Trilogy of the Magi

There were many other signs that Jesus worked
…but, they are not recorded in this book.

John 20:30

Prologue - Two Thieves

Egypt –Circa 2 A.D.

As dawn neared, moments before the Egyptian sun would cross the El Quisiya horizon, two thieves watched a small family’s campsite they had just stumbled across in their prolonged trek north toward Cairo. A man, garbed in brown, was adjusting a donkey’s harness while a younger woman was playfully tousling her child’s dark hair as they shared a slight jest. The mother, dressed in dyed wool, with a blue mantle covering her dark hair, glanced up, “Joseph, are we ready to leave?”

In a quiet, measured voice he responded, “Yes, Mary, almost ready. My Dear, I’ve been thinking about what we discussed last night—maybe enough time has passed, and we have traveled long enough.” Loving eyes followed his son’s movements. “We have been blest these past years, and I think you are right—we have come far enough to be safe. We should settle here.”

The woman’s answer reflected an obvious longing to put down roots. “It would be wonderful to stay in one place instead of moving from village to town and then on again weeks or months later. Son, did you hear your father? We are going to live here.”

Her son, however, was looking at the exact spot where the thieves were hidden.

With the element of surprise rapidly vanishing, Hemar, in his usual abrupt manner and with little thought, charged forward drawing his knife, “The kid’s seen us, Dismas!” In a surly, rasping challenge, he ordered, “Your money or we kill the boy!”

Moving as only a mother can when her child is in danger, the young woman grabbed her son and drew him to her protectively.

Swearing aloud, Dismas directed his movements toward the muscular father who had quickly moved toward his wife and child. “Halt—”

Unaccountably, his command trailed into silence. Breaking into a sweat, Dismas stopped in total dismay as a wave of remorse overwhelmed him. Attempting to shake off the unfamiliar feeling, he menacingly moved his knife at the seemingly helpless family. The feeling of regret intensified as he locked gazes with the beautiful woman safely enveloping the child in her arms. Her calm acceptance of his presence rattled the robber as her screams never would have. She spoke no word nor did Dismas, who was tongue-tied for possibly the first time in his life. Hemar was mute also as he looked to Dismas for help.

Moments passed—Mary simply held his gaze with the most compassionate look he had ever received. Backing up one step at a time, Dismas wanted to stay in her presence, but felt his intrusion was the blackest deed of his life.

Grabbing Hemar by the sleeve, Dismas skulked away into the vastness of the land.

Chapter l – The Child’s Destiny
An Eastern Kingdom – Circa 33 A.D.

“Raheeb, faithful friend, I plan to journey afar again.”

“Yes, my king, I know.”

Gaspar chuckled at his servant’s matter-of-fact response, “You know?”

“Why else have you prepared your kingdom and your son for your absence?”

Instead of answering, the monarch moved toward the open balcony and gazed west into the night sky as if seeking an answer amongst the gleaming stars above. Raheeb silently followed and as raptly as the other stared intently westward.

Quietly, Gaspar continued, “I must be a poor ruler to leave my people a second time. But indeed, I have weighed this decision for decades, Raheeb.”

“As you decreed, your son has been governing our lands for almost two years. Long ago the people accepted your command—though I am certain they cannot fathom what possessed you to give him your regal authority.”

“Can you?”

Scanning the starlit expanse, Raheeb stated, “You must return to see if the man has fulfilled the child’s destiny.”

With surprising passion, Gaspar declared. “Years before you and I began our extraordinary quest which ended in Bethlehem, I charted the stars. I have wondered and conjectured these thirty years and more, since that incredible time, what became of the child Jesus and his family. Now I am torn to pieces! My love for my country—my son—my need to seek again the child—now a man, whom the star drew us to so long ago…”

Raheeb finally spoke in a low voice, “Jesus is thirty-three years old. Time enough for those writings to be accomplished.”

“Yes, yes, my point exactly! A man—ready to come into his kingdom if the stars and scripts have foretold correctly. My continued studies of the skies, the prophesies, the evidence of my own eyes, the experiences of the journey to Palestine with the later warnings about Herod—the source still so unfathomable after all these years—all point compellingly to a master of men!”

Raheeb finished his king’s thinking, “The portentous events proclaimed by the stars would seem to be near at hand—if not fulfilled already.”

Gripping the balcony railing, Gaspar enthusiastically went on, “Let us consider what Melchior, Balthazar and I confirmed. He was born in a Roman province, and according to their astrological signs his birth was a phenomenon.” His confidant, smiling in the dark, prepared again to hear Gaspar’s defense of the hypothesis that also affirmed the scholar’s life-long search for knowledge—the hallmark of all magi.

“Jupiter and Saturn aligned together, then Mars the next year—surely when the skies bring such signs, we lowly humans must consider what they foretell. Almighty Jupiter—to the Romans, their god who rules over all other gods and mankind as well! Saturn—tradition amongst the Latins associates it with justice! Mighty Mars, the Roman god of war!”

Raheeb responded, “In truth, what else can be interpreted, but that the greatest ruler of all times—powerful yet just, is near at hand!”

“These signs were apparent only in the constellation Pisces. Pisces—the writings relate it to the Hebrews. Raheeb, the Hebrews!”