Journey of the Wise Men: Epilogue

The wise men were concerned not to overstay their welcome. After all it had been a surprise visit. Upon their arrival, the mother, whose name they learned was Mary, sent one of the village children to call her husband, Joseph. (In those days and in that place only a man could receive a visit from other men.) He came quickly, alarmed at this unexpected news, and asked Mary to prepare something for the visitors to eat. She brought out milk and honey, together with ample portions of bread, the village specialty. Joseph was understandably a little perplexed at three strangers arriving with such lavish gifts, as was Mary. Even more disturbing was their account of their meeting with King Herod and his advisors. It gave Joseph a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. The wise men saw the alarm in his face. After presenting the gifts, they made to take their leave of the family, asking where they might find lodging in the village for the night. Joseph offered them the part of their house where the animals stayed, what people much later and in a different place would think of as a stable. He was not trying to be ironic, and they accepted. Camel was especially pleased, and when he tasted the feed that family provided its animals he almost took back his declaration to “never be your beast of burden” again, which he had taken to singing while listening to his iPod. That night both Joseph and the wise men had dreams telling them to get out of town and avoid Herod at all costs. They learned about this from each other over breakfast, and were mutually amazed. The wise men helped Mary and Joseph pack their most important possessions on their donkey and sent them off south in the direction of Egypt, while they headed home by a different road that did not go back through Jerusalem. Clearly God’s plan to change the world through this child was not going to be easy, nor would it be unopposed. But change was already happening. The passes on their journey were all at least a little bit open, even though no one left any more doors a jar.

Journey of the Wise Men: Episode Thirteen

The next day they set off for Bethlehem, and the star went ahead of them the whole way until it finally seemed to stop right overhead as they approached a house in the center of the village. And there was a woman with a child in the house, a toddler. There were other women and other children in the village, but somehow they knew that this was the child they sought, the one whose birth the star had heralded. In him they saw hope for the world. Hope for the Judeans, and hope for foreigners like them as well. God was at work here, in this little boy, to change the world, to make everything right. They wouldn’t have been able to explain it to you if you had been standing right there next to them. And yet they knew it was true. They were overwhelmed with joy, and presented the child with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Journey of the Wise Men: Episode Twelve

The place they found to stay was in the base of a little-known tower in the Jerusalem wall known as Pulpit Tower (to the very few people who know about it, that is.) In the morning they began asking around about where the newly-born king could be found. People who had been very friendly one minute acted very strangely when the subject was brought up. They seemed a little frightened and reluctant to talk further. 

After a couple of hours they were approached by a squad of soldiers. Their sergeant spoke to Caspar. “Good sir, you and your friends are invited to the palace. The king wishes to welcome you.” This was strange indeed. Never had any of them been invited to meet a king. But it seemed impolite to refuse, not to mention unwise, and these were wise men after all. The meeting with the king (Herod was his name) was as strange and uncomfortable as might be expected. Something was not right. He was too nice for a king, they thought, and too interested in their quest to meet the newly born king of the Judeans. He summoned his chief priests and scribes, who, after conferring at length, finally decided that the place to look was Bethlehem, a village only a few miles to the south. King Herod seemed pleased by this, and sent them on their way, asking them to report back when they found the child so that he too could go and pay his respects. Each of the wise men felt that this was very odd behavior for a king. They did not like him, they did not trust him, and they hoped it did not show. They took their leave of the king and his entourage and returned to their lodging place in the tower, resolving to travel to Bethlehem the next day.

Journey of the Wise Men: Episode Eleven

On the final evening of their encampment on Retable Upland, Caspar gathered them for an important announcement.

Caspar: We are two day’s journey from Jerusalem, where we must undertake perhaps the most daunting task we have yet to face. We must… ask for directions.

Melchior: But Caspar, we haven’t brought any women with us. How will we manage that?

Caspar: We shall have to swallow our pride. The goal of our journey is more important than our pride.

The next day they crossed the river Jordan and entered Judea, finishing the day at Jericho, where they found lodging for the night. In following morning they took the road up to Jerusalem. As they neared the city they passed the Place of the Skull, also known as Golgotha. This was the place that the Roman occupiers used to execute criminals and political enemies. Little did the wise men know the importance of this place in God’s project of salvation. They entered the city and found a place to stay for the night.

Journey of the Wise Men: Episode Ten

Here is where our story takes an unexpected turn. The wise men were soon to find that the way out of the Vale of Narthex into the broad expanse known as the Great Sanctuary was closed. There was no jar to save the day this time. There was just no way in. And so they looked for an alternate path in the mountain range to the east. This took much longer than they expected. Days turned into weeks and then into months. They passed from one valley to another, but all of them turned out to be dead ends. Worst of all was the plateau known as Pastor’s Desk, where they got completely lost for several months. The star was ever before them, giving them a clear idea of the direction they needed to go in the big picture, but it was little help in getting through the maze of small obstacles they found themselves in. 

Eventually they worked their way back into the Vale of Narthex where they found the pass into Great Sanctuary open. They made their way northward through the Pew Hills, past the cliffs of New Organ. This brought them very near their goal. They camped on Retable Upland for nearly a week and prepared for their final push.

Journey of the Wise Men: Episode Nine

It was so pleasant by the Pool of New Birth in the Vale of Narthex that they didn’t want to leave. And so they didn’t. Balthazar had done some advance reconnaissance of the way ahead and discovered that it was only in the vicinity of the pool that the sky had cleared and the snow had let up. Beyond that it had continued to fall, accumulating to a depth of six inches in places. After a brief discussion it was decided that a day of rest would do them all good, and so they stayed put. The pool must have been fed by a subterranean hot spring as it was warm enough to bathe in. And that as just what they did, each in turn, an unusual luxury for the middle of winter. They ended the day feeling rejuvenated and optimistic about the rest of their journey.

Journey of the Wise Men: Episode Eight

The next day brought heavier snow and colder temperatures. The travelers woke late and lingered over the warm fire before breaking camp and heading down the canyon toward New Narthex Pass. As they came to the end of the canyon, there was yet another door left a jar. And it was a little bit open too.

Balthazar: This is more than a coincidence now. Every time a door is left a jar we are able to get through because the door is also slightly open. And Every time we encounter a door that hasn’t been left a jar, we are unable to pass through.

Melchior: Perhaps there is some magic in the jars?

Balthazar: Or perhaps the gods of these places require them as offerings in order to allow travellers through.

Caspar: Perhaps. But in a way this is what our whole journey is about. We are going to meet the one who is born the King of the Judeans. But as we were talking the other night, it has also to do with the Judean God, who is also somehow more than the God of the Judeans. It is this God who summons us by the star, and so this God must have power even over the gods of the passes. I will think on this some more as we travel.

By mid afternoon they had come upon Comfort Station where they had hoped to be the previous night, but they had no need for a rest now, much less a campsite, so they pressed on. The snow continued to fall and there were several inches throughout the pass that stayed with them as they descended into the Vale of Narthex. By evening the sky began to clear and the snow abated as they reached the Pool of New Birth in the center of the vale, where they made camp. It was considerably warmer near the pool, with only a dusting of snow for hundreds of yards in all directions. They ate supper and turned in for the night.