christmas thoughts, questions, and theories

in the Christmas story, the Magi are said to have come from the east. Matthew writes, "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.”

according to wikipedia, the Magi were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians.

So- these Magi- or the three kings of the Christmas story, were priests from the middle east- and they were experts in astrology. they kept watch on the night sky, and when there was a new star in the sky, they knew it immediately.

here is my theory: the magi were told of the birth of Christ 600 years before the event by the prophet Daniel.

the prophet Daniel was in Iraq, or Babylon about 600 years before the birth of Christ. the book of daniel says that, "the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men."

Daniel was in charge of all the wise men- or chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. I believe that the Magi would have been under his leadership and influence.

Daniel had often seen visions of the future, and he even saw the reign of Christ when he saw his vision of a statue made of different materials.

what if Daniel saw the birth of Christ?

what if he foretold the time of the birth of Christ, the place and the miraculous sign of a new star over Bethlehem?

I believe that he did foretell these things and he wrote about them in ancient Zoroastrian texts. The magi read these texts for centuries; and for centuries they looked for the Christmas star. when they saw it, they knew that it signified the birth of the king of the jews. when they saw the star, they traveled to Jerusalem to look for the child and to worship Him.

Herod didn't know anything about this, because he didn't have their ancient writings. Once he did learn of the child, he attempted to destroy every male child in order to eliminate any rivals to his throne. He would have not have done this if he did not sincerely believe that the Magi were looking in the right place, at the right time, for the right person. He took their word seriously; they traveled a long distance and brought expensive gifts to honor the new king. They went to all of this effort and expense because they were certain that their ancient writings were correct.

so- daniel had been planning for Christmas for nearly 600 years.

even long after his death, he had left a clue of when and where to find the long awaited messiah- and he gave the clue to pagan priests.
  

which begs another question: how long does it take for a star to appear?

how much time does it take for a star to develop in the heavens, and then show its light to the naked eye on planet earth?

According to Google, about 10 million years.

so- God had been preparing for Christmas for 10 million years.

in reality, He had been planning it since the beginning of time.
"But when the set time
had fully come, 
God sent his Son,
born of a woman,
 born under the law,
to redeem those under the law,
that we might receive adoption to sonship.
Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  
So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child;
and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."

God is love.
-rev-rob