The message of The Christmas Star!

The message of The Christmas Star



The star of prophecy, called the star of Yacov (Jacob) which led the three magi to the infant Yashua (Joshua / Jesus) was a sign from God. We all know this; we all know the story of the three wise men. I wonder though how many of us pay attention to the star and what God was telling us with this particular sign. Many versions of the story, some of them set to song tell us of the journey of the “three kings”. Most people today do not really understand who these men where at all. Christians today want to gloss over the true identity of these men. Many muslims today want to try and own the identity of these men. But God chose these three men to teach us a great lesson about how his hand is on all people no matter who they are or if we approve of them or not. These three men were not jews, nor christians, nor muslims. These “three” men were in fact pagans. Their given title of kings is also misleading to people. Their wealth and education gave them great power and position in their world in those days. But they were not royalty in the political sense that we think of royalty today. They were not even like the Ceasars of those times. They were king priests or high priests in their traditions. Not to be confused with figures like Melchizedek the fabled priest king of Jerusalem (also called Salem). Melchizedek who first gave us the ritual of communion was both a priest and an actual king. The three magi however did not rule over their nation, but over the hearts and minds of their peoples, including their kings. Three pagan priests began to see signs in their omen scryings and in their cosmic divinations that a child was about to be born on earth. Their pagan religions already accepted the concept of God-men. Gods who literally came to earth in human form, incarnate to walk amongst us in order to help us. This is not an odd concept to ancient pagans, nor to our history books. For those who know about Egypt, they know this is what the kemetic peoples thought about their pharaohs. However as wondrous as this concept was to the magi, it would not have been sufficient enough for them to have left their homelands. These three star gazers who would have been use to children born who they believed to be incarnate deities. This still happens frequently in places like India. The magi had to be convinced that a high and powerful deity was going to incarnate and that is the only thing that would have made them leave their homes. They saw many signs but none like the star of Jacov. They would have known as learned astronomers and astrologers that the appearance of such a star was rare indeed. They would have known such events occurred only ever so many thousands of years. Unlike what modern people think, the ancients were far from stupid or uneducated. It was not until a millennia after the burning the great libraries of Alexandria that any human was foolish enough to believe ideas like the earth being flat. The ancients knew better, which is why they referred to the stars as “the heavenly spheres”. The wise men saw the coming of this star and its alignment to our solar system as one of the greatest omens of their traditions. In their minds a great and very good God was going to be born as an infant. In order to pay their respects, and garner favor for their peoples they decided to set out on a quest to find and greet The God-child. I think we can safely assume they had no clue what all they were really in for. And it can be argued that not even in their great knowledge did they have a clue about what the star would be for them. In modern stories the star is merely a point in the sky to reference their direction and lead them to the Christ-child. However in the original Christmas story the star was much more than a point of light. It was in fact The point of light. It came so close to earth that not only did it light their ways at night, it guided them in the day as well. It also warned them of danger according to some versions of the story. They were able to surmise from its position in relation to the surrounding heavenly bodies were the child would most likely be. They were also able to see that danger was afoot. They may have even known that the danger would not be an accident but a person. It can be assumed by the story however that the identity of the person was unknown to them. The dangerous person was ironically a politician; a nobleman named Herod. As the leader of the province they entered, they natural went to him for help and to announce themselves as almost any type of priest in that era would have done. They would have done so in order to show respect for the local customs and the law. They told Herod of their quest; but unlike the magi, Herod did not see a miracle. Herod saw a threat to his provincial rule. This was not something a tyrant like Herod could stand for. But we all know that story. The point of this commentary is the message of the star. What was God trying to tell even us modern peoples about himself through the star sign? Many Christians today can’t understand why God would go to pagan men in order to announce the coming of Christ. There are many reasons known and unknown why God would do this. His ways are indeed mysterious, however we can understand a few pragmatic reasons why he would do this. The jewish people and religion were going through great changes and upheaval at that point in history. Roman rule was changing the culture of the land. Jewish priests were not in a position of any real power even though they still held sway and influence with their own people. Jewish people also had a long religious history of rejecting changes to their ways even when God was himself instituting those changes. Time and again in the bible God referred to his own chosen people as a stubborn and “stiff necked” people. This meant that they were unyielding much of the time and did not suffer change gladly. It would have never entered into jewish ideology or theology that God would come and incarnate as a human. This idea would have been unthinkable to them, even though many of their own prophecies and sacred writings described just that. The jewish concept of a messiah is far different than the Christian concept of a messiah. The jews in fact had many messiahs according to their traditions. The word messiah to the jews simply meant what the literal translation of the word is; the word messiah meaning “chosen” , appointed, or “anointed one”! They conceptualized the messiah to be a warrior king, a political figure that would swoop down and destroy the rule of Rome; and re-establish the jewish nation, its power, its position, and its religious base. That is not what happened however as we all know. Christ did not come and bring back the old ways, and glory days. No, in fact he did just the opposite. Christ evolved the old ways into completely new ways. He was not a political king but a spiritual king; a king priest, in some regards like the magi! He was not interested in a physical kingdom but in the spiritual kingdom of God that permeated, surrounded, and superseded all things including the physical world. He did not come to bring political freedom to the jews, but spiritual freedom to all mankind. And “all mankind” is exactly the message of the Christmas star. The pagans “kings” or magi, whose real number is unknown but who symbolically appear in the story as a triplicity brought gifts with them to the child. Why three? Three is a sacred number in almost all religions. Three tells the story of creation in sacred geometry. Three is The Holy Trinity. Three is a number of pagan virtue. Three is the family unit in ancient times; father, mother, and child. Three is the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Three is the stages of human life; child, adult, and old one (maiden, mother, crone / lad, father, magi). Three foreshadows three days till resurrection. The three wise men brought gifts to Mariam (Mary), and Yosef (Joseph). These gifts were as we all know frankincense, gold, and myrrh. Gold was for the royalty of a king; it was meant as a gesture of good will to help raise, take care of, and educate the little God king. Frankincense was meant as medicine to keep the child in good health. It is one of the most powerful medicines on the planet and was valued more than gold at the time. The myrrh is the most telling of all the gifts. In almost all the religions of that time period that held stories of god-men; those god men had to in the end sacrifice their lives for the good of the people and return to their starry homes. Myrrh was for the sacrifice that they knew he had made to come here, and for the sacrifice they knew he would have to make in leaving. The myrrh was also meant to provide some spiritual protection and that is still what it is widely used for to this very day in ritual traditions! But again what is the star in the story telling us? The star which God sent to pagan people who are often called “lost” by God’s “saved” or “chosen” children. God was telling us many things with the star. He is not limited by the hearts or even the salvation of men. He will show his light to anyone who is truth seeking. He will guide us in the darkest times, in the darkest of nights; and lead us even when the false half light of the world is trying to blind us with its subdued radiance. He didn’t send Christ to only speak to the jews, but to the whole of creation. In fact when the jews ignored him, he took his message to a wider audience and this action led to a famous bible verse which reads;

