WRITTEN IN THE STARS Some have attempted to try and explain what kind of star it was that was seen; a constellation? Supernova? Comet? Again, this is probably taking Matthew’s star too literally. Matthew is NOT a reporter of events, he is a creative writer whose star is present in the story because of its deeper significance. Matthew and his readers belong to a time when people thought that stars brightened when people were born and dimmed when they died. There were such stories told of the births of Roman Emperors such as Augustus, Tiberius and Nero. They symbolise the idea that births and deaths are so significant, that the very heavens are changed, and that some people’s births and deaths are so momentous that the change is even more marked than usual.
So, when Matthew includes a star, what does he want his audience to deduce from it? Look in particular at where the star eventually stops. Given the star, the ‘foreign’ astrologers and their very expensive gifts, are you surprised?