Advent Star

“Where is the new-born King of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.” 

Matthew 2:2

The star hangs in silent suspension in the clear night sky. So far away and yet so bright, so beautiful, piercing the darkness of space. It wheels its course in a soundless orbit, set in motion long ago by the One who generously spangles the black depths of the universe with an abundance of starry glitter. Earth is nightly invested with a regal crown of breath-taking coruscated beauty and yet how often we miss this nocturnal ceremony

Perhaps the Wise Men were wise because of the simple action of lifting their eyes from the ground to the sky. They watched the star rise and asked, where is the King? They are an example to us because they looked up and they made a choice. They show us that wisdom is in the act of following. Their journey was a long one and perilous but still they travelled, always following the star until one day, they met the King. Wisdom led them to bow down and worship. They presented themselves and their gifts to Jesus who would later declare in Revelation, ‘I am the bright Morning Star’ (22:16)

Jesus, our Morning Star, beckons us onwards and even though we walk in the horrifying, terrible darkness of this world, we know with certainty that the dawn of a new day will break and the eternal glorious light of God’s Kingdom will banish the black shadows for ever. The presence of the star means morning really is nigh. The orbit of God’s bright Morning Star was set in place at the dawn of time. Its very existence reminds us that we are not forsaken, that its trajectory was intended to cut directly across earth’s history before reaching the final stopping place at time's end. The journey may be hard and long but the star is always before us, urging us on, and every time we lift our eyes, its’ light instils fresh hope.

If during Advent we question the meaning of Christmas, the validity of what we are doing, or the significance of the season, we can go outside and simply look upwards to see heaven displaying her eternal glories with our own eyes. We can choose to raise our eyes from the ground to the sky and be reminded by the light of every single star that it is wise to follow and to worship Jesus.

 ‘…consider the wonderful truth of the prophets words, then the light will dawn in your souls and Christ the Morning Star will shine in your hearts.’ 2 Peter 1:19

By following in the star lit steps of the Wise Men, we too are led to bow in the place of worship. Just as they did before us, we present ourselves and our gifts to Jesus. As we spend time 'considering the wonderful truth', the light of Christ himself will radiate out from within us and we can shine in the world like the stars we gaze at.

 “And those who are wise—the people of God—shall shine as brightly as the sun’s brilliance, and those who turn many to righteousness will glitter like stars forever.’  Daniel 12:3