Two Kings

The scriptures referred to are Matthew 2:1-12.

The whole thing was Melchior's idea. He, Caspar and Balthazar were all involved in the calculations of the emergence and then the observance of the new celestial phenomenon. It was Melchior who approached the king of Persia about the star (the simplest way to explain it to a layman) to get the king to fund the trip. It was also Melchior's idea to have Caspar select the gifts they would bring. Balthazar questioned putting Melchior's protege in charge of choosing what they would present to the new king. And, sure enough, Caspar chose gold, a solid if uninspired gift, and frankincense, a royal perfume, and...myrrh!? That's an ointment for preparing a body for burial. In what universe would that be an appropriate gift for a newborn?

It was also Melchior's idea that Balthazar accompany them. The magi tried to beg off. He was too old, too achy and too cranky for a long trip. It would take them at least a couple of months to make it from Persia to Jerusalem. And maybe longer, seeing that they would need a considerable escort of soldiers to protect them and their valuable gifts. And Balthazar didn't travel well. The number of foods he could eat these days was limited. He could no longer sleep on the ground in a tent as he did when he was younger. And riding camels was bad for his back. In fact, with all the rocking and lurching, he often got camel-sick. He would not be good company to travel with. He didn't even like his own company. He came up with a million reasons why he should be left behind. But then Melchior pointed out that Balthazar was their language expert. He could speak and understand the tongues and dialects they would encounter as they traveled through Arabia. And it was especially important that, upon reaching Judea, they have someone fluent in Aramaic and Hebrew. After all, it was Balthazar who connected the celestial phenomenon with the prophesies of the Hebrew scriptures. He had to accompany them. Balthazar knew he was right. He would come, he said. But he wouldn't enjoy it.

As it was, by the time the whole expedition was prepared it was nearly 2 years since they had seen the sign in the night sky. Even Balthazar had to admire Melchior's persistence in working with the Persian bureaucracy to make this a reality. He hoped that young Caspar would by now be too bored by the delay to go. But the idea of a road trip excited the young man and he was only too willing to take off for an exotic foreign land to see a king. And so, at last, they set out.

Balthazar almost immediately regretted it. Though assured by the stable master that the camel he was given would provide a smooth ride, the animal was wayward and headstrong. It was reluctant to kneel so he could get on it. And it could spit with great accuracy, something he discovered when he was trying to get the beast to stand still so he could get his possessions off its back. Caspar thought this was hilarious. Melchior offered Balthazar a handkerchief to clean the sputum from his face and beard.

He had to admit Melchior had done a great job planning each leg of the trip. He even tried to include some interesting sights for them to visit along the way. The reason for this was, at least partly, to keep Caspar entertained, or so Balthazar suspected. The youngest magi was easily bored. He constantly asked how long would this take and were they there yet? With Melchior doing the navigating and consulting the maps and the sun, it fell to Balthazar to keep Caspar's mind occupied. He told him stories. He invented games like “I spy” though this rarely worked since they were often traveling through featureless deserts. He tried to tell jokes, which even Balthazar knew he was not good at. He tried to get Caspar to sing songs to make the time go by. But Balthazar soon regretted teaching Caspar to sing “A hundred goatskins of wine on the wall.” When he got to zero, Caspar simply started over. It turned into the song that never ends.

In addition, Balthazar was sleeping badly. It wasn't just the hard ground and the cold nights. He was troubled by what he had gathered about King Herod from travelers they met at each oasis. Everyone knew Herod was ruthless. Well, that was pretty much common with kings. They didn't tolerate rivals. But Herod had killed his own wife, her brother and at least 2 of his sons. And things weren't looking too good for Herod's heir to make it to the throne. In fact, it was reported that the Roman Emperor Augustus himself had quipped, “It's better to be Herod's sow than his son.” Would the magi be doing the new king a favor by drawing the tyrant's attention to him? Balthazar began having dreams about babies being killed. They were horrible.

