The  Messiah’s  Secret –  Advent  of the Star of David.

I noticed on Tesco’s mince pies it has a star with 6 points.in pastry on the top, the star of David has 6 points.

Professor David Hughes of Sheffield University writes"If you read the Bible carefully," says Hughes, "the Magi saw something when they were in their own country - [probably Babylon] - so they traveled to Jerusalem and had a word with King Herod."

According to the story, the Magi told Herod of the sign they had seen and, says Hughes, "when they left Jerusalem [for] Bethlehem, they saw something again".

Hughes's best explanation for this series of events is something known as a triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn - with the two planets coming close together in the sky three times over a short period."

My view on this explanation is that this triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn may have had the appearance of a star, but wasn't in fact a star.

Another theory is that the star was light from the birth of a new star, or nova.There are records - again from astronomers in the Far East - of a new star in the small, northern constellation of Aquila in 4BC.Hughes says: "People who like this theory say this new star would have been [positioned] directly over Jerusalem."

Dr Robert Cockcroft, manager of the McCallion Planetarium at the McMaster University in Ontario says a nova is "a good candidate" for the star of Bethlehem.  BBC Website

Astronomers have discovered how stars are born, they begin within clouds of dust, through turbulence deep within these clouds some of the dust sticks together to form a mass, a star is born. At its center it begins to get very hot and the gases hydrogen and helium begin to work together, fusion takes place and as a result the star begins to shine. (Stars Wikipedia)

The Messiah’s star “A star shall come forth out of Judah,” the ‘Star of David.’ Numbers 24: 17

At the time of Jesus’ birth there was one star that shone above the rest and three men who noticed this star, they lived to the east of Jerusalem  set out and followed this star and when they arrived at Jerusalem they asked King Herod, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews. For we have seen his star in the East.” Matthew 2: 1, 2.

The three wise men believed that the star would lead them to find Jesus and we know that they did find Jesus. 

Romans 1: 1-7  Matthew 1: 18-end

Matthew recollects the birth of Jesus, he recalled when Mary and Joseph were betrothed before they were married she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit. 

 ‘The Christmas Experience’  

The producers of the DVD dramatized the events that surround Jesus’ birth by reconstructing the town of Nazareth:  a small group of stone dwellings and with the inhabitants clothed in the dress of the day, and with the animals: donkeys, goats and sheep making it realistic. The producers of the DVD carefully filled in the gaps on the events that took place that the Bible does not elaborate on.   In the first part a scene at Mary’s family home where they included the birth of Mary and later the love story, the meeting between Joseph and Mary and their betrothal were the Rabbi conducted a ceremony. 

On the third week of our Advent Bible Study we discussed various aspects on the DVD that related to the news of Mary being with child. When Joseph heard from her father that she was pregnant, he reacted how any man would react today: upset, angry, and also disbelieving when Mary said that God was the Father. 

We also thought along with the DVD that when it came to light that Mary was having a baby the residents of Nazareth would not have been overjoyed with the news. Even though Mary was under law and legally betrothed to Joseph  she risked being punished by the law (adultery) by being stoned to death, but Joseph stood by her.

Their family, friends and neighbours in Nazareth would have perhaps realize Joseph’s heartache,  and as Matthew informs us that Joseph contemplated annulling the betrothal between them, it was only after the dream that he was convinced that Mary’s baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Joseph's Dream.

When we look closely at the words Joseph heard in his dream, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

The angel addressed Joseph as the son of David, David was not his father’s name, his father's name was Jacob (verse 16) but it was referring to him being a descendant of King David. 
Paul in his letter to the Romans wrote confirming the prophecy that Jesus was the Messiah a descendant of King David. Romans 1: 3 Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David. Mary the daughter of Heli. Luke 3: 23

As Christians we do not inherit our faith from our family’s tradition of being Christians. We become Christians by being born into the family of God through faith in Jesus.

Jesus’ name means ‘Saviour’.  God’s word to Joseph, Jesus would save the people from their sins.

Over the centuries billions of people’s lives have been changed through the acceptance of Jesus as their Saviour. 

We know how stars are born and how we are born, but Jesus wants us to be born again.

To try to explain I have brought with me a snowflake, a real snowflake began its life in a cloud as a droplet of water. The cold temperature freezes the droplet and it falls to the earth as snow. When we look at a snow it is white, but in fact each snowflake is clear ice, what makes its appearance white: the ice crystals pick up on its surface rays of light and it remains, so whether it’s day or night snow remains white. Each snowflake has a different pattern usually with 6 points ( Snowflake Wikipedia)
So God does an amazing transformation of us. Just as the droplet of water is transformed into ice, the Holy Spirit acts upon the words that tell us about God’s love in sending his Son to bear our sins upon the cross, through taking our sin upon himself, Jesus redeems us, forgives us and we receive a free pardon which transforms our heart, soul and spirit we are born again. As a result we can now  see how God has delivered us from the darkness of living our lives without God.

The snowflake picks up rays of light.

 “Jesus said, “I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”   John 12: 46  

The snowflake in darkness of night, the rays of light still remain. Jesus came to give light to the world, light in the darkness. We live in the midst of the world's darkness and like Joseph we have choices to make, he could have thought only of his reputation and annulled his betrothal to Mary, but in the light of his dream God's word to him he chose to marry Mary.
We can be faced with a choice that God has brought us to, in order to make that decision it is advisable to wait on God and to share our situation with a trusted Christian friend and pray for the Lord's guidance. 

We are changed, born again like the drop of water into a snowfake, when we accept Jesus as our Saviour.
Snowflake - no two are alike.
The snowflakes have different patterns with 6 points which reminds us that and we are all different in having our own DNA and our own individual finger prints, however we have one thing in common Jesus.  
Like the snowflakes lighting up the darkness, Jesus uses his light of the good news in us, to give light to others. 

On the DVD Joseph and Mary were married before the announcement of the Roman census and when the news came for them to comply with the census and go to Bethlehem, it must have been the last thing that they wanted to do, so near to Mary giving birth.

When we are planning an event we pray that nothing will go wrong, no last minute hitches. One can only guess how anxious Joseph and Mary were having to leave for Bethlehem. But this  can be God’s way of making it so that they would trust in him.

It is good to be reminded at Christmas of putting our faith and trust in God just as Mary and Joseph did all those years ago. 

Note. Adding story lines to Biblical events has always been discouraged by the church, so as not to undermine the truths of scripture for future generations.