In their time, the Wise Men were experts in the activity in the night skies. They were the ones who studied the patterns of the stars, and most likely could identify all of the constellations. They knew when aberrations in the normal patterns happened--when comets appeared, when planets aligned. And so when they saw "the star"--well, it might have been something like the aligning of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21 this year, producing a bright light that appeared to move (by December 26 this year the planets had moved away from each other). Maybe other celestial bodies were also joining in in the same area of the sky, producing an even brighter light. The Wise Men would have seen this and known that it was unusual, and it seems from the story that they sought its meaning.
I will confess--I would probably have missed this activity in the night sky that the Wise Men saw. I tend not to look into the sky at night--and here in Pittsburgh, it was so overcast we couldn't see the "Great Conjunction" anyhow (by the way, it also was dubbed "The Christmas Star"). So this celestial phenomenon which was so obvious to them, 2000-plus years ago, I would have been entirely ignorant of. I wouldn't have seen it, much less had any idea what it meant. Most people then would likely have been like me.
But these Wise Men, who knew it meant something, still didn't know everything it meant. When they got to Jerusalem they asked King Herod questions about it--and he didn't know and asked the chief priests and scribes. That's the thing about knowing things--you realize that there is always more to learn. They needed to know more to be able to find the one that the "star" was leading them to.
W e know the story, and what the "star" meant. We know that, as the hymn "There's A Song in the Air" says, "the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing, for the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!" But we, like the Wise Men, still should be seeking more knowledge about what it meant. Because the full meaning of "God-with-us" is not something we can ever completely grasp, and the full meaning of following Jesus our Lord, Savior, and King, is forever being learned. New situations affect how we live out this meaning; deeper understanding challenges the less-deep understandings we've had along the way.
We've heard the saying "Wise Men [people] still seek him". Even those of us who have found him need to keep looking, and keep learning.
GOSPEL Matthew 2:1-12
1In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd* my people Israel.” ’
7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’ 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 1 1On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.