The Sacrament of the Star
Today the Christian Church celebrates the riches of God’s glorious grace manifested for us sinners in the Epiphany of our Lord. Wise men from the East led by a star and the Word fall down before the Christ Child to worship Him, offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
To manifest means to show or reveal. Whereas Christmas demonstrates the lowliness of our Savior born in the humblest of circumstances, Epiphany shows the glory possessed by the Son of God from all eternity breaking into our lowly world as Light shining in the darkness. The season of Epiphany bears witness to Jesus as the true God and Savior through star, Word, and wise men; worship, promise, and baptism; miracles, signs, and visions . . . leading us to awe, joy, and comfort.
The star documented in the Epiphany account of St. Matthew 2:1-12 bears special consideration as it is usually misunderstood. “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him’” (St Matt 2:1-2). These wise men, literally Magoi, were probably from Babylon. In the Book of Daniel, the Magoi are often called Chaldees or the wise men of Babylon (Dan 2:48). Remember that God had made Daniel chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon, when the tribes of Judah were taken into exile around 586 BC. Through Daniel, the wise men would have been instructed in the Holy Book of Israel, the Torah. Although they didn’t have all of the Scripture, they had its critical core, promising that God would send a Savior, the eternal King, through Israel. In particular, they had the Numbers 24:17 star prophecy: “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come forth from Jacob, and a Scepter [of a King] shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of Sheth.” The wise men awaited a star that was coming to mark the birth of this King from God, who would establish a spiritual kingdom and destroy sin and death (Moab and Sheth). This truth, revealed by the Word of God, would have been passed down from one generation of wise men to the next, each looking to the heavens for the fulfillment.
Finally, a spectacular star arose in the East, apparently at the time of Jesus’ conception by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary. Many scientists have undertaken to figure out the nature of this phenomenon. Using Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and computer analysis, some scientists calculate that at the time of Jesus’ conception, and again at His birth, there was a unique conjunction of the planet Jupiter (the so-called King of Planets) with Venus (the so-called Mother Planet), which would have appeared to the naked eye as a single, brightest-ever star (http://www.bethlehemstar.net). The how is open to discussion, but the fact that God caused the miraculous light in the heavens is not. The wise men trusted God’s Word, they saw the star, and they understood it correctly as the fulfillment of the Word of God, the sign of the long-awaited Savior, the King of the Jews.
It is important to note that unlike certain carols suggest, the star disappeared. It was the star which they had seen in the East, at its rising (St. Matt 2:9). The wise men were required to walk not by sight following a star, but by faith following the Word of God. A 1,500 year old promise, delivered to fellow wise men some 600 years past, would have certainly required significant financing for the journey and likely drawn ridicule from colleagues and neighbors. But the wise men drew strength from the sacrament of the star and walked in faith according to the promise of the Word.
They set off for Jerusalem, the Jewish capital. It would be logical for the Jewish King to be born in the capital, a gleaming city with solid fortifications, a rich temple and worship center, and an educated people.
The problem was that the wise men did not have the full Word of God, only the Torah. They did not have the prophets, to include the prophecy of Micah 5:2: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.” Herod provided this Word, by way of the chief priests and scribes, and off went the wise men immediately, continuing their journey, now on their way to Bethlehem.
So it was that “when they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (St Matt 2:7-11). Note well: Only after they had left Herod and the power center which was Jerusalem, only then did the star reappear which they had previously seen in the East. Then they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. It led them to the Christ Child, their newborn Savior and King!
St. Matthew’s account brings the sacrament of the star together with faith in the promise to reveal Christ, our great Savior and King, as Light shining in the darkness. The wise men did not listen to cultural voices of doubt, ridicule, or so-called common sense. They were not dissuaded by the fact that Jesus was not to be found among the rich, the educated, or even the religious elite of Jerusalem. They turned a blind eye to fact that they had to enter the small, back-water town of Bethlehem and come into the presence of a peasant woman and her poor Son. Against all power, against all perceptions, against all personal prejudices, they held onto and believed the simple Word of God, testified to by the sacrament of the star, and were received into the presence of Christ. They fell down and worshiped Him.
This is what wise men still do. By Sacrament and faith they are received into the presence of eternal, enfleshed Christ. There they worship, there they offer back to God the gifts they have first received, there they discover the awe, the joy, and the comfort of Epiphany.