The Magi and the Christmas
Star or Star of Bethlehem
Who are the Magi or wisemen? What
was the Christmas Star or Star of Bethlehem? Great scholars have studied the
Magi and the phenomenon of the Christmas Star for hundreds of years without coming to a definitive answer.
The work of God behind the coming of the Magi, the star, and its representation of Christ's birth
seems much
greater when its mystery is unraveled.
The Historical Record in the Bible
Preface: When Joseph and Mary had done everything required
by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
(Luke 2:21-39)
Matthew 2:1-23, New International Version.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in
Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and
asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his
star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this
he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all
the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the
Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied,
"for this is what the prophet has written: " 'But you, Bethlehem, in
the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of
you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'" Then
Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star
had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful
search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may
go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way,
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. On
coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed
down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with
gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not
to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
When they had gone, an
angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he
said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there
until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill
him." So he got up, took
the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where
he stayed until the death of Herod.
And so was fulfilled what the Lord had
said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
When Herod realized
that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders
to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old
and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then
what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard
in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."
After Herod died, an
angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and
said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of
Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
So he got up, took
the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But
when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father
Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he
withdrew to the district of Galilee, and
he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was
said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."
The Magi
While thinking about the Christmas Star we also must think about
the Magi. These guys were absolutely remarkable characters whose role in recent
years has been relegated to something smaller than they probably were.
Who were the Magi?
The Greek word "Magoi" in Matthew 2:1-12 is transliterated into English as
"Magi" or translated as "wise men". We cannot know for certain
exactly who these Magi were. In recent years people have often simply thought of them
as coming from a religious sect that emphasized astrology.
However, let's
see what else is known about them. Matthew 2:1 says the Magi came from the
east. Most of the world east of Israel all the way to
India was controlled by Parthia
from 247 B.C. to A.D. 228. This area would be areas now in present-day Syria,
Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Tajikistan. At times they even controlled parts of today's Turkey,
Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. The people of India and China had regular trade with
the Parthians.
To better understand who the Magi were, let's see what we can learn
about them from the Bible. We'll go back to when Nebuchadnezzar
of the Babylonians had come to Israel and beseiged Jerusalem. The Old Testament book of Daniel
begins with Daniel being taken to Babylon. The Magi appear prominently in the
book of Daniel, where Daniel himself is named as Rab-mag, the chief of
the Magi (Daniel 4:9, 5:11). Daniel 2:48 says that Daniel, as chief of the
Magi, was ruler of the entire province of Babylon. These Magi obviously were powerful men in the very
powerful Babylonian and Persian empires. We can see one instance of a power struggle taking place
between some of the Magi in Daniel chapter
6, where God supernaturally steps in to
rescue Daniel from the lions' den. Later this same land area came to be
ruled by the Parthians.
The Magi were still influential in Parthia. The Parthian empire was ruled by kings. But there was
also a governing body, the Megistanes,
which means "the great ones" or "lords". The Megistanes consisted of the
Sophoi and
the Magoi (or Sophi and Magi). It is very interesting to note that the Magi were
responsible for choosing the kings of the great Parthian empire. They had an unusual
amount of power and control for an eastern monarchy in which they were not
the absolute kings. In fact, there is a sense they
were like kings or lords in terms of power. Little wonder that some of the words
or songs written about
them over the centuries has referred to them as "kings". Their power
was in fact only exceeded by the absolute kings themselves.
The Magi are not sounding like three guys on camels that
ride quietly into Bethlehem like the story is often told. Notice
in the passage in Matthew that there is no mention of the number of Magi that
come to worship Jesus. There are only three kinds of gifts mentioned.
What is known of the
Magi makes it seem more likely that they would have come thundering into the
area of Jerusalem on Arabian stallions accompanied by some tough-looking
soldiers carrying serious
weaponry. The Parthian cavalry was known for defeating the Roman army. There could have
been scores or hundreds of people accompanying the Magi. Many people have said
that the Magi came with a small army.
Some think that the normal garrison of Roman
soldiers that usually occupied Israel was off fighting the Homonadensian
War, leaving them unprotected.
