A Farewell to Bethlehem
Leonardo da Vinci, The Adoration of the Magi
We Three Kings Background Music
A FAREWELL TO BETHLEHEM ©
Prologue
Narrator: Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Daniel served the Lord God all their lives,
but unfortunately, they could not join their people returning from exile to the promised land. Six centuries after their captivity, however, their descendants, three wise men named Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, and their camel boy, Jimmy, arrive in the evening at an inn in Bethlehem after their audience with Herod the Great earlier that day. King Herod, being advised that the new Messiah King was to be born in Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, met secretly with the wise men to find out when the new king’s star they followed first appeared. King Herod told them to "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."
Scripture does not record what Kind Herod did next. As Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar left his throne room, King Herod told Pater to take some discrete soldiers to follow the wise men and make sure that any king they found disappears as well as the wise men. King Herod had a long reign because he trusted no one.
The wise men and their camel boy followed the star to the Bethlehem Guest House where they enter the great room just behind a young couple with a baby boy who catches the attention of everyone there. No one notices the entrance of five strangers who slip into a corner table.
Act I: Evening, December 25th, at the Bethlehem Inn’s Great Room
Chorus from people: Mary! Joseph! Messiah!
The innkeeper: Welcome back! We missed you!
His wife: How are everyone in Nazareth!
Joseph: Fine, thank you. It is great to be back, though we cannot stay long. We are on
our way south to Hebron to visit Mary’s cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah and their toddler John. They are expecting us tomorrow for John’s birthday. We sent word that we’d stay overnight here first, just to stop by and say how grateful we are for all your kindness.
Innkeeper: Stay as long as you like. No census now. We have lots of room.
His wife: Jesus is such a handsome baby!
A shepherd: We haven’t seen you since the night of his birth!
A townsman: We heard some of the stories! Do tell us all!
Joseph: Mary and I were pledged to be married, but before we came together, she was
found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because I was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, I had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after considered this course, an angel of the Lord appeared to me in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
Innkeeper’s wife: A miracle! Mary, do tell!
Mary: My story does not begin with me, but my eldest cousin, Elizabeth, and her
husband, a priest named Zechariah, who belongs to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth also is a descendant of Aaron. Both of them are righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they are both very old.
Zechariah entering
from a hallway: But not too old to come up from Hebron to surprise you here!
Mary, Joseph, and Zechariah exchange hugs
Zechariah: Almost two years ago, my division was on duty and I was serving as priest
before God, I was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to me standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When I saw him, I was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to me: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
I asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel said to me, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for me and wondering why I stayed so long in the temple. When I came out, I could not speak to them. They realized I had seen a vision in the temple, for I kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When my time of service was completed, I returned home. After this my wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Mary: In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to
Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to me, a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The angel said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
I was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to me, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” I asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” I answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left me.
At that time I got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where I entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard my greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
And I said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
I stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home to Joseph.
Zecheriah: When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Our
neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after me, his father, but Elizabeth spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
Then they made signs to me, his father, to find out what I would like to name the child.
I asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment I wrote, “His name is John.”
Immediately my mouth was opened and my tongue set free! I began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be? For the Lord’s hand was with him.”
I was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Joseph: Six months later, six months ago, we went up from the town of Nazareth
in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because I belong to the house and line of David. I came here to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to me and was expecting a child. While we were here, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to our firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room available for us.
Innkeeper: I am so sorry, Joseph! Mary! It was so crowded with everyone here for the
census! I am so ashamed that all I could offer you was space in the stable. I didn’t know.
Mary: You did the best you could for us. We will forever be grateful for your
kindness. No other king had such a great welcome.
A shepherd: And there we were, shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch
over our flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to us, and the glory of the Lord shone around us! We were terrified.
But the angel said to us, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Second shepherd: Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’
When the angels had left us and gone into heaven, we shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Third Shepherd: So we hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in
the manger. When we had seen him, we spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what we said to them. All of us shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things we had heard and seen, which were just as we had been told.
Mary: I treasured up all these things and pondered them in my heart. On the eighth
day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
Joseph: When the time came for the purification rites required by law, we
took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When we brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
Mary: Joseph and I marveled at what was said about our son. Then Simeon blessed us
and said to me: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Joseph: There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to us at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
When we had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, we returned to Galilee to our own town of Nazareth.
Mary: Then, Zechariah and Elizabeth invited us to come south to Hebron to celebrate John’s first birthday tomorrow.
Joseph: We sent word to Zechariah and Elizabeth that we would stop here for the night before arriving tomorrow for John’s birthday.
Innkeeper: We are honored again to have you stay here. What a surprise to have such
guests.
The three wise men approach Mary and Jesus. They knee down and pay him homage.
Caspar: We have come to bring gifts to the new king of the Jews. Gold!
Melchior: Frankincense!
Balthazar: Myrrh!
Joseph: How did you happen to come here? Tonight?
Caspar: A year ago at the Jewish New Year, his star appeared in the western sky.
Mary: That was when the angel appeared to me!
Mechior: Then six months ago, the star appeared again.
