Sermon 12-11-16 Pastor Ray Lorthioir Trinity Lutheran Church W. Hempstead, NY Based on Matthew 2:1-12 Message In The Stars As we begin our consideration of Matthew chapter 2 we need to ask an important question. Can we Kind any signikicant information about events on earth in the sun, moon and stars? The Bible s answer may come as quite a surprise. We begin in Genesis 1:14-17, 14 And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. 16 God made two great lights the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. These verses tell us that besides giving light the sun moon and stars are given as signs to mark seasons days and years. Signs that s information in the sky. We keep time by the rotation of the earth and its revolution around the sun. Each day of the year the star pattern above changes in a grand parade. So here in the northern hemisphere we know that winter is coming when we see the constellation Orion begin to rise in the evening. We know that the constellation Scorpio on the southern horizon means that summer heat is upon us. There is information in the heavens. Next we turn to Psalm 19:1-4, The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. David meant by this that God s creation speaks for Him. The creation speaks of His existence and His incredible power and glory. Anyone with any wisdom can see this unless they re locked into the doctrines of Philosophical Materialism, as unfortunately all too many Americans are. The Apostle Paul quoted Psalm 19:4 in a most signikicant way in Romans 10:17-18, 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Here Paul is speaking about the Jews who had hardened their hearts against the message of Messiah. He argues from Psalm 19:4 that news of Messiah Jesus has gone out into all the earth even from the sky. Indeed. Think of the darkening of the sun on the day Jesus was crucikied. One ancient source says that this was experienced throughout the eastern Mediterranean basin. And there was also the star that brought the Magi to Jerusalem. These are just two of Messiah s signs proclaimed to the inhabitants of the earth from the sky overhead. More are coming on the Day of His return. So, Scripture declares that God has given us the sun, moon and stars by which to keep time. It also declares that God uses the sun, moon and stars to declare His glory, and even to mark the seasons of His salvation. 1
On the other hand, God said in Deuteronomy 4:19, And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars all the heavenly array do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. And because Israel disobeyed this command in the time of the kings, Jeremiah was given Jeremiah 8:1-3, 8:1 At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings and ofkicials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. 2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. This is saying that those who guide their lives by created things instead of the Creator will be punished. Even their graves will be desecrated. However, notice the words loved, served, worshiped, followed and consulted. In our time it s quite peculiar that so many who otherwise trust in the doctrines of Philosophical Naturalism follow and consult the stars through their daily horoscope. But again, this just goes to show how unsatisfying a universe without the supernatural is to the human heart. Nevertheless, Yahweh has commanded us not to guide our lives by stars, but by every Word that proceeds out of His mouth. Therefore, true Christians reject Astrology. However, God has placed signs in the sun, moon and stars to teach us of Himself, mark the seasons and even to notify us of signikicant salvation events. Now, ancient peoples codikied the star patterns known as constellations. They also named some of the brightest stars. In addition they named the so-called wandering stars the planets that are visible to the naked eye in the night sky. Ancient peoples feared the planets, called them gods and worshipped them. As we just saw even the Israelites got into this practice. Why is beyond our present comprehension. They are not objects of fear to us. Indeed, how many of us can even identify in the night sky the planets visible to the naked eye? Yet, the records of ancient peoples all over the earth speak of great catastrophes coming from the planet gods. The reason remains unknown. Nevertheless, in the present conkiguration of our solar system, the planets are the brightest objects in the night sky. If we go away from the city lights, say out to Montauk, the night sky is Killed with stars. This is how it was all over the earth before the invention of electric light bulbs a little more than 100 years ago. Some stars are brighter because they are closer to us. But the brightest of all are the planets because they are the closest. The planets are unusual for another reason. Because they are so much closer to us than the stars, they appear to move against the background of the Kixed stars very slowly from night to night. The two visible planets outside Earth s orbit, Mars and Jupiter, also display another unusual feature. When they are watched from night to night against the background of the Kixed stars, at a certain point they will appear to stop their motion, reverse direction for a period of weeks, then stop again and Kinally resume their normal motion. Astronomers call this retrograde motion. It happens because of earth s own orbit around the sun is inside their orbits. 2