Also,
do not overlook the fact that the Magi had the authority to choose someone as king
over the Parthian empire. It's little wonder that when the Magi showed up asking about a king, Matthew 2:3 says "When
King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him." Three
ordinary astrologists strolling into Jerusalem on camels would not even disturb King Herod's lowest bodyguard, much less the
whole city of Jerusalem. But the arrival of these guys freaked everybody out
in Jerusalem!
How could Magi know of the coming of the Messiah?
Let's think back several hundred years before the time when the Christmas
Star appeared.
Daniel's role in the Magi was discussed above. Furthermore, he was a great
prophet. The Lord revealed to him many things
about the future. One of these things included prophecy about the coming Messiah
(or "Anointed One") as recorded in Daniel chapter 9. We could
speculate that Daniel may have also written down
other prophecies which were not put in the Bible, but left for them as a special
revelation. And he may have explained to them the true meaning of "I see
him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a
scepter will rise out of Israel." (Numbers 24:17) Daniel was put in charge of the
Magi several hundred years before the birth
of Jesus for reasons only known to God. But it
certainly seems like special revelation for the Magi could have been one of the
reasons.
Or it could be that everything we said about Daniel's prophecies and the prophecy
in Numbers was irrelevant. While we have downplayed the Magi as astrologers, it is probably
true that they came from a tradition of examining the skies to find reason,
meaning and purpose in life. Obviously, there was some sort of light in the sky
for the Magi to see. Maybe God simply decided to give the Christmas Star as something which would
have been interpreted by them as an astrological sign of the coming of a great king, one worthy of their
paying honor to, considering their role as the men who acknowledged who was the
rightful king.
When did the Magi (or kings or wise men) see Jesus?
We saw in Matthew
2:13-14 that Joseph and family left for Egypt in the
middle of the night, probably within hours of the Magi's leaving. And
they stayed in Egypt for at least several months, probably years. But Joseph, Mary and Jesus were
in Jerusalem 41
days after the birth of Jesus for His presentation and Mary's
purification, as described in Luke
2:21-39. (See discussion on the Birth
of Jesus page.) So the Holy Family could not have left for
Egypt within the first few days after the birth of Jesus. What
that tells us that the Magi were not present the night of the birth
of Jesus. Nor did they see him in the first six weeks.
How long
after the birth of Jesus did the Magi see Jesus? One would think that it
would take at least a few months to figure out what the star signified, decide
to make the trip, organize the trip, and travel the long distance. We saw in Matthew
2:16 that Herod
was thinking that the child might be as much as 2 years old when the Magi
left Israel to return back to their homeland, based on Herod's order to kill all the boys up to 2 years old. So it's no stretch to think that Jesus might have been a year old or
more by the time the Magi came to worship Him. If the star first appeared
the night of the birth of Jesus, then it would be very reasonable to
assume that it was a year or more after His birth that the Magi arrived.
However, if the star appeared sometime before the birth of Jesus, like
maybe when He was conceived, then the
Magi might have seen Jesus just a couple of months after His birth.
Where did the Magi see Jesus?
Many have referred to the Christmas Star as the Star of Bethlehem, but whether or not it had
anything to do with Bethlehem is another question, as we will now see. We just saw that the Magi were not at the place
of the birth of Jesus anytime within the
first few days. At first glance the Biblical narrative seems to indicate
that they found the child in Bethlehem. But when we start to think things through more,
maybe it wasn't in Bethlehem. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful
search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may
go and worship him." After they had heard the king, they went on their way,
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. On
coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed
down and worshiped him.
Notice that the passage does not say that the Magi went to
Bethlehem. It says that Herod told them to go to Bethlehem. Also notice that it
seems that the star may not have been guiding the Magi for a while
before their arrival in Jerusalem, since they
stopped in Jerusalem to ask. Then after they left Herod "the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child
was." So the star seemed to make a reappearance. Since they now had the
star to lead them, "they were overjoyed." And they would not really care what Herod had said.
In fact, if the Magi received the dream about Herod before visiting him, they may have doubted
anything that came through Herod. Bethlehem is not far enough from
Jerusalem to require stopping to sleep, and therefore have an opportunity
to dream during that
sleep. By horse or camel it would take just a few hours at most. So the
dream could easily have been before meeting Herod. We could however,
possibly theorize that Herod met with them late at night, and then they determined to find
the child the next day. That would give them a night to stay in Jerusalem and
have the dream before visiting Jesus, if Jesus was in Bethlehem.
