“saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2
I love art.
I am a fan, not an expert.
As a fan, I can appreciate the beautiful; marvel at mastery; admire creativity; absorb emotion. However, the artist’s meaning is often lost in mere fandom. An artist’s message often flies over my engineering oriented head as I just appreciate the exhibition.
I am greatly assisted by the art experts who explain the symbolism crafted into a piece. I love the pure joy in reading a work of literature for entertainment. I also love the delightful astonishment from the revelation of a carefully crafted message imbedded in a work of which I was oblivious.
I often appreciate art in its various forms and know that I am missing a deeper meaning.
This is how I feel about the night sky.
I am a fan, not an expert.
I marvel at the beauty of the stars on a cloudless night.
The images from the Hubble space telescope are as beautiful to me as any painting.
It is easy to get lost in the fandom of a star-lit sky.
I know that many who stare at the same sky, will not see any meaning. They see chaotic beauty. They see an expanding universe of fascinating happenstance. They may wonder what is out there, but they don’t see art because art necessitates an artist.
I see an Artist.
However, the meaning in the artist’s art flies over my head on most nights.
This is why I appreciate the film The Star of Bethlehem. This film provided me with that feeling of delightful astonishment in the revelation of the Artist’s meaning in the night skies during the marvelous events that we are celebrating this Christmas.
In that night sky:
Jupiter, Planet of Kings, was coming into a close conjunction with the star, Regulus;
Sharu is what the Babylonians called Regulus, which means ‘king.’;
Rex is what the Romans called Regulus, which means ‘king.’;
At the beginning of the new Jewish year, the Planet of Kings met the Star of Kings.
~Bethlehem Star Coronation
In that night sky:
Jupiter, the Planet of Kings, was rising in the east;
Over a period of months, Jupiter reversed course in what is called retrograde;
However, Jupiter was to reverse course on three occasions, closing in on Regulus each time.
Jupiter, the Planet of Kings, created a halo around Regulus, the Star of Kings.
~Bethlehem Star Coronation
In that night sky:
As Jupiter was beginning the coronation of Regulus;
The constellation Virgo, The Virgin, was rising in the east behind Leo (Lion);
The Lion of Judah is the symbol of the tribe of Judah;
When Jupiter and Regulus were first meeting, Virgo rose clothed in the Sun;
A new moon was symbolically birthed at the feet of The Virgin.
~ Bethlehem Star: The Birth of a King
In that night sky:
Jupiter traveled on through the night sky from Regulus;
Nine months later, Jupiter aligned with Venus, the Mother Planet;
They aligned so perfectly that neither planet was distinguishable;
Their alignment made the brightest star within the life time of those living;
If one looked from Jerusalem toward Bethlehem in December of 2 BC,
the Planet of Kings hung over prophesied city of the Messiah’s birth.
~ Bethlehem Star: Westward Leading
The Bible tells us about wise men coming from the east in search of the newly born King of the Jews whose star they had seen. What an understatement. I doubt if Matthew or any of the disciples understood all that had been written in the sky when the visit of the wise men was chronicled.
Most missed the meaning in those night skies. The few who looked up, probably saw a display with the appreciation of a fan at most. It was only a small group of experts, wise men, who saw the meaning of the Artist.
The Artist created in the origination of His work the meaning of this ordained event.
The Artist was not surprised by anything in His creation. History has not been His correcting of creative mistakes. His masterpiece, proclaiming the coming of His Son in human flesh, was cosmic mastery of planets and stars, creating the most spectacular of birth announcements on the canvas of a night sky.
It was and is an extraordinary masterpiece.
Remember, as you gaze into the night sky of Christmas
that the meaning of this season was truly written in the stars.
God painted the night sky with:
A Star of Wonder
A Star of Light
A Star of Royal Beauty Bright
That Star is still guiding us to the Perfect Light!
COME AND SEE WHAT GOD HAS DONE
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD GIVEN FOR US!
PRAYER: Lord, you are GREAT and GREATLY to be praised. I praise you Lord for you are my God, my Redeemer, my Savior. You are my Lord who adopted me by giving the Light of the World for my sins. Thank you for creating at the foundation of earth this story of amazing love. Thank you for displaying your glory for all to see – give me eyes to see your glory and a voice to proclaim it. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
A DEVOTED LIFE 