…And Nature Sing
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ‘In Bethlehem in Judea,’ they replied, ‘for this is what the prophet has written: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”’ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.’ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”—Matthew 2:1–10 (NIV)
Have you ever watched Star Trek? In this series, the crew from the Enterprise travel into unfamiliar territory on a mission “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Like the characters in Star Trek, the wise men boldly went on a mission. How bold? Well, they set out in search of a King after seeing nature sing.
Where do we see nature sing in this story? Matthew 2:2 (NIV, emphasis added) tells us that the wise men, likely Persian or Babylonian priests and astrologers, who devoted their time to interpreting signs and prophecies, came to Jerusalem and asked Herod the Great, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Do you see that? This star was set in the sky to sing and signal loudly that the “fullness of time” had come at last. Heaven and nature were indeed singing! Now, regarding this star, most scholars believe the wise men knew to look for the star because of the reference in Numbers 24:17 about the star and scepter that was to come out of Jacob.
Now, look at what happens next in Matthew 2:11 (NIV): “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” Not only did they travel far and wide to find this King, but they brought gifts! And the significance behind each gift cannot be missed.