Or maybe the journey to the place
where the star guided them after leaving Herod was not to Bethlehem, but instead was to a
place more than a day's ride. Then they might have bedded down for the night and
had a dream after encountering Herod, while on the way to see the child.
After they had heard
the king, they went on their way, 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. It is clear that at that point
they followed the Christmas Star, the special
light that God placed in the sky, and were not dependent on any instructions that came from
Herod.
But after Joseph, Mary and Jesus were in Jerusalem 41
days after the birth of Jesus for His presentation and Mary's
purification, as described in Luke
2:21-39, they had gone back to Nazareth. (See discussion on the Birth
of Jesus page.) It does not say they returned to Bethlehem.
They had only gone to Bethlehem because of the census.
When Joseph and Mary
had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to
Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. (Luke 2:39) If they had
returned to Bethlehem, you would think that Luke would tell us that they went
back to Bethlehem.
So we deduce that Joseph had taken his family back to Nazareth and Jesus was probably in Nazareth,
rather than Bethlehem, when the Magi were led to
him by the Christmas Star. Remember the Holy Family went to Egypt for
a long time immediately after the Magi left. However, if you really really hate the idea of the Magi not
having been at Bethlehem, then you could go back to Luke 2:39 and put a
time space of a few years in between the phrase "When Joseph and Mary
had done everything required by the Law of the Lord," and the phrase
"they returned to
Galilee to their own town of Nazareth." If you can make the text mean
that, then you can get to have the Magi visit the Baby Jesus in Bethlehem,
assuming that you have the Holy Family go back to Bethlehem after
finishing their time at the temple in Jerusalem. But the Magi still would
not have been in the nativity scene. We still can't make that
work, since we've got to have the Holy Family in Jerusalem instead of
Egypt six weeks after the birth of
Jesus.
The Christmas Star
The Greek word "aster" translated as "star" in Matthew 2 implies some kind of
celestial object or light in the sky, though not necessarily a star. Today it is
called "the Christmas Star", or "the Star of Bethlehem". However, we saw above
that "the Star of Bethlehem" might be a misnomer, since it could well have been
"the Star of Nazareth." Maybe "Light for the Magi" would be a good name
for it.
Where
was the Christmas Star?
The Magi had seen the light in the east. That phrase
"in the east" does not mean that
they were positionally in the East and saw the star over the place where they
would find Jesus all the way from their faraway land in the East. It is true
that they were east of Israel. But the phrase
used in Matthew was "En te anatole". The singular Greek "anatole"
has the astronomical significance of a star shining in the rays of the rising
sun. By contrast "anatolai" means "east". So they had first
seen the Christmas Star east of them shining brightly through the early morning
light of daybreak. (No, we are not Greek experts. We got that info from others.)
After they had heard
the king, they went on their way, 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. While the star may have been
seen in the dawn's early light at first, now it seems to be leading them right
from Jerusalem to the place where they are going. In other words, it seems near
them and moving from Jerusalem to their destination. Finally, it "stopped
over the place where the child was."
How did the Christmas Star lead the Magi to Jesus?
The phrase went ahead of them tells us that at a certain point at
least it had the appearance of moving and leading the Magi right where they
should go. Had the Christmas Star had the appearance
of leading them for the whole journey and then suddenly disappeared, causing
them to ask Herod where to go? Or had it seemed to them as a sign which made them realize
that they should go to the land of Israel to find the king?
Let's take a
look at what they first said to Herod. Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his
star in the east and have come to worship him. They did not say, "We
have been following this star which was leading us here and now it's disappeared." Nor did they
say, "We have been following this star here and we still see it in the sky leading us
generally to this area, but we don't know exactly where it is leading us."
No, they said that they had seen the star En te anatole, in the rays of
the rising sun, which would have been the opposite direction. Israel was west of
the Magi's homeland. At first it seems that the star was a sign that the Magi
saw and understood as meaning that the Anointed One of Israel was to be born.
After they had heard
the king, they went on their way, 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. Later there definitely seems to be
a change in the behavior of the "star" after they left Herod. Now
this light in the sky is functioning as more than
a sign. It is leading them precisely.
