Merry Christmas! As we enter into a day of worship today, Scripture reminds us that God made his creation to worship himself.
Jesus’ birth was ushered in by nature. Jesus was welcomed into death by nature as well. Jesus’ birth foreshadows his death.
A star declared to those who had eyes to see that the King of the Jews had arrived.
The magi ask Herod, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (Matt 2:2). They then depart from Herod, “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matt 2:9-10).
What was this star? We don’t know for sure. I find the explanation that the star was Jupiter's unique conjunctions with Saturn and Mars to be the most persuasive. These conjunctions occurred in the constellation of Pisces (the astrological sign of the Jews).
The Magi were likely Zoroastrian priests from Babylon. Like Jews, the Zoroastrians would have believed in a coming Messiah. They would have also been taught to read the stars for signs. Jupiter represented new rulers. When three conjunctions of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars occurred in one year within Pisces, it’s not surprising that these Zoroastrian priests would have had their interest piqued and come searching out the one “who has been born king of the Jews.” Isn’t it amazing that God would use astrology (of all things!) to declare Jesus’ coming? It reminds us both of God’s perfect control of the cosmos and his merciful condescension to speak to us in ways that we will understand.
Nature declared the coming of Jesus, the King of the Jews.
Nature declared Jesus’ death as well.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, Jesus warned the leaders that nature itself knew of his kingship and would declare it, if given a chance. After the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples when they greeted him with a king’s welcome at the Triumphal Entry, Jesus responded, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”[i]
Similarly, Paul tells us that the creation groans for the coming of the Messiah. He says, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”[ii] Isn’t that remarkable? Creation so bears the impression of its Creator and has been so marked by the fall that it yearns to be reclaimed by its Creator.
Just as Creation rejoiced at its Creator’s coming, it groaned at his death. As Jesus died, the physical world reacted. Matthew reports,
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. [Matthew 27:51-53]
What a wild report! It’s hard to get our heads around what this even means. Can you imagine? An earthquake so powerful that rocks were split in two? In fact, extra-biblical evidence supports that an earthquake damaged the temple in A.D. 33.[iii]
Things get more bizarre from there: Matthew reports that a host of the dead are raised to life! Just as commentators struggle to make sense of what the star of Bethlehem could be, so too do commentators strive to make sense of what this mass resurrection means. Were the corpses raised for just a day? Were just the spirits of the corpses raised? Or, were they raised like Lazarus, healthy until they died again of natural causes? The latter of these options makes the most sense to me: perhaps those who recently died were raised to life and went on (like Lazarus) to die.
Matthew clearly sees this occurrence as a fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy:
12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. [Ezekiel 37:12-13]
Matthew sees this miraculous action as a declaration and assurance of the spiritual power present in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, death no longer has ultimate power over the believer.
The connection between the Creator and his creation is so strong that, like a dog greeting her master at the door, the creation greets Jesus. And like a dog mourning her master’s departure, so too does the creation groan at Jesus’ death.
Isaac Watts beautifully captures the response of nature to its King in his hymn, Joy to the World, which he wrote in 1719. We sing,
Joy to the World; the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields & floods, rocks, hills & plains
Repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
We join creation in singing the praise of our King. Joy! Joy! We echo the stars and rocks in their praise.
How Jesus’ Birth Foretells His Death:
Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash
[i] Luke 19:40
[ii] Romans 8:22
[iii] Cited in the Talmud.