The Christmas Star

It’s that time of the year when we try to take stock of what has transpired in the past 11 months, and enjoy the remaining weeks of the year with family and friends. Good food, good company, generosity when possible. It’s the end of the year, and the holiday season is in full swing! In fact, even non-Christian countries are into the holiday spirit. They may not have a manger with the Holy Family, but they definitely have Christmas trees. And on top of every Christmas tree, is a star. But I had a very different revelation about the Christmas star, which is currently featured in the planetarium at the SM Mall of Asia. A scientific research on what the Christmas star really was, and using it to give an educated guess as to the actual birth date of The Christ. Interesting.

The Christmas star, or the star that the three wise men followed to locate the Christ, has never really been the subject of study. The actual number of wise men was never really established either. It was simply assumed based on the number of gifts that were offered to the child.

For the longest time, we’ve held to the belief that Christ was born on Dec. 25th, making December the holiday month as it also led to the celebration of the New Year. But according to the documentary that based the actual time on the Christmas star, it may actually have been mid-September. After ruling out several possibilities as to the identity of the star such as comets, meteors/meteorites, nebula, pulsars and the like, the most likely explanation would be the alignment of two planets, Jupiter and Saturn. And in the skies over Bethlehem at this time when light pollution did not exist, it must have been a sight to see! A sight that the Magi could easily pick out, being most likely astronomers themselves.

The star is not the only indication that the Christ’s birth month may not have been December. Scripture says that the shepherds watched their sheep by night. This is not done in the middle of winter, according to many, thereby debunking the December theory. But although all this provides for an intellectual discussion and good mental exercise, are we ready to rock the boat and change what has been held for centuries?

For Christians, it is enough that we know that a child was born to save mankind from the wages of sin. That a “star” did guide the wise men to find Him. That the whole Christmas story is intact. And that our salvation is guaranteed to all those who believe in Christ’s eventual sacrifice. The holidays are just a bonus.