We see it in every Manger scene along with the wise men, and because of that, it is commonly associated with Christmas. The irony, however, is that the wise men may not have arrived until months, to even almost two years, after Jesus was actually born. The question before us is, what was the star of Bethlehem? There have been numerous suggestions, most of which do not even come close to really matching what is described. So, let's dive in and look at the possibilities to see if we can get an idea of what the star really was.
The Biblical Description
Matthew 2:1-12
1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.
Quite simply, the wise men first saw the star while they were still in the east, probably in line with the constellation associated with Judah, and proceeded to Jerusalem to find the newborn king. They first went to Jerusalem because, from their perspective, it made sense that the king would be born in Jerusalem. Now, when they arrived at Jerusalem seeking the newborn king of the Jews, Herod was troubled. This is definite evidence that Herod was paranoid, because he was up in years at this time, and there would be no way that he would live long enough for this baby to be any threat to him. The key element, though, concerning the star was the fact that not only did they see the star again upon leaving Jerusalem, but they recognized it as the same star. Furthermore, the star led them to the very house that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were staying in at the time. Furthermore, it literally stopped over the house where they were.
Consequently, not only was it recognized as the same star, meaning there was something Unique about it, but furthermore, it moved relative to the surface of the Earth. This greatly limits exactly what this star could be.
What is meant by the word star.
The first thing that needs to be noted, that the word star here is not the scientific term that we commonly use for a star. The Greek word “astra,” from which star is translated, pretty much means any light seen in the sky. In other words, the same word would have been used if the ancient Greeks had seen airplane lights going overhead.
Consequently, all the use of the word star means in this passage show that the star of Bethlehem was a light in the sky. There is no other significance or meaning to the use of the term. This means that it does not, in and of itself, provide any help in determining exactly what it may have been because several phenomena would fit this description.
Was it a supernova?
While a supernova would definitely have gotten the wise men's attention, particularly if it were in the right part of the sky, there are multiple problems with this. The first is that it would be connecting Jesus's birth to the death of a star, which does not really make sense. A supernova would have been seen all over the world, and it would have been recorded not just by the Greeks but possibly even by the Chinese and maybe even groups like the Incas or Aztecs.
Furthermore, a supernova would not have become visible again as the wise men were leaving Jerusalem, and it would not have stopped over a particular house in a particular city. It would have been too far away to have even seemed to have been overhead at just one location.
Was it a planetary conjunction?
Another suggestion that has been made is that it was a close planetary conjunction between Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. In this case, you do have such a triple conjunction occurring at about the right time. In fact, it was recorded by both the Greeks and Chinese. However, like with a supernova, it would not have reoccurred in time to guide the wise men to Jesus. Furthermore, it would not move as the star of Bethlehem is described as doing to lead the wise men and then stopping over a single house.
Was it a comet?
While a comet does at least alleviate some of these problems, some of those solutions are iffy at best, and it has its own. It has the advantage that it could have appeared and then disappeared for a time and reappeared again. For example, if its orbit took it too close to the sun, from our perspective, it would have disappeared from the sky for a time, only to reemerge when it got out of the range of the sun.
It also has the advantage that it would be possible, though highly unlikely and dangerous for a comet to come close enough to the earth, that it could have actually moved visibly across the sky, serving as a guide for the wise men. However, there is no way it would have actually stopped over a single house.
The final and unique problem with the idea that it was a comet is the fact that comets have a history of being seen as bad omens. It is highly unlikely that the wise men would have seen a comet as a positive sign of the birth of the Messiah.
Putting the pieces together.
Ultimately, there is no natural phenomenon that fills all of the qualifications of the biblical description. This, of course, leads to scoffers claiming that the entire account was a myth. However, that is nothing new for that crowd. There is no natural phenomenon that could have appeared to the wise men while they were in the east, and then reappear to them as they left Jerusalem, and then guide them to the very house where Jesus was.
This leads to only one conclusion. The star had to be a special light created by God for this particular purpose. It could have been part of his glory shining through. Furthermore, it did not even really need to have a definite source. This would have meant that God not only created the light but that he controlled it in such a manner that it moved in just the right way to guide the wise men to Jesus.
This has a spiritual connection to it. God gives all of us a certain amount of light that is intended to lead us to Jesus. It can come in the form of directly reading something in His word, it can come through preaching, and it can even come through nature. Ultimately, what we do with that Initial light determines whether we get additional light that will guide us directly to Jesus in the salvation that he offers through his death, burial, and resurrection.
