我和丈夫一向很喜歡參加我們教會舉辦的平安夜崇拜。剛結婚的頭幾年，我們有個特別的傳統，就是在崇拜結束後，穿上禦寒的衣服，徒步爬上附近的一座小山。在那裡，有350盞燈高掛在竿子上，這些燈排列出一顆星星的形狀。我倆站在白雪皚皚的山頂上俯瞰這座城市，互相柔聲傾訴對於耶穌奇妙降生的感受。與此同時，在山腳下的城市裡，也有許多人正抬頭仰望這顆由盞盞明燈串成的明亮之星。

這明亮之星提醒我們救主的誕生。聖經記載有幾個博士「從東方」來到耶路撒冷，尋找「生下來作猶太人之王」的人（馬太福音2章1-2節）。他們觀察天象，看見「祂的星出現」（2節，新譯本），便從耶路撒冷前往伯利恆，而那顆星「在他們前頭行，直行到小孩子的地方，就在上頭停住了」（9節）。在那裡，他們「就俯伏拜那小孩子」（11節）。

基督是我們生命中的光源，祂是引導我們的光，也是創造日月星辰的造物主（歌羅西書1章15-16節）。東方博士看見祂的星，就「大大地歡喜」（馬太福音2章10節）。同樣地，我們最大的喜樂就是能夠認識祂，認識那位從天上降下住在我們當中的救主，而且「我們也見過祂的榮光」！（約翰福音1章14節）

My husband and I have always enjoyed attending the Christmas Eve service at our church. In the early years of our marriage, we had a special tradition of bundling up in warm clothing after the service to hike up a nearby hill where 350 glowing lights were strung from tall poles in the shape of a star. There—often in the snow—we’d whisper our reflections on Jesus’ miraculous birth while we gazed out over the city. Meanwhile, many people in the town were looking up at the bright, string-light star from the valley below.

That star is a reminder of the birth of our Savior. The Bible tells of magi “from the east” who arrived in Jerusalem seeking “the one who [had] been born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:1-2). They’d been watching the skies and had seen the star “when it rose” (v. 2). Their journey took them onward from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the star going “ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was” (v. 9). There, they “bowed down and worshiped him” (v. 11).

Christ is the source of light in our lives both figuratively (as the one who guides us) and literally as the one who created the sun, moon, and stars in the sky (Colossians 1:15-16). Like the magi who “were overjoyed” when they saw His star (Matthew 2:10), our greatest delight is in knowing Him as the Savior who came down from the heavens to dwell among us. “We have seen his glory” (John 1:14)!