“The star was so beautiful, large and clear,
That all the other stars of the sky
Became a white mist in the atmosphere.
And by this they knew that the coming was near
Of the Prince foretold in prophecy”
Thus wrote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow concerning the Star of Bethlehem. Of all the signs and wonders surrounding the birth of Christ it is perhaps the most mysterious. It is certainly the most interesting.
After the birth of Jesus men obviously interested in astronomy came from the east to Jerusalem and inquired, “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” (Matthew 2:1-2). They were very likely astrologers, persons who consulted the stars to make predictions about future events. As they studied the night sky they saw something to indicate that a king had been born in Judea.
What exactly did they see? There have been many different theories. Some Christians have speculated that the star was a supernatural light – something never seen before, and would never be seen again. Some have conjectured that it was a comet, or a conjunction of planets. Johannes Kepler thought it was a supernova – an exploding star. Still others think it could have been a meteor shower.
What are we to make of these theories? And there have been others. The place to start is with biblical facts. First, we know that it was a heavenly object, and that it made a sudden appearance in the east (Matthew 2:2). Presumably the Magi had never seen anything like it before. Otherwise, they would not have followed it.
Second, it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. This explains why the Magi stopped in Jerusalem to ask for directions instead of going straight to Bethlehem. Then the star reappeared. This is the implication of Matthew 2:9-10. The most convincing explanation is that the Magi witnessed several conjunctions of Jupiter, the planet they considered to represent kingship. A number of such conjunctions took place in the years leading up to the death of Herod.
In September, 3 B.C., Jupiter came into conjunction with Regulus, the star of kingship, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo. Leo was regarded to be the constellation of kings, and it was associated with the Lion of Judah. The conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus was repeated, not once but twice, in February and May of 2 B.C. Finally, in June of 2 B.C., Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest objects in the sky except for the sun and the moon, had an even closer encounter when they appeared to touch each other in the sky. To the naked eye they became a single object.
The Magi followed the star, whatever it was, to Jerusalem, and then five miles further to Bethlehem. Though no one knows precisely what the Star of Bethlehem was, it was a remarkable demonstration of God’s sovereignty. It means that from the beginning of time, God organized the entire universe in a way that would herald the birth of His Son, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, into the world.
It also means that the greatest event in human history was not when a man walked on the moon. It was when God walked upon the earth.
The Paper Pulpit 
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