Becoming a Christian

What persuaded you to become a Christian? What is your origin story? What converted you from being against the Christian message to believing that Jesus rose from the dead for the forgiveness of sins? I know that the Bible teaches us that God is the ultimate cause of that change, but I’m asking you to think about your particular story. What did God do, or who did he use to help you see the truth? What erased your doubt?

Erasing Doubt

I have spent well over a decade now immersed in the story of the birth of Christ, and it still amazes me that a group of non-Jewish astrologers, called magi, showed up in Jerusalem wanting to pay tribute to the newborn king of the Jews. But why did they believe? What happened that convinced them that the Jewish Messiah had been born and that they should travel 700 miles to go and worship him? And what kept them going after they realized they had gone to the wrong place?

The common answer is that they saw “his star,” but the full answer is much more complex and it spans over 500 years.

The Traditional Answer

We’ve all heard the sermons and seen the variety of creative nativity scenes, movies, and plays in which the magi see a star in the East, and then follow that star to Jerusalem, consult with Herod, and then follow that same star to the manger in Bethlehem. This “star” then beams its heavenly light onto the face of Jesus while the magi offer him their gifts in the presence of Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the sheep, and a donkey, all gazing upon the newborn babe with reverent awe.

I admit it is a beautiful scene and a powerful summary of the events recorded in the Bible. It portrays the wonderful story of God sending his Son to redeem mankind, but, as we all likely know, it also isn’t an accurate image. I am not going to focus on the commonly known mistakes such as the manger would have been made of stone, that stars don’t hover like drones or act like spotlights, and that the magi arrived almost a year after Jesus was born. These inaccuracies don’t mean the Bible isn’t accurate, but I would like to shift our attention to the real miracle of the “star” that the magi saw. 

God’s Timing

I’m not trying to be a tease, but this post is necessarily a brief summary of my conclusions that I defend much more thoroughly in my book, 500 Year Journey. I spend multiple chapters giving evidence for my conclusions. I also demonstrate that what they saw wasn’t a planetary alignment or some occult, arcane arrangement of stars and planets which needed astrological omen charts to understand.

Instead, I make the case that the magi who showed up in Jerusalem were from an ancient guild that was likely started by the same Chaldeans (Babylonian astrologers) whose lives had been saved by Daniel. As a result, some of those Chaldeans became believers in the God of the Hebrews and they passed on that belief throughout the centuries until the Messiah arrived. In other words, the magi believed Daniel’s prophecies, and they devoted their skills to calculating when the Messiah would arrive. They weren’t surprised that he was born–they had been expecting him to be born. They didn’t need astrology, just God’s word and the skills necessary to calculate the passage of time.

So, this idea that they saw a bright star or unique alignment, and that they figured out what it meant by consulting their omen charts is false–indeed, why would pagan astrological charts even mention a Jewish Messiah? 

Instead, the sign they saw was a confirmation of their calculations. The “star” was a witness, not a portent, and they got so excited about it that they journeyed 700 miles to Jerusalem to pay tribute to the king of the Jews.

Transformation

I would like to think that evidence itself has the power to trigger a willingness to believe, but I have been a teacher for too long to accept that fiction anymore. Evidence alone cannot cause a transformation (although it can be a tool that God uses), because it is God alone who causes a transformation.

But what are some of the other methods God uses? That is why I asked you at the beginning of this essay, “What did he do to convince you?” Maybe he did it through evidence and the intellect, or maybe through kindness. Or maybe through heartbreak, endless toil, sorrows, or other factors that are beyond our control and events beyond our choice. He promises to be with us through those times and I can testify that when I faced the early death of my wife, he reached out his hand to help me to face that challenge, and he walked with me. Indeed, he carried me.

Our own sins, though, may be the cause or our troubles, and we need to accept the possibility that we are to blame, and that those consequences may be the only thing that will draw our attention back to God. How we respond to God’s chastisement is a decision we all must make.

But God can also draw us to himself through a miracle, as he did with the magi.

Through a Miracle

That is the position I believe the magi found themselves in: They were men who had been trained in the arts of astrology, prognostication, religion, and mathematics, and their calculations led them to know approximately when the Messiah would be born, and they were anticipating his arrival.

For the magi, the first sign they saw that confirmed their calculations was when they were in Babylon, and seeing “his star” must have been amazing. “It’s true!” But then the practical reality of making the journey to Jerusalem was difficult, and it wasn’t until almost a year later that they arrived in Jerusalem.

However, after they arrived, none of the political or religious leaders knew what in the world they were talking about. “The Messiah has been born? When was that?” I’m sure the magi must have expected a warm welcome from Herod and the Jews, and since they had been looking forward to this moment for ages and the joy of presenting their gifts to the young king, their enthusiasm must have been off the charts. 

But then their hopes were dashed. What a devastating moment. What they had hoped would be the culmination of all their hopes, turned out to be a disappointing failure.

But then, ironically, Herod and the religious leaders did not let their dream die (even though they didn’t really believe it themselves), and after they got everything sorted out and learned that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem Ephratah, not Jerusalem, they got back on the road with renewed hope and started on their way.

I imagine that the sun was setting in the west, to their right, as they approached Bethlehem, which in the first century was only about five miles south of Jerusalem. And I imagine that as they were walking or riding, perhaps their faith was a bit rattled, and maybe they were a wondering if they had been wrong all along.

But that is when the miracle appeared again. 

The Key to Unlock the Light

God is patient with us, and generous, and all of their doubts were erased when they saw “his star” again, glowing in the sky above their destination. It was the same sign–a similar sign–to the one they had seen in Babylon, and beyond their wildest imaginations–and to their utter relief–it appeared a second time. God’s confirmation. God’s miracle. And it proved to them beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were about to meet the promised Messiah. Why else would they “rejoice with exceedingly great joy”?

My prayer is that the joy the magi felt when they encountered the fulfillment of God’s precise plan, will become your joy, too.

Don’t miss the miracle!

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See the full story of God’s plan unfold in history and in the heavens, and discover the sign that the magi saw. See the truth come into clear focus once the accumulated assumptions and traditions get removed.  Purchase a signed copy today of the book 500 Year Journey from Babylon to Bethlehem for 20% off and free shipping, or visit Amazon.com.