A man named Johannes Kepler who lived from 1571 to 1630 was a fabulous astronomer and mathematician. It was he who observed that the motion of the planets across the night sky are very regular and can be calculated. In modern times the work of Kepler and those who followed him has been greatly expanded by the computer. I have a program called Starry Night on my computer. It allows me to look at a representation of the night sky from any point on earth I choose, for any year, month, day and hour I choose. If I want, I can see what the stars looked like over Mineola at the hour of my birth. I can run this program far into the future or into the remote past. It will accurately represent the night sky on any date past or present. Now, a Christian lawyer who goes by the name, F. A. Larson, became very interested in the Star of Bethlehem and used the Starry Night program to discover the information I m going to share with you. I ve run his calculations through my own Starry Night program and they are indeed so. Here s the necessary background to understand what Larson did. We begin with Matthew 2:1-2, 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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. So, Jesus was born during the reign of King Herod the great and just before his death. This piece of information is most important for running the calculations Before 525A.D. calculating Easter had to be done using the old Roman system of counting the years beginning with the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, an emperor who had persecuted Christians. This fact stuck in the craw of a monk name Dionysius Exiguus. Therefore, in the year 525A.D. he put forward a new system of calculating the years based instead on the birth of Jesus. Dionysius method of counting didn t become universally accepted in Europe until the 800 s, but it s what we use today. This is the year 2016 Anno Domini (A.D.) translated the Year of Our Lord. In other words we ve counted 2,016 years since Jesus of Nazareth was born. There s only one problem. Dionysius didn t quite get his calculations correct. Jesus was actually born before 1A.D. We know this based on Herod the Great s death as recorded by the great Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who was born in 37A.D. and died in 95. He wrote a history of the world from Adam and Eve up to his time. He s also known for a history of the Kirst Jewish rebellion against Rome in which he participated. His works still exist today. On the basis of Josephus scholars calculated that Herod died in 4B.C. Since Matthew tells us that Herod was still alive at the time of Jesus birth this means that Jesus had to be born before 4B.C. This information was known in the time of Johannes Kepler. Therefore, using his new calculations of planetary motion, Kepler was eager to Kind traces of the star of Bethlehem. But when he did the calculations for 4B.C. and earlier he could Kind no trace of the star. No one else has been able to either. But in 2009 a study of all recopied manuscripts of Josephus works was made. It was discovered that a copying error had crept into the text in 1544. Therefore, using copies of Josephus made before 1544, the best scholarship now calculates Herod s death as being in 1B.C. This means that Dionysius mistake still stands and Jesus was born before 1A.D. But 1B.C. as the year of Herod s death changes the search for the 3
star in a signikicant way. For, when a search is made for the star in 3 or 2B.C. some intriguing things show up. F. A. Larson discovered it using his Starry Night application. To understand the discovery we need to know some astrological facts. From ancient times Jupiter has been known as the King s planet. Also, there s a star in the constellation Leo, the lion, named Regulus. From ancient times Regulus has been known as the King s star. Finally, the lion is the symbolic animal of the tribe of Judah, like the Eagle is the symbolic animal of the U.S. The Starry Night application shows that in September of 3B.C. the constellation Leo was rising in the Eastern sky at sunset. Right around the time of the Jewish Feast of Trumpets the New Year Jupiter, slowly moving across the star Kield, passed in front of Regulus. This was the King s planet passing in front of the King s star. But then retrograde motion set it. Over a series of weeks, Jupiter made that Kirst pass in front of Regulus, stopped, came back and passed in front of Regulus going the other way, then stopped again and passed in front of Regulus one more time as it resumed its normal direction in the star Kield. Therefore, if we plot Jupiter s motion night to night that fall it draws something of a circle around Regulus the King s planet drawing a crown around the King s star. So, rising in the east at sunset that fall, the Magi would have seen the King s planet crowning the King s star in the constellation