Joseph: When we arrived in Bethlehem and Jesus was born.
Caspar: We rode west and arrived in Jerusalem this morning.
Balthazar: To everyone, we asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?
We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Melchior: They took us to your King Herod. We asked him, “Where is the one who
has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Caspar: When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.”
Balthazar: Then Herod called us Magi secretly and found out from us the exact time the
star had appeared. He sent us to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
Melchior: Leaving Jerusalem, we followed the star we had seen when it rose ahead
of us until it stopped over here, the place where the child was.
Caspar: When we saw the star, we were overjoyed.
Joseph: Amazing! We arrived just ahead of you ourselves!
Narrator: Joy filled the room. Eventually, everyone left to their rooms or homes. No one noticed the departure of the five strangers from the corner table as they left, heading to the stable.
Act II: At the stable, dark except for a faint light in the corner where five men huddled close.
Pater: We are on the wrong side. I have never known such love as to hear of angel’s greeting to the young woman. After four millennia of suffering and death and war and strife, a messiah! Freedom! I have lived a rich life, but now realize how poor I really am. These people here have true riches. For the first time in my life, I care for someone else. We dare not carry out Herod’s instructions. What think you, Sadoc?
Sadoc: I am troubled. If we don’t carry out the King’s command, our lives will be
forfeit in the most painful manner. I wish I could have the joy of the old couple, when they learned they had a son. Such joy! To hear of the old women’s son being born. What an amazing account from the old man. And their baby’s joy when Mary entered their house. I couldn’t live with myself to take away the baby they call Jesus, the source of all their joy. For once in my life, I am not angry at everyone. I like that. Marcus, are you in with us?
Marcus: I am with you. I am humbled by what we heard tonight. I’ve never felt that
way before. I feel so unworthy for all that I’ve done in my life, always fighting. And for what? Just to get drunk, again and again to get away from it all. To get away from myself. I just want peace. Peace, such peace as the shepherds saw! To hear the shepherds’ story was enough for me. I’d be content to be just a shepherd greeting the newborn king! Hanani, are you in, too?
Hanani: My work has been one long oppression for King Herod. I cannot murder, or
beat or imprison another person for him. I need to repay for what I have done. I am amazed hearing of the patience by the old man and the old women at the temple. Waiting for the Messiah all those years. To be awarded in their old age by seeing him must have been so fulfilling! I want that feeling. Marcellus, don’t you agree?
Marcellus: Absolutely! After what we have seen and heard, how can we just go back to
what we have been? Merciless mauraders! Enough! Let’s start spreading some mercy instead. What kindness can we accomplish for the new king and his mother and father?
Pater: So we are agreed. We cannot carry out the King’s orders. What are we to do?
For myself, I would die for this new king. But what about you all?
Sadoc: If we return to Jerusalem without accomplishing our mission, we are doomed.
Still, I just want to do what is right for a change. Mary’s words still ring in my heart:
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.”
I am willing to take a cup of persecution rather than continue to dish it out.
Marcus: If the eastern men go back to the king, they are doomed. So is the new king.
Hanani: If they don’t go back, we are doomed. And they can’t get away fast enough on
camels and with a kid. We have to do something, but what?
Marcellus: I see no way out for us, but with our five horses, we can get the easterners and
the Messiah and his parents away from here before all hell breaks loose.
Pater: I agree. We can help them and the child escape on our horses. And take their
camels back and tell the king our mission is accomplished.
Sadoc: But how? They will not believe us!
Caspar, entering
from the side: Except that just now I was warned in a dream not to go back to Herod.
Melchior: And we came to get our camels and leave.
Balthazar: And heard your predicament.
Caspar: We accept your offer. Take our camels and cloaks back to your king. We will
depart for home on three of your horses so Mary and Joseph and the child will have two as well to escape. But we still have a problem. Our camel boy, James can’t be seen. Who will take care of him?
Pater: That is a problem. We can help him get back home to you on the next caravan
east. Will that be OK?
Jimmy: My brothers and sisters and I are orphans. Do you think Mary and
Joseph can adopt us? I can think of no better parents than they.
Pater: We must leave that to them to decide. Balthazar, Caspar, Melchior, and three
of us will meet you at your capitol in a month. We will either bring Jimmy with us or send him ahead to wherever Mary and Joseph and the child go. Go and make ready.
Balthazar: We go. God be with you.
Pater, etc.: And with you, too.
Pater: Jimmy, tell me about your family.
Jimmy: I have two sisters, twins who are 12, two years older than I am. They can be a
big help to Mary as they are practically raising my brothers themselves. My brothers are Jo, who is 8, two years younger than I, Jude, who is 6 and Simon, who is 4. My sisters have taken care of us since our parents died two years ago. Balthazar took pity on us and allowed me to accompany them on this journey, paying my sisters well for me to take care of the camels for them. I miss my family. I just wish we could all be together again. With a mother and a father. A father like Joseph. A mother like Mary.
Pater: I hope you get your wish.
