Strange Story: The Birth of Jesus Part 18 A Second Confirmation

When the wisemen finally mounted their camels and headed back into Bethlehem, they were preceded by the large group of women and children who had been observing the proceedings of the day. Now that it was over, the observers were all anxious to get back home, and they did so more quickly than the ponderous camels did. Besides that, they were in a hurry. The children ran and the women bustled along as best they could. Many of the women in that procession feared their husbands would be angry with them for not being home when he got home from work. “But” they all thought, “just wait to he hears the juicy morsels I have to tell him about what I witnessed today with my own eyes.”

Therefore, as “Up” walked along the familiar roads toward home, he began to hear a large crowd of excited people coming toward him. As he drew near to where the path to his house veered off and headed out of town, he was perplexed by the fact that it was his path that all of them had been walking on to get back to town. He increased his pace.

As the wisemen arrived a little distance from the juncture of the path with the main road they decided to stop and wait just a few minutes more. Protocols of the cultures of that part of the world required them to speak to the man of the house, and they felt badly that he had been absent. They wanted to see if a man on foot would turn off the main road and started down this path. They had not even given their camels the command to knee when a figure came their direction, noticeable more by his footfalls than by sight.

He perceived their presence by the grunts of the camels as they knelt and the sounds of the men as they dismounted. He stopped in an attempt to figure out what was going on. Wisely, the oldest Wiseman called out to him to let him know that they came in peace and they only hoped he was the man they were eager to meet. He was able to use his name because “Reb” had mentioned it to them. At this “Up” moved forward although he was still a bit confused.

At close proximity they could see each other, and they gave “Up” a very brief rendition of their story, ending with how they had left a few gifts and a few camels with his wife and the special child they had come to see.

 Their encounter was brief and a bit awkward. It left “Up” with a strange combination of emotions ranging from perplexity to excitement.

As he approached his cave-house, he smelled the camels before he could see them.

It turned out that “Reb” was waiting for him outside under the overhang.

At the sound of his footfalls, she raised a burning stick from the outdoor fire to provide light. He was surprised that she was still outside, but he did not scold her. He simply approached her and made a gesture with his hands that said, “What happened?”

“We had visitors, and they left many gifts for the child, including those camels.” Using the stick as a torch, they entered the house together. When he saw the piles of stuff, he forgot how tired and hungry he was. In a jumble of words and emotions she showed him one item after another and told him the story of their special visitors. She asked if he had encountered them and she was glad when he said, “Yes.”

The thing that impressed “Up” the most was that this was another confirmation that God was indeed in this strange set of circumstances. They had experienced rejection from those closest to them, only to be accepted and blessed by people they did not know, some of whom had come from distant lands. Once again, he was blessed, amazed, and humbled by this God who did things in strange ways and yet was trustworthy all the same.

After his expression of wonder and awe at how God works, he remembered his hunger. “Reb” brought what little was left of the stew she had fed to the wisemen. He accepted it with gratitude that she had something to give them and that there was a little bit left.

As he ate, which did not take long because of how little it was, he noticed that “Reb” became serious. “Up” could tell there was something else she needed to say, and it wasn’t pleasant.

She started like this, “I know that God will take care of us, but it concerns me that the king, that ‘Self-proclaimed hero,’ knows that our baby boy exists. The Wise men inquired at the palace first and the king said he wanted to come worship the baby also. The king instructed them to go back to him and tell him how he can find this special child” (Matt 2:7-8).

“Up” reacted the same way she had at the mention of “The Hero” but he did not restrain himself the way she had felt compelled to do. He said “He’s no hero. A man who kills his own sons and wives because he is threatened by them is no hero. How could his wives pose any kind of threat to him? He’s a king, but he’s no hero!”

As they finally settled down to get some sleep his mind kept bouncing from the blessing of the wise men’s visit to the threat of a power-hungry king.

To navigate to Part 17 of this story click on The Birth of Jesus Part 17 Take Flight!