Last night, following the new movie there was an episode of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." It is a great show about a special team in the post office who hunt for the recipients of lost letters and finally deliver them to the right person.
In last night's episode, one of the main characters shared the story of the fourth wise man. It is a wonderful thought provoking story. I did a little research this morning. The original story was called "The Story of the Other Wise Man" and was written by Henry Van Dyke and initially published in 1895.
I will share a brief account of Mr. Van Dyke's story.
It is a wonderful addition to the Biblical writing of the events of the Three Wise men (or Magi) who travel to Bethlehem to see Jesus at His birth. I don't believe he wrote his story intending to say the Bible was wrong but more created a story that provokes deep thought and wonder.
He wrote of a fourth Magi named Artaban. The Magi were acclaimed to be priests, astronomers, physicians, and men of great knowledge, thus being called wise men. In preparation for meeting this King, he sold all he had and acquired three amazing jewels, a sapphire, ruby, and a great pearl, that he would offer as gifts to the King. I am sure there is great significance to the colors and timing of the use of the gems.
Artaban saw the signs in the heavens and knew the birth of the great King, who was coming for all mankind, was near. Artaban was to meet three of his fellow Magi at a predetermined location. He left on his fastest horse and traveled as fast as he could to journey with his friends. Along the way, he met a dying man and stopped to help him. Stopping to help the man caused him to be late and he missed the caravan and his friends.
He could not cross the desert on one horse, and after giving his food and medicines to the ill man, he would have to buy supplies and camels to make his journey across the desert on his own. To get the supplies he needed, he sold one of the jewels intended for the King and continued his journey. He made his way to Bethlehem but arrived too late to see the baby Jesus. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus fled to Egypt to avoid the Romans who were killing all the children in an attempt to kill Jesus.
While there, a bloodied Roman soldier entered the place he was. He was ready to strike but Artaban gave him his second jewel if he would go away. The soldier did and a child called from the shadows, thank you for saving me.
With his last gift for the King, Artaban traveled to Egypt and country after country searching for the King. He never gave up searching and never gave up hope in his search. After thirty-three years of searching and caring for those who crossed his path, he ended up in Jerusalem. He is still a pilgrim. He has no possessions for he sold them all. All he has left is the pearl, his gift to the King.
He arrived just in time for the crucifixion of Jesus. Before anything else could happen, he saw a young girl being dragged off into slavery for debts she could not pay. She was screaming for help. Artaban could not resist and he gave his brilliant white pearl to pay her debt and she was set free.
Just then a roof tile fell and struck Artaban in the head and he fell to the ground. He laid on the ground knowing he was about to die. He realized he failed in his quest but knew he did his best and somehow knew that all was well. The girl knelt at his side and would stay with him to the end.
Artaban heard a voice speaking to him saying, "Verily I say unto thee, inasmuch as thou has done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me." The girl at his side heard the voice as well and was amazed. In a moment, Artaban died in a calm radiance of wonder and joy.
In the end, through all he had done, Artaban's gifts of great treasure were received and accepted and the Other Wise Man found His King.
We are in the week of Thanksgiving and heading toward Christmas. While we may not have gifts of great monetary value, we have all been given gifts. In Jesus' hands, our gifts are truly gifts of great value. We have been given a heart to love and care for those around us. Just as with Artaban, there are people who cross our paths who need a helping hand, who need to be loved and cared for.
As we have seen and as is written in Scripture, the kindness we do to others, we also do unto Christ. When we pause in our own personal journey to care for another person who Jesus also loves, we are being loving unto Christ, as well. On the other side of that, can we agree that when we ignore someone who needs a helping hand, we also ignore Christ?
The verse (Matthew 25:30) tells us whatever we have done unto the least of these, His brethren, we have done unto Him. Notice it doesn't say whatever good things we have done unto another we have done unto Him. How about when we are mean or uncaring? If in doing good things to others we understand we are doing good things unto Christ, then can we also see if we do bad things to others, we are also doing bad things unto Christ?
The major part of Artaban's journey is his search for the King but in doing so he always stopped to help others along the way. This is an awesome time of the year and I find myself encouraged greatly by the story of Artaban.
As I wrote earlier, we may not have gifts of great monetary value to offer our King so why don't we offer Him love and kindness and caring by offering those things to those around us who are in need of these wonderful gifts?
Jesus' entire life was a life of giving, not of getting. If we look over our lives do we see we have been more interested in getting or more interested in giving? Maybe the best gift we can give this year is the gift of caring for others as Jesus did.
If we set a new course for our lives, we are sure to find the King we have been struggling to know in a deeper and richer way. In doing so, we can rest assured that when our time draws to an end, we will pass in a calm radiance of wonder and joy knowing we have done our very best. We too, will one day know our gifts have been accepted as we come face to face with our King.