Newsletter January 6, 2012

The Other Wise Man

The Magi (Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar) are very familiar. But a fourth? Author, Henry Van Dyke, posits another wealthy man, Artaban, good friend to the familiar three. He and the other three searched the stars for signs of Truth and Light. They determined the time was at hand for the arrival of a new and glorious King and wanted to be the first to offer homage. They parted, each to prepare for the impending journey. Artaban sold his house and all his possessions and bought three jewels--a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl--to carry to the promised one.

   Artaban saddled his fastest horse and made haste as there were not many days 'til rendezvous with his friends in Jerusalem where they thought the event was to occur. Along his way, Artaban came upon a man lying near death. "If I delay to help this man," thought Artaban, "then I won't meet my friends and see the glorious event." Still, Artaban made sure the man received help and care in a nearby village.

   The appointed hour had long passed when Artaban rode into Jeru-salem. No trace of his friends, but he found a note under a brick telling him to follow the friends across the desert to find the King in Bethlehem. Artaban had to sell his sapphire to purchase a camel and supplies for the arduous journey. Finally reaching Bethlehem he happened upon a woman who told him Joseph, Mary, and the Baby had fled to Egypt just three days earlier. Trouble was brewing.

   Suddenly, wild confusion erupted as Herod's soldiers tore through the area killing young children. The woman panicked fearing for her small son's life. Artaban stood firmly in the doorway of the woman's cottage declaring there were no children and paid the captain with his ruby to keep moving. "Oh, shame. I have told a lie to protect a child. I am unworthy to see the face of the King."

Artaban journeyed to Egypt in search of the King. He spent years traveling from place to place. He visited the sick, the oppressed, and the afflicted in prisons. He saw the wretchedness of the slave markets. Thirty-three years of his life passed and still he was a seeker. In the season of Passover, Artaban found himself once again in Jerusalem. His hair was white, his body worn and weary from his long search for the King. An ominous gloom filled the air. Artaban joined the clattering throng pushing toward the city gate. He asked a man who was pushing and shoving him what the excitement was. "Two robbers are to be crucified and with them another who claims to be the Son of God."

   "Have I at last found him?" marveled Artaban. "Perhaps I can offer him my pearl before he dies." He looks up to see soldiers dragging a young girl down the street. She breaks free and runs to Artaban. "Please help me," she pleads. "My father was a merchant, but he is dead, and I am seized for his debts. They are going to sell me into slavery."

   Once again Artaban is conflicted between the expectation of faith and the impulse of love. This pearl was his last possession. Never had it seemed so luminous, so radiant, so full of luster. As he handed the pearl to the girl for her ransom, the skies darkened, the earth trembled, the walls of houses rocked back and forth. Suddenly, a heavy tile fell and struck Artaban on the head. The girl bent over him and she heard a quiet voice but could not understand the words. She turned to see who was speaking but no one was there. Artaban sighed heavily and the voice spoke once again. This time the girl heard it: "Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my people, you have done it unto me." Artaban breathed his last and finally found the King.

   The very last words of the cantata are: "His kingdom is estab-lished in justice and righteousness and peace."

   Something to think about at this Epiphany: where do we spend our rubies, sapphires, and pearls? And, for just what King might we be searching?

micki smith