At last they saw a shining gold and white temple perched on a hill and knew they had reached Jerusalem. They had, of course, sent messengers ahead to alert the king of their arrival. It wouldn't do to enter a paranoid ruler's territory unannounced. They were welcomed and put up in sumptuous apartments. When they were ushered into the throne room, they bowed low. Struggling to rise, Balthazar greeted Herod with appropriately hyperbolic praises. They presented him with gifts fit for royalty. In view of the monarch's age, Balthazar made sure that myrrh was not one of them. Herod in turned graciously accepted their accolades and their gifts and invited them to feast with him that night. They did so and were treated like royalty. Caspar was open-mouthed at the splendor of the palace and the extensive menu they were served. But they noted that while Herod introduced them to his remaining sons by his—was it 10 wives?—none was the right age to be the one foretold by the star.

The next day they met with Herod again in his throne room and Balthazar said, in his most elegant Hebrew, “We thank your majesty for your gracious hospitality. And your sons are most handsome and intelligent men. But do you have a younger one whom we have not yet met? For we were wondering: Where is the one born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Immediately Balthazar was sorry he had said this. Herod stared at them and not in a pleasant or even neutral way. He obviously was hearing this for the first time and it disturbed him. The king's council, sensitive to Herod's mood swings, also saw this and looked frightened. Then Herod, with great effort, put on a not very convincing smile and said that he too would love to know about this new king. He would consult the chief priests and teachers of the law and get back to them. After some very stiff and awkward formal praises and thanks, the magi withdrew.

They didn't dare speak as they were escorted back to their apartments. But when they were served their midday meal, they conversed in a regional dialect of their native Parthian tongue, sure than none of Herod's servants/spies would understand them.

“He was not happy to hear what you said,” observed Casper, stating the obvious.

“We shouldn't have alerted him to the existence of a potential rival,” said Balthazar.

“But what were we to do?” asked Melchior. “We assumed it was Herod's son. If not, then how can we find the child without the help of Herod's advisors and scholars?”

“I should have spent more time studying their scriptures. Maybe I could have worked it out,” Balthazar said regretfully.

“An unknown king? How could you have known? And how could we have planned for this? We had to go through official channels,” Melchior said.

“If it is God's will that this child become king, he will take care of it,” said Caspar simply. Though said with youthful optimism and faith, the two older magi accepted Caspar's pronouncement with resignation.

After an anxious couple of days, the magi were summoned to see Herod again. But not in the throne room. He met them in a side chamber away from his advisors and nobles. In fact, only one aged man was with the king. Balthazar thought he must be a rabbi, since he was not dressed as a priest. Herod said to the man, “Tell our visitors what you discovered.”

The old man said, “In the prophet Micah, it is 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.'”

That sounded vaguely familiar to Balthazar. Wasn't Bethlehem the town the Jews' great king David came from? He would have to look it up to see if he remembered it correctly. But even so, he would have disregarded it because they assumed the king would be born to Herod, who did not live in a backwater town like Bethlehem, nor was he descended from David. He wasn't even considered a true Jew by his people because his father was an Indumaean, descended from Edomite converts to Judaism. Though raised as a Jew, Herod was ethically an Arab. Small wonder he was not loved by his subjects.

Herod then moved closer to the magi and said in a low voice, “Just when did the star that marked his birth appear?”

Balthazar seriously considered lying to the king. But surely he had his own astrologers who could confirm the magis' observations. So he told him how 2 years ago they had observed the phenomenon in the East. As he told Herod, Balthazar wondered why the king's own astrologers had missed it. The interpretation was subtle but if Persians could figure out it portended the birth of a Judean king, surely Jewish stargazers would have. And then he noticed what the old man standing next to Herod did. Or rather what he didn't do. His face did not register surprise or curiosity or indeed interest in this sign from the heavens. He was deliberately impassive. Except his eyes which could not help but steal a glance at the magi. Balthazar's and the man's eyes locked for a second.

