The Star Of Bethlehem

Go until you see a big maple tree, make a left,

then drive straight until you see Grandpa Joe’s house, make a right, and then turn at the guard rail.

All of us have been given directions like that at some point in our lives. And I don’t know about you, but I am never too confident of finding my way. I mean after all what if their perception of what is a big tree is different than mine? Or what if the tree has been chopped down? No, I would much rather have street names and an address. I would feel much more confident in my ability to get where I am going.

And yet in Matthew 2 we are introduced too at least three men on a very important mission. They have come from the East to find the one who had been born king of the Jews. But they had no map, no address, no triple A trip tick, and no one who had made this journey before. They were strangers in a strange land and in fact the king of the land where this baby was born had no idea himself where this king of the Jews was born.

So these wise men would be helplessly lost, if it were not for one thing. There is one solitary thing that gives them hope to arrive in the presence of the Messiah. It is a star.

Yes the star. It has supernaturally appeared in the sky. It’s light brillantly shining so that there can be no mistake which star is the star. And it is all they have to follow. Night after night they check their progress by the light of this star, spurred on by their faith.

Lo and behold, one day just as the wise men were perhaps giving up hope, the star stops. They have arrived at the place were the young Christ child is and they worship Him and offer him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

What led them to Christ? It was the star, was it not? But what was it specfically that allowed them to see the star? It was the light that came from the star. Now stay with me, because you need to get this.

I. The wise men coud not see Jesus, they could

only see the light from the star which led

them to Jesus.

Had that star at any time in their journey failed to give off light the wise men would have been hopelessly lost. If that star had ceased to shine, they would have never found Christ. That light was all they had to lead them.

Are ther not many people in our world today who are hoplessly lost? They know there is a void in their heart. They have tried everything. They have tried pleasure, relationships, money, career, but nothing can satisfy the longing of their heart. They have a pain nothing seems to heal.

They need the Lord Jesus Christ, only He can satisfy their soul. But as they grope in the darkness of sin they can’t see Christ. They don’t know who He is or what He can do. They need somehitng to give off the light that will lead them to Jesus. The light that will lead them to Christ is not the light of a star. So where can the lost look for a light to bring them to Christ?

Matthew 5:16 " Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Christian, we are today to be engaged in the same work as the star of Bethlehem! It shined it’s light to bring men to Christ. We are to shine our light to bring men to Christ.

Let me give you an example. Here is a person who is lost. They are blinded by and in bondage to their sin. They have no hope, but their co-worker is a Christian. They begin to watch the life of this Christian. Yes, the Christian has up and downs, but they see a consistency of joy and peace. The lost person sees a way of life they never knew existed. In fact what they are seeing is the testimony of, the light of the Christian.

And in time they ask about or are told about the source of this light, Jesus Christ and they themselves trust Christ as their Savior. How did they find Jesus? They followed the light of a Christian. Is there a light in your life leading people to Christ?

II. The star was ordained to shine when it did.

Scientists say the light of the nearest star to earth takes 4 years to enter our atmosphere. That means the light of the nearest star has travelled for four years before you see it. Now we know the star of Bethlehem was supernatural, but God may have placed it in the sky before it was seen of the wise men. It was pre-ordained to shine when it did.