Sunday 01 January 2012

Background

Imagine a world with no street lamps or light pollution; a worldwith no TV, where people would spend hours marvelling at the starsin the night sky. Over time, you would become familiar with theconstellations, and learn to follow their paths, and use them asuseful markers for navigation. When the heavens and the earth wereconsidered to be intimately related, it was common to believe thatgoings-on in the galaxy were omens, or that these glitteringheavenly travellers carried messages from the gods. In this ancientworld, studying the stars and interpreting them went hand-in-hand;astronomy and astrology were one and the same. In Babylon, amongother places, the stars were even worshipped as deities.

Science tells us that stars are the prime source of energy to theplanets surrounding them, and also the furnaces in which the atomsof the universe are fused together from simple hydrogen and helium.It's difficult to comprehend, but the elements that make up yourbody were once constructed in the centre of a faraway star attemperatures millions of times hotter than we can imagine, andflung across the universe by stellar winds or the explosion of thestar. Stars are pretty amazing things!

So, Magi came from the east, possibly from Babylon or Persia. Werethey magicians, astrologers or kings? They were certainly wise men(as the story goes on to reveal). And they came following a star.Was this the very first satnav? Or a bright exploding supernova? Ora comet? Or even the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn creating aspectacular light (as occurred around 7 BC)? We may never know theanswer (although the latter makes poetic sense - as Jupiter wasassociated with kings, and Saturn with the Jews - so they camelooking for the King of the Jews!). But let's not miss the point inall this speculation! The Magi came to pay homage to ... not thewondrous star, but something much smaller and more fragile. Theycame, not to bow in awe of a bright flaming ball of gas in the sky,but to kneel at the cot of a baby. They travelled hundreds ofmiles, over dangerous terrain, risking ambush and exhaustion, andargued their way past palace guards ... to worship a child.

The Magi had only limited knowledge of the Jewish faith. But theycame trusting in what they knew, and found what they were lookingfor. For Matthew, this was the fulfilment of Scripture. For Herod,this was the arrival of a threat to his unworthy kingship. For theChristian today, this is the Messiah being revealed to thoseoutside of Judaism too. For the Magi, this was simply the trip of alifetime! And they came to worship! Maybe not as we would worship,and maybe not with the same meaning or emphasis, but their journeyand their gifts were acceptable to Jesus. And the gifts weresymbolic - of course! Gold for a king; frankincense for a deity;and myrrh was often used for festivities, although it was also usedfor burial (including Jesus' own). They are also very valuable andwould have a practical use for Jesus' family, particularly in theirexile that was to follow.

So these wise men followed a fascinating star in all its wonder andsplendour, but they came to worship an even brighter light: a lightthat was not created and will never be extinguished, the true lightof God that they saw in a small child: Jesus the Messiah. The wordsof a carol put it best of all:

O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.

To Ponder

In this story, God used the spectacular to pointto the humility and holiness of God's own love laid bare in amanger. As we are dazzled by the attractiveness of certain thingsas we follow our desires, to what extent do we miss the beauty andjoy of smaller things taken for granted?

This new year, what paths are you resolving tofollow? You could resolve to fill each day with a little bit ofworship, as you let the light of Christ shine in you more andmore.