Roland

[1] Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying,
[2] "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to worship him."

IF THE STAR IS SHINING OVER THE HOUSE IN BETHLEHEM, WHY DO THEY COME TO JERUSALEM TO SEEK THE ANSWER TO SUCH A SELF-EVIDENT QUESTION?

[3] When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
[4] and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
[5] They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet:
[6] `And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will govern my people Israel.'"

SO OBVIOUSLY THE STAR WAS WORTHLESS IN DOING ITS JOB IF THEY HAD TO ASCERTAIN THE LOCATION THAT IT WAS OSTENSIBLY POINTING OUT.

[7] Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared;

ODD THAT NO ONE ELSE SEEMED TO NOTICE THIS STAR STRANGELY PARKED OVER A SPECIFIC HOUSE IN BETHLEHEM.

[8] and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."
[9] When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was.

WOW, SUDDENLY IT HAS RESUMED ITS DUTY OF POINTING OUT WHERE TO GO.

APART FROM THE IDIOCY OF BELIEVING THAT STARS WORK IN THIS WAY, THE PERSON WHO MADE UP THIS STORY DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE REALLY FIGURED OUT VERY CLEARLY WHAT HE WANTS THE STAR TO DO OR WHERE HE WANTS IT TO BE.

Yellum Notnef

This discusion has made me wonder when a magical star will appear and lead fanatical Christians away from their computers.

malookiemaloo

Nowhere is it PREDICTED that the star will lead the wise men to the infant Jesus. Therefore the wise men were not expecting to be lead by the star. As you rightly point out they said 'we have seen His star in the East'. Not 'We have seen his star and it is leading us to messiah's birthplace.'

The star only appears to have moved AFTER they had visited Herod.

The Magi probably (and this is speculation on my part) saw this new star in their own land -Iraq or thereabouts?-and having previously been aware of the Jewish notion of the Messiah and the reference to a star, set out in the star's direction. A great act of faith in my opinion. Top guys these Magi.

Off home now, Will not be able to respond again 'til Tuesday.


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keyser_soze

A leap that could definately take olympic gold this time! Let me cheer you on...

malookiemaloo

Gee thanks!


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Wayin

Thanks also, Vorkosigan & Roland.

I appreciate the feedback.