Joseph, entering
from the side
with Mary and baby: And why not? We have heard you both speaking as we came here for our
donkey. Just now, I had a dream tonight. An angel told me to take Mary and Jesus and go to Egypt to escape Herod.
Pater: You’ll not get there fast enough by donkey. To King Herod, Jesus is public
enemy number 1. He will leave no stone unturned to find him. Take our war horses and make haste. Do you mean it about adopting Jimmy and his brothers and sisters?
Mary: Of course! Joseph is a carpenter. He will build a big house for us all.
But how will Jimmy and his sisters and brothers get to us in Egypt?
Pater: He will go with us. I will hide him as the others slip quickly into Jerusalem. I
will see the King, then all of us will be off. Marcellus and Jimmy will head west in the first caravan to Egypt. Sadoc, Marcus and Hanani will take the other camels east and back with a caravan to Jimmy’s family to join you in six months. I will leave at the same time, heading north to Rome on business.
Joseph: Will our donkey help?
Pater: Thanks, that will look better if Jimmy rides the donkey back to Jerusalem
while I walk alongside. Any inquiring eyes may think your family had just come back to Jerusalem. Then I can take the donkey with me out of Jerusalem.
Joseph: You will need new names.
Pater: Do you have any ideas?
Joseph: For Sadoc, Azariah.
Sadoc: I like that.
Joseph: For Marcus, Mishael.
Marcus: That fits me.
Joseph: For Hanani, Hananiah.
Hanani: Hananiah! That will be easy to remember.
Joseph: You will need those names as you go into the fiery furnace. May you come out unscathed! May you bring our sons and daughters to us in Egypt.
Marcellus: And for me, Joseph? Who am I?
Joseph: You, Marcellus, are Daniel. May you escape the lions’ den and bring Jimmy to us. I will make of him a good carpenter.
Marcellus: I am Daniel!
Pater: Who am I, then, Joseph?
Joseph: You are Habakkuk. You sustain Daniel and his companions. May you aid their escape.
Pater: Thank you! I am not worthy of the name, but I will do my best to see that you, Daniel, get Jimmy safely to Joseph and Mary. And you, Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah, may you bring home their other children too.
Mary: God be with you all! Jimmy, we look forward to seeing you soon and
meeting your sisters and brothers in six months. You’ll need to get to work, Joseph. We’ll need a big house!
Epilogue
Narrator: They finalized their plans and left Bethlehem that night, never to return.
Joseph, Mary and Jesus rode quickly on the two gift horses, among the swiftest in kingdom, and arrived safely in Egypt. People in Jerusalem said that seven camels returned early the next morning with the three wise men and their camel boy from the east, but they were never seen leaving. Some said that a young man walked alongside a donkey ridden by a woman with a sleeping bundle at her breast later that morning, but they too were never seen again. At Herod’s court, King Herod was at first satisfied with Pater’s report. Pater and his companions departed that same day for Rome, presumably in a camel caravan heading northwest toward the coast. Strangely, only Pater was tracked down a few days later. He was brought back to Jerusalem where he was tried and later executed for an alleged attempt to poison the king. Nothing was mentioned at the trial about Bethlehem. You can read about that trial in Josephus’s account much later. No one could figure out what happened to the others who had ridden from Jerusalem to Bethlehem that first night. Some said they must have perished at the hand of a marauding band of cutthroats who swept through Bethlehem as Pater was brought back to Jerusalem. The king’s loyal soldiers never caught up with that murderous band either. The barbarians left only a trail of tears of mothers and fathers whose small children were butchered in a rash of madness.
On a much happier note, about six months later and two hundred miles to the west in Egypt, a large family of a mother and father and seven children celebrated a great reunion. It was the first birthday of their youngest family member.
Over the ages, people worldwide have joined that celebration in their annual joyous remembrance each December 25th. But not just on Christmas Day. For over two millennia, people have brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Whenever they welcomed children into their families, they welcomed Him. Whenever they forgave one another, they gave up their grudges for Him. Whenever they beat their swords into plowshares, they tilled fields for Him. Whenever they tore down walls of tyranny, they built up a city for Him.
Acknowledgments:
All passages of scripture in the first act are from the NIV version of the books of Matthew and Luke. The events related therein are fully incorporated herein, although the account of Pater, a historic figure, is fictional, as are his companions and the entire second act. Jimmy, of course, is the brother of Jesus and author of his own book in the New Testament, as is Jude, his brother. See also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_%28brother_of_Jesus%29
The timeframe and connection to Daniel used herein is inspired by The Star of Bethlehem http://www.bethlehemstar.net/ As noted therein, the historic choice of December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus is related to the idea that great prophets were born or conceived on the same day of their death. At that time, people erroneously assigned March 25 as the date of the passion and thus figured that date to be his conception as well, making Christmas 9 months later on December 25. See http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=16-10-012-v
Further reading about King Herod and Antipater (Pater) can be found in the writings of Josephus at http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-17.htm See also the account of Josephus and Herod at the Star of Bethlehem, http://www.bethlehemstar.net/setting-the-stage/why-are-we-hearing-this-now/
Original Post at my personal blog, lincolninpeoria.blogspot.com
