For instance: At this point in the 40 days, we're reading Matthew. The other day I read Matthew 2:10. "When they (the wise men) saw the star, they were overjoyed."
Why would they be overjoyed if they'd been seeing it all along?
If you enjoy looking at the night sky the way I do, you notice a bright planet or star and wonder what it is, but you notice for many days in a row, that star seems to be in the same place. When I see Saturn, I know Saturn will be there tomorrow night.
So, if the wise men had been following the star, why were they overjoyed to see it when they left Herod's palace? Was it hidden from them, and so decided to go to the King and find out where the child was? Were they overjoyed because they saw it again after not seeing it for awhile?
And why didn't Herod (an intelligent, albeit brutal man) and the Jerusalem priests not notice this star? Surely since the wise men got their information from the intelligentsia of Jerusalem, that intelligentsia would have noticed the star themselves.
And what of the shepherds? They knew the night sky from experience, since they were out every night. Why didn't they notice the star?
And the townspeople? If the star was as bright as I always thought, why didn't the townspeople think it curious? People, no matter what age of the world, are always curious. Just think of the people that walk or drive by when they see ambulances, fire trucks and police cars converged on the same place.
These questions about the star aren't earth shattering spiritual "aha" moments, but there has to be reasons why this star was so unusual that the wise men were overjoyed when they saw it again.
The whole point is that the Community Bible Experience opens up the Scriptures in a fresh way that makes you see things you might not have seen before. I'm really enjoying it and am looking forward to the time when the publishers of this are able to put the Old Testament in this same format. Won't that be worth reading!! I should think so!!
If you haven't heard of the Community Bible Experience, go to this website and look it over. If the Lord is leading you to do it (it doesn't have to be a Lenten exercise), I can guarantee you will see things you never saw before!