WHAT A STRANGE FLURRY of stars
across the paddocks
of the night sky
that evening two millennia ago
when the daystar
fashioned in the astral foundries
of the Creator
swept across the community of stars
to take its signal place over Bethlehem,
to chart and mark
for scholars of celestial lights
who can transcribe nocturnal messages
from the iconography of the sky,
of the first coming of God in human flesh.
Not with the snarl of silver trumpets
nor with the pomp and circumstance
of drum rolls
in a majestic palace
or on a dainty satin crib
surrounded by stiff -necked royalty,
but in a small cavern
with livestock sheltering from
the cold snap of winter,
wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Relinquishing His glory
and His godly powers and might
He came
– Jesus my Lord,
in such divine humility and vulnerability,
to be the sacrifi cial Lamb of God.
Who can fathom
the wisdom of the Father
or the depth of His love for us?
But in a sheepfold on a bleak hill
huddling round the fl ickering fl ames
of a woodpile,
there came to the shepherds
an epiphany of exalting angels,
glorifying God
in voices of singing beyond the range
and power of men,
music unheard before
– terrifyingly beautiful,
announcing the good news
of the birth of Emmanuel.
And all those born again of the Spirit
still rejoice exceedingly
this Christmas Day
with the heavenly hosts,
and the shepherds
and the seers from gentile lands
who read the message in the stars so well
and came with precious gifts reverently
to worship Him:
the King of Kings,
the Bright Morning Star,
the Rose of Sharon,
the Lily of the valley,
the Son of God
made man.
(Lu 2:8-19; Mat 2:1-12; Rev 22:16; 2 Pet:1-19 KJV; Song 2:1)
Dr Oliver Seet is a member of Wesley Methodist Church and a Board Director of the Metropolitan YMCA.