Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

Throughout the last number of years, I’ve been thinking about the star of Bethlehem.

Because there are things about the story in Matthew that don’t make sense to me as we read it.

And it’s the scientist in me.

I’m a bit like doubting Thomas in many ways.

Not that I doubt in the classical sense like Thomas did in John 20:25...

John

I’m more like Thomas when he questions Jesus for more information in ...

4:5

That’s what I’m like.

I want to know more.

I ask questions to figure out how things can happen or why they happen - that’s what scientists do.

And what has bugged me about this passage in Matthew over the last couple of years is this star.

Now, I never thought of it until recently, but when I noticed it, it has plagued me…because I can’t get my head around how a star can guide a group of wise men right up to the point where it can pinpoint one specific house among other houses in a town.

Let’s look at the text to see what it says...

Matt 2:

matt 2:9

Now, look at the language used there.

We have wise men who have noticed a star and it has led them west to Jerusalem.

This star is significant in some way because these wise men think that this star signifies the one who has been born king of the Jews.

And you’d be forgiven in thinking that going to the current king of the Jews would be a good place to start.

But when they realise this child was born in Bethlehem, the star moves and leads them to where the child was.

So a star leads these wise men right to the house where Jesus was.

And how many Christmas cards have you seen where there is a stable and a star above it?

Pause

But what has puzzled me over the last few years is how a star can pinpoint a house in a town, above all other houses.

Now in the Greek, it doesn’t mention that the star rested over a house, but that’s inferred in verse 11.

And also, if the star only pinpointed Bethlehem, the wise men wouldn’t have needed it after the visit to Herod because the scribes told them that the child would be born in Bethlehem, and they would have known where Bethlehem was and wouldn’t have needed a star to guide them there.

But regardless, how could a star pinpoint a house?

Because, let’s remember what a star is...

A star is a massive ball of burning gas.

Our sun is a star - it’s just closer to us than most other stars so it looks different.

And apparently, other stars are like suns to other planets.

So if the sun is a star and this star pinpoints one house over all the other houses in a town - how can a star get close enough to the earth to distinguish one house from all the others, and how can it do that without burning up the entire world?

Pause

Now, some people think that it might have been Hayley’s comet, or a two planets that aligned around that time - but even Hayley’s comet is way up in the sky and can’t pinpoint one house over many others.

And if it did it would have to be a few feet above the house and stationary - and that’s not how Hayley’s comet flies.

And planets aligning also happens miles and miles away - lightyears away - so they also are not close enough to pinpoint one house among others.

Pause

Now you can possibly see my frustration here.

I’m getting nowhere near to a decent explanation of this star was.

Anything that has been explained is miles up in the sky and not close enough to distinguish between one house from all the others.

Pause

Now, there may be some of you who are thinking, ‘why are you wasting time on this?’ or ‘does it REALLY matter?’

Well, that’s a good question - but as a scientist, and like Thomas, I want to know how this can be.

Not so that I can believe.

I DO believe - but what if other people have a similar question.

It’s not great that I can’t explain something that is written in the bible.

And here’s where I noticed something during the week, which makes sense to me - and regardless of whether or not this is what happened, this concept is real and relevant and useful for us to know today.

And it’s this...

I read an article that this star - this light in the sky - might have been the Shekinah glory of God.

Now, what is that, you might ask?

The Shekinah glory of God is the presence of God among his people.

But because nobody could look on God and live, God veiled himself through cloud or fire and that was the Shekinah glory or the Shekinah of God.

So, if you remember in the Exodus, the children of Israel were led in the wilderness by the pillar of could during the day and the pillar of fire at night.

That was the Shekinah glory of God - God’s presence with his people.

For example -

This was the presence of God among his people, leading them and guiding them in the wilderness.

God never left their side…in fact - he dwelt with them - and we see that right at the end of Exodus when the tabernacle is finished and God ‘moves in’...

Ex 40:

The presence of God - the Shekinah glory of God went with his people - God dwelt among them in the tabernacle.

He tabernacled with them...

Pause

And this Shekinah as a pillar of cloud or fire meant a few things for the Israelites...

It meant guidance, as we have just seen in - the pillar went ahead of them to guide them on their way.

It was also a sense of protection.

And we see this in ...

So the pillar of cloud went between the Egyptian army and the Israelites as they fled Egypt and offered protection and guidance as they fled.

Pause

And the pillar of cloud - the Shekinah glory of God also spoke to the Israelites.

It provided verbal instruction to them.

And we see this in Psalm 99:7.

So the Shekinah of God - the presence of God with his people was evident in this pillar of cloud and fire - and when the tabernacle was finished, the cloud descended onto the tabernacle.

And after the temple was completed in Solomon’s time, the Shekinah of God moved to the temple...

And that’s where God stayed - tabernacling with his people - dwelling with his people, until after the exile, when God departs from the temple in Ezekiel 10...

So in Ezekiel, the Shekinah glory of God left and the Lord no longer dwelt with his people for a few hundred years.

And that was a significant event in the history of Israel.

The nation was in exile.

They returned to rebuild their city.

Their God had left their presence.

The Shekinah glory was gone...

And the only hope that God’s people have are in this promise of a Messiah...

Micah 2:

Mic

Pause

So the Shekinah glory of God has gone.

God is no longer dwelling with his people.

And with the world waiting for a Messiah to come - a Christ to come - I’m not sure they realised that that Christ would be God himself.

But John tells us that he was God himself...

We have seen his glory…the Shekinah glory.

And get this…the Greek word used for dwelt is the word Skeno-OH and do you know what that word translates as? Tabernacle.

So the Word became flesh and tabernacled with us.

The Word, who WAS God became flesh and tabernacled with us....God himself, coming down and dwelling with us once again.

And what happened when God himself came down and dwelt in the tabernacle?

It was accompanied - every single time - by the Shekinah glory.

And when I looked up Shekinah glory in the bible dictionaries - here’s what it says about it...

The dominant theological motif associated with the pillar of cloud and fire is the “Immanuel concept”

The dominant theological motif associated with the pillar of cloud and fire is the “Immanuel concept”

Did you see that - the Immanuel concept - Immanuel…God WITH US.

The Shekinah glory - the pillar of fire and cloud represents the concept of GOD with us....Immanuel…God dwelling with man.