The Magi

One

Following the Star

Christ has come to save the world, both Jews and Gentiles. The Jews, whom God singled out for special revelation, are represented by the Shepherds. They found the Lord, like the Jews, because a message was sent directly from heaven. The Magi represent the Gentile nations. They didn’t have much by way of supernatural revelation but God gave them that great universal revelation, that message He’s given all of us since the Creation. He gave them the great sign of nature.

The wise men looked at nature and they recognized the hand of the creator even in the movements of the stars. Then, they followed those truths of nature, that message from God, until it brought them to the Christ.

Two

Whose Side is Nature on?

In the Scriptures, the greatest proof of God’s existence, His goodness, and His wisdom, is the marvelous beauty of nature.

The Psalmist, the book of wisdom, and even St. Paul in His letter to the Romans, all agree, “If you can’t tell, from looking at the natural world, that there is a good, wise God, then, honestly, something is really wrong with you.”

And yet, strangely, in our own day, many people are under the impression that the more you know about science, the more you know about the natural world, the less likely you are to believe in God.

So whose side is nature on, anyway? The side of the atheists, or the side of believers?

Three

Nature’s Order – Reflecting God’s Intelligence

Everybody knows that order doesn’t just happen. A kid’s bedroom doesn’t get cleaned up and organized on its own. If something is going to be organized, somebody is going to have to come in and intelligently organize it, and our universe is an orderly universe. The fundamental forces, the cosmological constants, just the fact that things consistently fall when you drop them. It takes a big investment of intelligence to organize your house, or your work schedule, or your finances. Imagine the intelligence it takes to organize the entire cosmos, the planets and solar system, galaxies, and galaxy clusters!

God’s wisdom is a source of limitless wonder when looking at the astounding regularity of the natural world. When you look at the world, you should be able to tell: Someone of Unfathomable Intelligence made this!

And you should glorify Him for it!

Four

Nature’s Surprise

Nature is definitely orderly, regular, and reliable but it’s also surprising. There’s nothing obvious about nature. It’s astonishing. 

The Grand Canyon, the Himalayas, the lion and the duck-billed platypus. Weeping willows and the aurora borealis. How can you look at these things and not be overcome with admiration? Even scientists are constantly astounded and bewildered, especially as they dig deeper into the quantum level.

The point is that nature didn’t have to be the way it is. It has a depth and a startling quality. 

When God makes the world in Genesis, at each stage He says, “Let us.” Not “We must,” but “Let us.” Because the universe is God’s artwork. That means that nature is not just the expression of his intelligence but of His free creativity. That’s why you have to go out and look at it to appreciate it. Because it’s not just some logical formula. It’s a freely made piece of beauty!

He made it, and He made it good because He is good. And when you see its goodness, you see His goodness.

Five

Coming to God through Nature

The Magi loved nature, and they loved the God who made the natural world. They studied the stars but they didn’t stop there. They knew that the stars, and one star in particular, could be an arrow to point them to the Lord.

Scripture is God’s second book where He tells about His goodness and His love for us. But nature is His first. So are you ever taking time to read that book?

The Church encourages you to spend time in nature, to appreciate it. After all, if you can’t appreciate God’s beauty, how can you appreciate any other beauty? And the beauty of nature is supposed to be an occasion to pray.

So go out in your backyard, take a walk in the woods, and appreciate the beauty God has given you.

Let the created beauty bring you to uncreated beauty. Let nature be an occasion for prayer.

Tell God, “This is really good. You are really good.” And then rest in the goodness of nature and of nature’s God.

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