"They rejoiced with exceeding great joy"

I solved a mystery tonight. The solution is so simple I am surprised that no one has mentioned it before this—that I have found, anyway.

I am of the opinion that the Christmas star—"His star," as the magi said—was the planet Jupiter. Those who have seen the film that I recommended in my last post know why. But there's always been this little "problem" for me of why after the magi see the star rising in the East it seems to disappear while they are on their journey. When Jupiter is visible, it remains visible for many months.

After leaving Herod, the magi headed south from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. "And behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy," Matthew 2:9-10.

I can identify with this experience. Here in the rainy NW we can go weeks—some winters even months—without seeing the stars. Then one evening, returning from some meeting, I look up, and those brilliant points of light strike my soul with joy.

The magi, traveling from Susa or Ctesiphon in Iraq, almost certainly go through Damascus of Syria and on to Jerusalem. They arrive in Bethlehem December 25, 2 BC, which means they have probably been on the road since mid October—just when the rainy season begins.

Clouds and rain. Almost the whole journey. That's why they didn't see the star. But on that December evening, turning south toward Bethlehem, the clouds parted, and there was Jupiter, "stopped" in its retrograde motion, high in the southern sky. "And they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."