“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who called on his name, he gave the right to be called children of God”!
John 1: 11-12

This does not mean that everyone chooses salvation but that everyone has been invited by the creator to achieve salvation. We have been given a choice and free will. He gave us his love freely, but his salvation comes with a price. The price is to return that love and that respect back to him. This is sometimes a huge responsibility but it need not be looked at like a burden. In fact Christ described his path as a light burden. Difficult sometimes yes, but not impossible. He gave his light unto the world! The star was an outward sign of the light and love he came to give to the world. The star was a sign of the salvation he offered to all mankind. Those who follow him are spiritual Israel! The star tells us that He has given us all the opportunity and chances to see him and choose him. The star says that he gives us all his guidance. It tells us that all people not just those who are “saved” are in this life in touch with and are part of the presence of God. We all walk in proximity to his spirit, and we all need to find a way to walk his path! The star tells us that he is here right in front of us, and that if we have the courage to truly look and seek, that we can and shall find him! The message of the star tells us that He loves us all, even those who are “lost”. The message of the star says unequivocally “peace on earth and great joy to all whom on God’s favor rests”! The star tells us to desire peace, and to have hope, to seek his light, and to indwell within his love! The star tells us that He is here with us surrounding us and guiding us if we just let ourselves be aware of him. The star sings to us with the angels “Hoshana (hosanna / praises) Hoshana to God in the highest, Emmanuel has come”. Emmanuel means “God with us” and is another name for Yashua. The star proclaims this truth, that indeed God is here with us. He has given us so many resplendent gifts, and everything can point to him if we just let ourselves see it that way. The star is a message of hope; of light in the darkness. They say it is always darkest before the dawn and that too is the message of the star. We should never give up hope. Hope holds all the other virtues in balance. Even the greatest virtues of love and faith are anchored by the presence of hope. This is the message of the Christmas star. Hope came and dwelled amongst us, and even though He ascended He has never left! The star of the hopes of all mankind led the magi to The Christ child and shone down on him pointing to the true north of the universe. The star is the light of hope and that is the truest of all its messages! Some said the star was really an angel, some people say it was an “angelic star” which is a type and form of angelic energy, some modern people try and pass it off as some type of other cosmic event like a comet. Well the truth is that it really doesn’t matter what the star was, but rather what it told us about life. The message of the star which is the real Christmas gift is Christ who tells us that HOPE IS NEVER FALSE! GOD IS WITH US! SALVATION CAN BE YOURS!