CHILDREN OF BETHLEHEM
SON
OF THE MAGI
By
Robert Allen
“ After they had heard
the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went
ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child
with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened
their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to go
back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route..” Matthew 2:9-12
A
monolog for a teen-age boy.
My father ranks as one of the wisest
men in the entire world. Of course, you
wouldn’t have any way to know that clear over here in Bethlehem. But in our home country everyone knows my
father. He is one of the Magi.
Never heard of the Magi? Let me tell you about them.
In our country we have religious
leaders just like you do. We have
political leaders and scholars as well.
But we also have the Magi. Our
political leaders look to them for advice.
Our scholars come to them and beg to be taught. Our religious leaders try to ignore them, but
they know that the people check what they say by asking the same questions of
the Magi. The Magi are the wisest of the
wise.
My father speaks seven languages
fluently and reads another six. That was
how he even knew about the star when it appeared. He was reading in the holy books of the
ancient Hebrew people. It said, “A star
shall come out of Jacob.” He compared
that with other extant prophecies, debated the meaning with others among the
Magi, and they decided as a group to follow the star here to Bethlehem. Can you just imagine my excitement when
father said I could go with them.
I figured we had come to the end of our
long journey when we visited the palace in Jerusalem. But instead the Magi were introduced to
another ancient prophecy. They were
astounded that the Jewish King didn’t know about Micah. He had to call in some religious leaders to
interpret for him. Apparently he only
speaks Aramaic and not Hebrew.
Once they heard Micah read aloud, my father
and the rest of the Magi headed right down here to Bethlehem. What the prophet Micah said agreed perfectly
with what they already knew.
I am so proud of my father and his
wisdom. But there is one thing I couldn’t
understand at first. You see, back in
our home country, father would have nothing to do with religion. When people would come to him with questions
they had asked the religious leaders he would just laugh at the answers they
had been given. He claimed that all
religion was a waste of time. He called
it an “imaginative flight of fancy that will never satisfy the soul.”
And yet, when we arrived here in
Bethlehem and went to the house where the baby lived whose star we had been
following—I saw my father fall down on his knees and worship!
Worship!
He believes that this baby announced by
the magnificent star came from heaven.
He claims that this baby is God.
A God in human flesh. All of the
other Magi agree with him as well. They
don’t even argue about it. All of them
worshipped him as they gave him some very expensive gifts, fit for a king, or a
God. They all said that they wished they
were younger so they could see what the baby does and hear what he says when he
grows to become a man. They believe that
he will impart truth even greater than anything the Magi have written.
My father ranks as one of the wisest men
in all the world. And I trust him. So, do you know what I did? I joined them in worship. And I promised myself that I will listen to
what this God-man says when he grows up.
I will observe what this God-man does.
I will worship him and obey him all the rest of my life.
When I told my father of my decision, he
placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “I am proud of you son. He will satisfy your soul.”
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