The Baby in the Manger #18: Morning Star
Morning Star (grk: astēr ho prōinos)
The Morning Star (which is actually the planet Venus) appears just before dawn, as the brightest star in the sky. It rises up while it is still dark, and heralds that morning will soon be here. The context of this declaration is at the end of Revelation, when Jesus summarises the double warning and encouragement that he will return. To the churches - to those that await him - he is the Root and Offspring of David, and the Bright Morning Star.
When Jesus came to us the first time it was into the midst of darkness, and yet the people walking in darkness [had] seen a great light (Isaiah 9:2). If I were asked to sum up Christmas in one word, that word would be hope. Hope is what we have when things still look dark around us, but when we can see into distance and know that there is something better on the horizon. God had spoken of this hope through the prophets - from the promise of the 'serpent crusher' in Genesis 3, all the way to Malachi. Believers had hope of a Messiah in the darkness - even through they could not yet see him.
And then, into the darkness, a star shone. In fact - a star did actually shine to guide the wise men. But more to the point, there was a small but strong light - a tiny baby who fulfilled what the prophets had foretold and whose birth was announced by angels. It was not day - he had not come in all his glory - but as a hope to signal that dawn was nearly here.
In some ways, we could could say that dawn came some three decades later on that first Easter Morning. But in other ways (that are more fitting to the context of this passage, which is addressed to the post-Easter church), we could say that we are still waiting for the dawn. But since Jesus came and fulfilled his earthly ministry, the Morning Star has been shining. It shines as a beacon, in a dark world, that dawn is on it's way.
It is traditional church practice in the current season of Advent to not only reflect on the first coming of Jesus, but to await his second coming, when he comes again in all his glory to bring justice, redemption and restoration. This is what the Morning Star heralds.
Are you feeling the weight of darkness and injustice, of sin or of loneliness, of pain or of weakness? Jesus says to us in Revelation 22 "I am...the bright Morning Star". In other words, "because of me, the night is nearly over. I am the hope on the horizon. I am coming back, and then dawn will be here".
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