The Star That Leads to the Savior

Most of us read Luke’s account of the Christmas story, but a fascinating detail about the birth of Jesus is found in Matthew’s gospel.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked,

“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” ~Matthew 2:1-2 (NIV)

It’s such familiar part of the story that it’s easy to overlook something interesting: why on earth wise men from the east would travel so far to see a Jewish king?

“The east” would be Persia (modern day Iran) and beyond, possibly as far as India and China. How could these men even know about a Jewish king? A glance back at a biblical time line gives us a hint: hundreds of years before, Babylonians conquered several nations and led their captives eastward. Among them? Jews.

The best and brightest young Jewish men like Daniel were carried away and made to serve in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. However, as they assimilated into Babylonian society, they held fast to their Jewish roots and introduced their scrolls to their captors. Those writings found their way into the annals of eastern history. So when the star appeared in the sky some 600 years later, it didn’t take the wise men long to connect the prophetic dots and follow them to the Jewish Messiah.

Daniel and his friends faced many challenges during their captivity, but they never lost hope. They remained faithful and chose to trust God in the midst of their dark circumstances.

When we face dark times, we have a similar choice:
worry about what we see, or hold fast to Who we know.

In every situation, God is working in ways we can’t understand and working all things together for good (Romans 8:28).

The suffering that threatens to overwhelm you may be the star God uses to lead others to the Savior.

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