Could the Christmas Star have been the light of a conjunction of planets?
Others who have thought much about the Christmas Star have concluded that
planets could appear in the east, then seem to move in a leading way, and then
stop.
One
writer regarding the Christmas star said, "On June 17th, 2 BC Jupiter
and Venus 'collided' - - they stood 1/50th of a degree apart. The two brightest
planets in the sky appeared to fuse into one immense blaze of light - - an
unprecedented happening. On 27th August 2 BC a grand conjunction of planets
occurred. Jupiter and Mars were 1/7th degree apart with Mercury and Venus
together just I degree away -- in the rays of the sunrise in Virgo. Jupiter then
moved westwards. By mid-November it had passed the zenith and was shining in the
western sky-and still moving west. At this point the Wise Men set out. Six weeks
later, from Jerusalem, the Wise Men saw Jupiter due south on the meridian above
Bethlehem. At that time Jupiter had reached its furthest point west, came to a
halt and stood still against the background stars in the sky 65 degrees above
Bethlehem." The writers of the Star
of Bethlehem site have done a ton of research along these lines.
One problem with this approach is that all the writers that we
have seen writing about this assume that Jesus was in Bethlehem. Yet our
observations of the biblical text seem to indicate that Jesus would have been in
Nazareth then.
Another
problem with the idea that the Christmas Star was a conjunction planets is the
preciseness with which it led them at the end of their journey. Joseph and Mary
would not have been publicizing that their son was the promised Anointed One. So
it's not likely that the Magi could follow the star to a general area and then ask around
"Where's the king?" like they had with Herod. The text indicates that the light led them
precisely to Jesus. A conjunction of planets probably could not do
that.
What was the Christmas Star?
The following sentence
helps us a lot. 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. Well, that certainly makes
this light seem to be very unique. The phrase until it stopped over
the place where the child was tells us that it appeared to move and then stop
and hover in a way and a situation that would make the Magi know where Jesus was.
Whoa! It now appears to be right over the place where
Jesus was. They did not have to wander around asking where the child
was. The text gives the idea that
it really is almost like a beam of light shining down like a spotlight on
the house, or at some point draws so near to the earth that it appears to hover
over that exact house. The closer they get to Jesus, the less this light
seems like a star or planet.
At first it was
like a star in the eastern sky. Then it takes on the character of a moving,
leading light. Then it takes on the character of either a spotlight shining down
on Jesus or something like a hovering light over Jesus. And apparently, others
do not see it. Or if they can see it, they do not understand what they are
seeing. There had been no discussion with Herod,
regarding the star. In other words, Herod and his star-gazers did not say
"Oh, yeah, we saw that too." As said before, a good name
for this light would be "Light for the Magi", instead of "Star of
Bethlehem".
It is not necessary to try to make the Christmas star be a celestial body of
natural origin. It is entirely possible that it was supernatural from start to finish.
Or it could have been that the first sighting was natural, (like the aligning of
planets,) and later the light was supernatural, something like what appeared to
the shepherds on the night of the birth of
Jesus. Luke 2:9 says that when the angels
appeared to the shepherds the glory of the Lord shone around them. The
"glory of the Lord" appears many times in the Old Testament as a
moving, lighted cloud that manifests the Presence of God. We know with absolute
certainty that the Lord was displaying His Presence this way around the time of
the birth of Jesus.
However, the text does not say that the "glory of the
Lord" appeared and led them. Usually
the Bible tells specifically when the Lord appears in a cloud. So it's hard to
label this light as the shekinah glory of the Lord, based on the text
alone. Nevertheless, this would not prevent God from causing a unique light to
be displayed, in order to direct the Magi to Jesus.
The behavior of the light is hard to match up with any natural
phenomenon. We deduce that this light was not a planet or planets, nor any other
natural
celestial body or bodies,
but was a special light given as a sign to the Magi. Since the Magi would
certainly, at the very least, talk about it to a lot of people upon their return
to their powerful positions in Parthia, we can also see how the Lord used this
as revelation to Asia. In addition their gifts could easily have funded the safe
passage of Joseph's family to Egypt and back again in a few years.
Apologies for not providing references other than
hyperlinks to pages on the Internet. But it is easy enough to do an Internet
search and find references, in case you are really interested in digging
further.
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