Happy New Year Friends!
For our first Sunday in the new year, we go back to the nativity one more time. This time we join the Wise Men and follow the star. I did some research during Advent about this famous star that appeared mysteriously. I found an article by David Weintraub titled, “Navigating the Crossroads of Science and Religion.” There are truly interesting astrological phenomenon happening during the Nativity story.
The story of the Wise Men and the star is only found in the gospel of Matthew and the writer carefully chose words that lead us down an astrological path. Lost in translations, several of the words used by Matthew were actual astrological terms in Greek. David Weintraub takes it a step forward with a modern-day explanation for the star. “Together, a rare combination of astrological events (the right planet rising before the sun; the sun being in the right constellation of the zodiac; plus a number of other combinations of planetary positions) would have suggested to ancient Greek astrologers a real horoscope and a royal birth.” You could say that God chose a moment when the stars literally aligned, to send his son to the earth and to send a message to the entire world that something big, something “royal,” was happening in Bethlehem.
The question is, what does this mean for us and our understanding of God coming to the earth in Jesus. Looking back to the question of the article, how do we navigate the crossroads of science and religion? How do we navigate the boundaries of intellect and faith?
We’ll be looking at these questions this weekend as we travel together back to the Christ child, where it all began.
Grace and Peace,
Myra Moreland