Fourth Day of Christmas Reflections December 28

This artistry by my good friend and college housemate, Woody Dahlberg, uses the star to bring together incarnational theology of Matthew, Luke, and John to point ahead to the cross of redemption, rather than a narrative feature.

 

Even well loved, long treasured, traditional Christmas Carols can befuddle how we view Matthew and Luke’s narratives. The First Noel is particularly confused (in contrast with the theologically substantive Hark! The Herald Angels Sing), what with shepherds keeping their sheep on a cold winter’s night that was deep, presumably in snow, and seeing the same star the wise men did, just before them. I mention this, not to get into Christmas Carol analysis and criticism, but to get us to read the Matthew and Luke accounts afresh.

How many nativity displays show a star pointing down to the stable? Or the angels gathered around a star above the shepherds. The star, that is such a ubiquitous Christmas symbol, doesn’t show up until the Magi mention it to Herod in Matthew 2:2. They came from the east and saw the star in the east. The translation “at its rising” suggests it appeared in the early morning just before the sun came up right behind it. It was an astrological sign of a king of the Jews, not a laser pointer of the path to follow. If the Magi saw it as they journeyed west toward Jerusalem, the star would have been behind them, though Matthew does not say they saw it on their journey until it reappeared in Jerusalem and guided them to the house (not stable) in Bethlehem. Matthew left that mysterious function of the star unexplained.

Luke makes no mention of a star at all in his telling of Jesus’ birth. Presumably, angels called the shepherds to the manger at night shortly after Jesus was born. Also, despite all of the musical productions to the contrary, Luke does not say that the angels sang to the shepherds, (I suppose they could have, but Luke doesn’t say that.) but they spoke and praised God as they made their announcement to the shepherds. To be sure, shepherds and Magi were not at the manger simultaneously. The Magi would have to have come later, but that’s for another day’s reflection.

If you read how Matthew and Luke describe how the Magi and shepherds were summoned to the infant Jesus, without conflating the stories, how do you know God’s drawing you to Jesus?