Christmas is our most important holiday, and its literature is correspondingly rich. Yet until now no adequate bundle of Christmas treasures in poetry and prose has found its way onto the Internet for Winter, Christmas, the birth of Christ, Santa Claus, and so much more..Star of Bethlehem
Toward dawn, the big star was pale in the western sky and they turned their slow plodding camels toward it. They moved across the sands of the desert, with the rising sun behind them, and they pitched their tents by day, and mounted again when the evening sky turned deep blue and the big star came up again, a brazen gem winking along the rim of sky and earth.
If the portent was correct, and this star foretold the king of the Jews, then it was important to the Magi to see the king, to pay homage, and to bring gifts. The trip occupied several days. They came through the passes of Moab into Jericho, where the Dead Sea and the River Jordan meet, and they crossed the river and went on up into Jerusalem.
On the last night, they seemed to be almost under the big star. At its zenith, it seemed to be almost overhead.
In the early evening, the three august personages went to Solomon’s temple and stood, as was required, in the outer Court of the Gentiles. They addressed one of the seven thousand Levitical priests, and asked: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? It was his star we saw in the East, and we came to offer homage to him.”
The Magi appeared to be happy and expectant, but the Levitical priest did not share their joy. He summoned a ranking member of the Sanhedrin, and the Magi explained the new star and their interpretation of the happy sign. The high priest asked questions, frowned, and said that he knew nothing of such a sign. However, as a mark of respect to the rich visitors, he detailed the beliefs of the Jews about the messiah, some of which sounded, to gentile ears, contradictory.
One of the prophecies was:
Behold! The virgin will be pregnant and give birth to a Son,
Who will be called Emmanuel which means, God with us.
There were others, the high priest said, one of which mentioned the town of David:
And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, Are not the least of Judea’s principalities; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler, Who will shepherd my people Israel.
This, said the wise men, would appear to be the most promising clue because, as they approached Jerusalem, the star was close overhead. Bethlehem, five miles south of the holy city, would be a good place to go. They thanked the high priest, and camped outside the walls for the night. It was decided that, if the new king was not in Bethlehem, the wise men would make a few more inquiries, and then turn homeward.
The high priest was vexed. He knew that the people of Judea set great store by the portents of the stars, and he did not want the ridiculous assumptions of the gentiles to become common knowledge. Suppose there was a baby in Bethlehem? If the Magi found him, and adored him, the people would hear of it and this might turn them away from the great temple of Jerusalem.
He waited until the early watch and stood in the tower over the gold grapes on the east wall of the temple, squinting into the night sky. It appeared that there was no star, and the priest felt relieved. He was about to descend when a bright light appeared to hang between the jagged peaks of Moab. He studied it a moment, waited, and then expelled a long sigh. It was a star. An unusually large star.