that represents Judah. This corresponds with what the Magi told Herod. They had seen the King s star in the east. For additional reasons we don t have time for, F. A. Larson believes that September of 3B.C. is the time the angel Gabriel announced Jesus conception to Mary. But the astronomical show wasn t over. By June of 2B.C., nine months later, Jupiter had moved across the star Kield and was setting in the west a couple hours after nightfall. The Magi watched that month as Jupiter, the King s planet gradually moved closer and closer to Venus, the Mother Planet, until they shone as one. Venus is the brightest planet and Jupiter the second brightest. There are no brighter stars in the sky. Therefore, it was a spectacular show just after sunset. Our Magi who saw Jupiter, the King s planet, crown Regulus the King s star in the east now saw it join with the Mother planet in the West. Jerusalem was West of them and off to Jerusalem they went seeking the newborn King of the Jews. Larson conjectures that Jesus was born in June of 2B.C. He also conjectures that after a several month trip the Magi would have arrived in Jerusalem in December of 2B.C. So back to the text. Matthew 2:1-3, 1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 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. 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. No doubt the Magi went to Jerusalem because they thought that the birth of the King of the Jews would be well known. But it s apparent from verse three that no one in Jerusalem knew how to do their kind of astrological stargazing. For, everyone in Jerusalem was clueless and caught off guard even though the astronomical show had been the same in Jerusalem as it had been in Babylon. 4
Matthew 2:4-8, 4 When he [Herod] had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 In Bethlehem in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written: 6 But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you Kind him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him. The Magi didn t know to go to Bethlehem on their own. The learned ones among the scribes of Israel knew the prophecy about the birth of Messiah and Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem. Matthew 2:9-10, 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. If F. A. Larson s assumptions are correct, the Starry Night program reveals that in December of 2B.C., the wise men would have seen Jupiter shining high in the Southern sky just before dawn. SigniKicantly, six miles due south of Jerusalem is Bethlehem where Herod was sending them. Using the Starry Night program, F.A. Larson found that on December 25 th of 2B.C. Jupiter came to the end of another of its retrograde motions and stopped its motion on the star Kield before resuming its normal motion. Assuming that the Magi were expert astronomers and were in Jerusalem that month, Jupiter s motion would not have gone unnoticed by them. Therefore, Larson speculates that this is the reason the text says that the star stopped over the place where the child was. Indeed, the Greek text literally says that they rejoiced with exceeding great joy when they saw that Jupiter had stopped its motion over Bethlehem. The motion of the planet was conkirming the information they had received from Herod. Matthew 2:11-12, 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Notice the Magi came not to a stable or cave but to a house. This means that Jesus and his parents were established in Bethlehem for a period of time. And the Greek word translated child is the word for a child beyond infancy. Based on two different scenarios Larson conjectures that Jesus was either six months or Kifteen months old in December of 2B.C. So, is Matthew s account of the visit of the Magi, the wise men, creditable? Well, the signs are in the stars, you might say. Modern scholarship, Kepler s laws of planetary motion and the computer have revealed a possible conkirmation of Matthew s account. Something did happen in the night sky during the time of Jesus birth. And it was discernible only to men skilled in astronomy and in interpreting what the signs meant, just like the Bible says. Fortunately, we don t have to be skilled in astronomy to know what the signs mean. All we need is God s Word and hearts made wise by God s Holy Spirit. Then 5
we can discern who Jesus is. But I share this with you today so that you may be encouraged. Christians don t believe in old tales. We believe that the God who created the heavens and earth has acted in real history to save us from our dreadful sins. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is Emmanuel, God with us. All Bible quotes are from the NIV. Information contained in this sermon can be found here: http://www.bethlehemstar.com Opposition to the ideas of F.A. Larson can be found here: https://answersingenesis.org/holidays/christmas/an-evaluation-of-the-star-ofbethlehem-dvd/ Corrections: It was not a copying error in handwritten manuscripts of Josephus but a printing error in 1544. Johannes Kepler did come to a conclusion about the star of Bethlehem. He thought it was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7-6B.C. 6