“They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.” (Matthew 2, verse 11. The Message).

The words “house” and “child” are not confined to current biblical translations, but can be traced directly to the monumental translation of the New Testament into English (circa 1534) by the martyr, William Tyndale.

http://textusreceptusbibles.com/Tyndale/40/2

Further evidence that Jesus was a young child, aged approximately two, comes from the actions of Herod. Herod was enraged, as we read:

“Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars).” (Matthew 2, 16-18, THE MESSAGE).

As a professor of astronomy, I have spent many hours pondering what the Star of Bethlehem might have been. There are several possibilities: could the Star of Bethlehem been a comet? A nova? A supernova? Or a ‘line-up’ of bright planets, known in technical terms as a planetary conjunction? Or was the Star of Bethlehem possibly a miracle in its own right, just as the Incarnation- the Word becoming flesh - is a Miracle of miracles?

Let us begin by briefly discussing comets. The sighting of a bright comet in the sky is a never to be forgotten experience. Comets are “dirty snowballs” – an amalgamation of rock, dust, water ice, and frozen carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and ammonia. As comets approach the sun, the snowball partially begins to melt, creating the most exquisite tails of gas and dust. Possibly the most famous comet in history is Comet Halley, which faithfully returns to our environs approximately every seventy-six years. Its most recent return was in 1985/1986.

While historical records show that Chinese astronomers observed Halley’s comet in 240 BC and possibly even as early as 467 B.C., the Star of Bethlehem was definitely not a comet. Firstly, a bright comet would have been seen by everyone, including Herod. Secondly, the dates are out of phase: Comet Halley appeared in 12 BC, several years before the birth of Jesus. (Many biblical scholars assume a date between 6 BC and 4 BC as to the date when the Word became flesh and tabernacled amongst us).

The suggestions of novae (new stars) or supernovae (exploding stars) in our night skies are quite appealing as scientific explanations of the Star of Bethlehem. A nova is a transient astronomical event which causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently new star. All observed novae involve gas falling onto a dense white dwarf star. Gas whirling onto a white dwarf star may have violent consequences. In the case of a nova, ejecta of gas to velocities as high as several thousand kilometres per second are possible, with a concurrent rise in luminosity from a few times as bright as the sun to 50,000-100,000 times as bright as the sun – hence the name, ‘new star.’

Supernovae are even more spectacular. These exploding stars may temporarily shine as bright as 10 billion suns. One of the most famous supernovae is the Crab Nebula in the constellation of Taurus – also known technically as Messier 1. That exploding star could be seen during broad daylight in the year 1054 AD! At the heart of the Crab Nebula lies a super-dense neutron star, spinning around on its axis thirty times every second.

While some astronomers may find the nova hypothesis somewhat attractive as a scientific possibility to explain the Star of Bethlehem, a supernova is most certainly ruled out. Supernovae do not span a period of some two years; moreover, no supernova would “disappear” and “reappear” as we read in Matthew’s account of the Star.

The planetary hypothesis concerning a physical explanation of the Star of Bethlehem by the legendary astronomer Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), is quite appealing. Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician and a key figure in the 17th-century scientific revolution, best known for his laws of the motion of the planets and as well as for his masterful books Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. From the world of the big to the world of the small, Kepler’s genius into the geometry of one snowflake, falling from heaven, is classic.

Astronomers use the term conjunction to describe an apparent meeting or passing of two or more celestial bodies. In December 1603, Kepler observed a conjunction of the planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and it must truly have been a magical sight. Two very conspicuous planets in close proximity in the sky is breath-taking indeed.

We know that any pair of superior planets (that is, planets outside the earth’s orbit, such as Jupiter and Saturn) may not only give rise to a single pass, but to a triple pass whereby, the planets ‘meet’ and separate three times over a period of a few months. In technical terms, a triple conjunction.

In seeking to understand what the star of Bethlehem might have been, Kepler calculated that a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn would have occurred in the constellation of Pisces, in 7 BC. But there is more! In fact, the 7 BC conjunction was indeed a triple conjunction. Perhaps it took the trained eyes of scholars only, to absorb the true cognisance of a triple planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn; while such an event would have indeed been seen with the naked eye, it could certainly have escaped the attention of Herod.

The following year, there was a conjunction of Mars with Saturn, in the constellation of Pisces. This was followed by another conjunction, in the constellation of Aries. The use of the word star (in the singular) in Matthew’s gospel may strike a discordant note, but one must remember that these visual descriptions occurred centuries before the perfection of the telescope by Galileo in 1609. Mysteries do, however, persist. A triple planetary conjunction would not be directional, meaning the planets would not lead one to any specific locale, such as Jerusalem, for example. Neither would a nova be directional.

In light of all these explanations, let us never forget the miracle of Christmas, wherein GOD became MAN. Am I prepared to accept that the Star of Bethlehem may have been a miracle? Of course! As a Jew, I am well aware of the leading of the Israelites by supernatural light at night (Exodus 13:21).

The conception of Jesus is a miracle. During His entire life Jesus performed many miracle, for example, turning water into wine. There are no physical laws to explain Jesus walking on water. There are no physical laws to explain Jesus healing the eyes of a man born blind. There are no physical laws to explain my personal encounter with Jesus of Nazareth, in the year 1976.

Whatever the Star of Bethlehem might have been, we know that “When they (the wise men) saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.” (NKJV, Matt 2:10,11)

• David Block is a Jew who came to faith in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, in 1976. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of London at the age of 19. His (and his collaborators’) astronomical research has twice been featured on the cover of the journal, NATURE. Professor Block was a recipient of the NSTF-BHP Billiton Award recognizing him as one of South Africa’s leading communicators in science. He is the author/co-author of several books, including “Starwatch” (Lion Publishing, Oxford), “Shrouds of the Night” (Springer, New York) and “God and Galileo” (Crossway, Chicago.)