Have you ever Googled yourself? Most people have ... out of curiosity. Googling yourself is a world-wide phenomenon known as egosurfing / egosearching. The search results (and pictures) from egosurfing can be quite interesting. So just for fun I thought I'd see how popular I was through an egosearch. Interestingly, Google came back with 15.2 million results.
I thought I'd take it a bit further and search for other 'famous' people. Here are the results:
Donald Trump 421 million; Beyoncé 142 million; Mother Teresa 44.3 million; Jesus 754 million
God 1.54 Billion.
There's no disputing it - Jesus is a star! This Christmas, as the wise men from the East so long ago did, we follow the star! Perhaps the best known symbol of the Christmas season is the star of Bethlehem. It is common for Christmas trees to be crowned with a star on the top, and with lights which shine as the stars in the sky under the special star of Bethlehem. In addition to the star and the star-like lights, the tree may be covered with silver/gold tinsel to add to the shimmer and the glow of the star lights. But as a kid growing up, the most important piece of the decoration was when my Father put the star on the top – shining down on all of us.
The star of Bethlehem is introduced very simply in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 2. The Scriptures record that the Bethlehem Star pointed the Wise Men to Jesus. This star was a source of incredible joy to the Wise Men from the east. They, as astrologers, likely, saw something special in the sky and, knowing something, obviously, of the anticipation of the time, followed that star to its special place over where Jesus was living. They called it ‘his star’ and it is understood that it was likely a comet or a meteor or a planetary conjunction. As we know, these can be seen for some time in the sky. This one was specially prepared (I believe by God) and it did a special and wonderful job. This star figures prominently in the telling of the nativity story in this gospel written to and for the Jews to persuade them that Jesus was, indeed, the anticipated and expected Messiah. This star- this specially placed star- pointed particular people to Jesus, the Messiah.
In this star’s role, we see a pattern that God has consistently followed and into which pattern we enter, as Christians of the 21st century. God is pointing people to Jesus the Star! God is pointing people all over the world to the Saviour. Jesus said in John's Gospel:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:11-13)
Composer, John Henry Hopkins Jr. summarized it wonderfully in a short Christmas carol he wrote in 1857 for a Christmas pageant in New York:
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
May you still find the light of life wonder-full this Christmas time.
Marshall