this planet in the form of the child in the manger in Bethlehem that first Christmas. I believe that child is God in flesh. I believe He is God with us. I believe the great God of all creation, who is without beginning and without end, whose power is without limit, who knows all and sustains all things, became a man to show to us His love and glory and truth, and to save us from our sins by going to the cross and giving His life there. If God can do that, then being born of a virgin is easy. A Supernatural Star The second thing we can say about this star is that it was a supernatural star. It was not a natural phenomenon that happened to coincide with the birth of Christ. It was not a comet, meteor, or conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. It was not natural. This star just appeared out of nowhere. One minute it wasn’t there, the next minute it was. Then it disappeared. I have heard that some stars do something similar. They fade low enough that we can’t see them from earth, then regain power the way logs do sometimes in the fireplace. But that process takes a long time. That is not what was happening with this Christmas Star. It was a new star, and it was a temporary star. When it had served its purpose of telling the wise men about the Saviour’s birth, it left them. Normal stars don’t grow brighter and dimmer that quickly. But this is no normal star. There is something else that tells us this star is a supernatural star; not everyone could see it. Herod didn’t see it. He had to ask the wise men about it, (Mt. 2:7). The priests and scribes of Israel didn’t see it. They seemed to be as much in the dark as Herod. Nor are there any reports of it anywhere else in the world, that I know of, and this at a time when people made their livings tracking the stars and planets, night after night because they believed the stars somehow ruled or influenced the lives of people here on earth. But the wise men saw it. They saw it and they understood it, and they traveled hundreds of miles to see the King it announced by its appearance. The primary indication that this is a supernatural star, however, is its movement. It led the wise men to Bethlehem. It, “went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was,” (Mt. 2:9).
A Star of Wonder This leads to the next thing we can say about the star, it was a star of wonder. I use “wonder” as the New Testament uses the word, as a supernatural sign from God. Jesus performed many such signs and wonders during His life, and each one revealed something about Jesus. If He can cleanse the leprosy of the flesh, then He can cleanse the leprosy of the soul. If He can heal the physical body, He can heal the spiritual “heart.” If He can drive out demons, He can win the great cosmic war with Satan. If He can heal the sick, calm the storm, forgive sins, defeat the devil, and raise the dead, then He must be God in the flesh, for who can do these things but God alone? That is the meaning of the miracles in the life and ministry of Christ. Now, here is the meaning of the star. If it appears and disappears, then reappears and leads men looking for the “King of the Jews” to Jesus, then Jesus is the King of the Jews. And if this star led Gentile scholars to worship Jesus, then He is not the King of the Jews alone, but of all who will live in faith and obedience in Him. He is the long awaited Messiah, whose Kingdom shall have no end, because He Himself has no end. He is God, and He is God with us.
A Symbolic Star Finally it is a symbolic star. Jesus is the real Star. He is the light shinning in the darkness. He is the bright and morning star of Revelation 22:16, who announces the dawn of the New Day, the Day of the Lord. In Him the day of “peace on earth good will towards men” is becoming a reality. He is the star of Jacob in Numbers 24:17. The star of Bethlehem that led the wise men to Him, was but a symbol of the real star, who lay in the cradle, the Son of Mary. The star in the sky had but one purpose, to lead us to the Star in the cradle. Thus, like the wise men, let us follow the Star. Let us pray again the Collect for Epiphany, “O
God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to
the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may
after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the
same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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