A challenge with re-reading the Christmas story each year is that it can become too familiar. Many of us can recite it from memory. My dad often saw truths in Scripture that other people overlooked. He didn’t make them up. He just noticed what other people missed. While it’s important not to make assumptions about Scripture that go beyond what the text actually says, it’s always a useful exercise to mine Bible passages for new treasures.
As I was preparing to lead a Bible study at my church this week, a phrase stuck out to me that I’d never noticed before. It’s found in Matthew 2:9, “After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.”
This verse describes the journey the magi took to Jerusalem. If they came from Babylon or Persia, they had traveled hundreds of miles. They were probably astronomers who studied the stars and watched for signs of something important taking place. As they surveyed the heavens, they saw an unusual star. They concluded that the star was announcing the birth of the king of the Jews. Perhaps in their research, they had discovered writings or traditions from the times of Daniel, Esther, or Nehemiah. They set out for the capital of the Jewish people, assuming their king would be born in a palace. The Bible doesn’t say if the magi followed the star to Jerusalem. Their research likely informed them that the events involved the Jews, so they may have simply headed to the Jews’ capital city. They mistakenly assumed the current monarch would be pleased by the development. Upon their arrival, they asked religious experts in Jerusalem where the baby was.
Herod, the paranoid and homicidal king, learned of their arrival and met with them. He had spent most of his reign murdering any perceived rival to his throne. Being only half-Jewish, he was keenly sensitive to full-blooded Jewish rivals. He lied to the magi, telling them to report back to him when they found the baby so he could go worship him too.
After consulting with King Herod, the magi continued down the road toward Bethlehem. “And there it was—the star they had seen at its first rising . . ..” The star they had seen earlier reappeared to lead them to the house where Jesus resided.
I hadn’t noticed this detail before. God guided the magi by a miraculous star. The star may simply have alerted them that something unusual was happening in Israel, or it might have beckoned them to follow it west. As a result, they traveled to Jerusalem, the largest city and the home to the reigning king of the Jews. But did they need to stop there? The star was prepared to lead them to their destination. The magi may have gone off course to do what made sense to them. They conferred with other scholars and experts. They met with political leaders. Could it be that many innocent babies died because the magi took a break from following God?
The text seems to imply that they didn’t see the star while in Jerusalem. Perhaps its citizens didn’t either. But once they got back on the road, it was waiting to lead them to the child king.
I don’t mean to read too much into this passage. Perhaps the initial appearance of the star led them to understand a king had been born in Israel, so they went to the capital city to find out more. The star may have guided them to travel west, and when they arrived in Jerusalem, they stopped to ask questions. It’s not always wrong to seek counsel from others or to confirm what we sense God is leading us to do. Discipleship is most effective in community. But we should beware of setting aside God’s guidance to pursue our best thinking. We may presume that what makes sense to us is the best path forward. But our ways are not God’s ways (Is. 55:8-9). It may seem tenuous to follow a star. Where might it lead us? We may be tempted to lean into what we know instead. But sometimes God seeks to do something new in our life.
The magi have been called wise men. They certainly were wise to follow God’s guidance. They ended up worshipping Jesus. But sometimes we can be too smart for our own good.
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