The Christmas Star by Stan Coffey

The Christmas Star
Dr. Stan Coffey
Matthew 2:2

"We have seen His star..." (Matt. 2:2)


I. The Darkness That Prevailed
II. The Light That Dispelled
III. The Star That Revealed


Thanks to the space age, terms which would have sounded strange years ago ring with familiarity today. Terms like "space shuttle," "orbit," "lift-off," and "countdown," and "space station," would not have made sense to us many years ago.

However one space-age word which roots back to the declining days of the Roman Empire is satellite. Because matters had reached such a state that no person of importance dared walk the streets of Rome without an escort, many notables were surrounded by armed bodyguards, known as satellites, from an old name for "attendant."

The Renaissance revived many Latin terms, among them satellite, which medieval rulers applied to their personal guards. A satellite came to mean an attendant attached to guard a prince. In the former Soviet Union the member states were called satellites.

The word was carried over into astronomy by Johannes Kepler who pondering Galileo's discovery of secondary planets revolving around Jupiter likened them to guards and courtiers encircling a prince. So in 1611 Kepler named them satellites, a term soon applied to all heavenly bodies revolving around primary masses.

A satellite does not exert influence on the body around which it revolves, but on the contrary is the object of influence exerted by that primary body. The earth is the center of influence with the satellite revolving around the earth, not the earth around the satellite.

Both before and after the Saviors birth, an unusual luminary appeared in the sky. This bright light was the author, not the object of influence. This star did not follow the Wise Men; rather the Magi followed it. This luminary did not receive directions from the Wise Men, but directed them on their westward journey.

The Christmas star was no sa ...

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