Church News — January 2021

On the 6th of January, most Christians will be celebrating Epiphany. For Orthodox Christians, January 6 is Christmas.

It is the Sunday that acknowledges the arrival of the Wise Men at the home of Jesus’ family. It is a holiday not widely celebrated outside of the church; most people are sleeping off the Christmas/New Year rush by then.

But this pandemic holiday season is different, and we are more sedate, private, maybe more reflective, and we have spare time, so why not look a little more closely at this story from Matthew, which raises questions, both astronomical and historical, regarding a significant Biblical event?

The first question: Who were the Three Kings? Actually, those guys were the stars of a popular Christmas hymn. Depending on which version/translation of Matthew you read, they were “wise men,” or astrologers. The latter fits the narrative, as astrologers were highly scientific in their methods, and widely respected within their culture.

The fact that they followed a star to the home of Mary, Joseph and Jesus is a good indicator too. Their point of origin is up for debate, beyond the mention by Matthew that they came from the East. Some scholars say they came from Persia. Others speculate that it was closer: Perhaps Parthia, about 500 miles east of Jerusalem, or perhaps Babylonia. Regardless, it was their job to use the stars to determine the births of kings and other notable figures. So, it was not unusual for wise men to travel distances to pay homage to newly born or very young royalty.  

Jews were not into astrology, and when the visitors from back East arrived looking for a king, Herod had to ask his priests and advisors about this, and their sources for information were the Old Testament prophets; precisely, Micah, chapter 5, verse 2. No stargazing here. Herod and his advisors had not even noted the appearance of an astronomical event.

One point of contention is the idea that the “star” was seen in the East and the wise men continued to follow it, though they were traveling west, which would have put the star behind them. My personal take on it is that they are saying that they saw the star when they were in the east.

Not being a Hebrew scholar, I don’t know if the sentence structure in Hebrew would indicate that meaning. In this case, it’s helpful to turn to that other star science to clear up the confusion. I am talking astronomy now, more specifically, Chinese astronomy.

Fortunately for us, the Chinese have created and kept meticulous astronomy records for thousands of years. The first one of interest includes a Conjunction, like the one we were to witness at the Winter Solstice (not a personal we as nobody in this climate sees these things).

The interesting thing about this conjunct was that it included three planets instead of just two. Mars joined Jupiter and Saturn for this one, a meet-up happening once every 800 years. This conjunct occurred in 6 B.C., two years before the death of Herod. And a year later, in 5 B.C., Chinese records refer to a comet, which appeared in March and April, visible for more than 70 days. This comet would have appeared in the very early morning, following a cosmic path from East to South, a more likely candidate for our “star of wonder” than a triple conjunct that was just so last year.

This would place Jesus’ birth in the time frame of 6 to 5 B.C. Also to consider when time-lining is the fact that in Luke’s story, Jesus is born in a feeding manger in an animal shed. The magi show up at a house, likely weeks or months after his birth.

Based on the astrological information from these men, Herod estimates that this new King of Israel (his competition, as he sees it) was born sometime in the last two years. So he has all boy children the age of two and under living in the Bethlehem area killed. This event is referred to as the “Slaughter of the Innocents.” Shortly after this time, Joseph is guided in a dream to pack up his family and move to Egypt, as Israel is no longer a safe place.

The Bible has four Gospels; only two have birth narratives, and the narratives have different storylines. This is because Gospel writers have different audiences and write for different purposes. Luke was a gentile, a physician, and a very modern author, concerned with issues of justice and equality.

His Jesus, as the Messiah, was concerned with the poor, and elevated the role of women. Matthew was Jewish and wrote to present Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, and as such, the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy.

So what does any of this have to do with Epiphany? What it helps us understand is that much of what we observe in the Christian year is created for other reasons than the accurate observation or depiction of historical events.

In some ways, the Bible stories are not necessarily factual. But, as one of my seminary professors was fond of saying: “The Bible is not a book of facts. It is a Book of Truth.”