He knew! Of course, he knew, realized Balthazar. But he dare not tell this homicidal monarch that a rival king was born. The king's astrologers and scholars kept it from him.

Herod was speaking. “Go and search carefully for the child,” the king said. “As soon as you find him report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” Herod was all smiles.

As was Balthazar. “Of course, O great king,” he said, trying to sound as sincere as he could. And after more empty pleasantries, the magi were dismissed.

It turned out that Bethlehem was only about 3 hours ride south from Jerusalem. Well, 3 hours if they took the caravan. They seriously considered heading out the next morning but Balthazar did not want to give Herod time to beat them there. They must go today. As it was, by the time they were ready to travel the sun was getting low in the sky. And there was another problem.

“How do we identify which child in Bethlehem is the one?” asked Melchior.

How indeed? It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The sun set as they rode to Bethlehem. And it turned out to be a stargazers' worst nightmare: the sky was solid with cloud cover. They couldn't even see the moon, let alone the stars. Their task was now like searching for a needle in a haystack in the dark!

“Well, at least we need not worry about Herod,” said Caspar. “If we have trouble seeing, so will he and his men. He will probably wait till daylight to come for the child.” True, thought Balthazar. His respect for his younger colleague was increasing.

They saw some faint lights that seemed to be in the right place for the little village. Melchior told the escort to wait for them outside the town. No reason to make their presence too obvious.

The 3 magi entered the village. There is nothing like wandering through a strange town in the dark looking for some house you don't know. Balthazar was almost in despair of finding the child. Then in the dark street shined a light. There was a break in the clouds. A shaft of moonlight fell on a small house on the outskirts of the village. They took it as a sign and hurried to the place.

Melchior gestured to Balthazar to knock. He knew the language best. He knocked and after a moment heard someone coming. A man opened the door, looking suspiciously at the three fancy foreigners on his doorstep.

Balthazar realized that simplicity and directness were the best approach in this circumstance. “Greetings, my good man. We come from the great king of Persia in the East. We observed a special star arise and came to greet and give gifts to the new king its presence revealed. Is he here?”

The man looked at the three but instead of showing any sign that he thought them to be mad, he blinked a few times and then turned to someone inside and said, “Mary, we got kings this time.”

“Not kings,” said Balthazar, “but, uh, wise men who watch the skies for signs. I take it that others have preceded us.”

“Shepherds originally,” said the man, moving in an odd manner. He turned and the magi saw a donkey pushing against the man's hip. He shooed it away and invited them in. They walked up the short flight of stairs from the animals' quarters to the family room where they saw a young woman setting a dish with a meager amount of food on a low table. The man said, “I am Joseph. This is my wife Mary.”

“We just sat down to eat but, please, accept our humble fare,” she said. She looked down at a boy of about two, clinging to her dress, staring at the strangers intently. “Jesus, get some dishes for our guests.” The boy ran to get some dishes from another low table.

“No need, madam. Rather let us share our provisions with you,” said Balthazar. “Caspar...,” he said, but already the young man was bowing as he exited the house to get food from the caravan.

They ate and shared stories and Caspar made faces and did simple magic tricks which delighted the boy. After the biggest and best meal the family had ever eaten, the magi bowed to the ground before the boy, offering their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. As his colleagues arose, Balthazar again had trouble getting up off the floor. “I help,” said the boy, grabbing the old man's gnarled hands with his two chubby ones and pulling. Balthazar laughed but it did help him get to his feet. He smiled at the boy and tousled his hair, quite forgetting that you shouldn't do that to a royal child without permission. But with this little family in this little house in this little village it was hard to see anything regal in the traditional sense. But then Herod was regal in the traditional sense. The world had quite enough of that.

Before they left, Balthazar shared with Joseph the fact that Herod said he would like to see their child. Joseph's face showed that he fully understood what that meant. Warning received.

They returned to their camp and lay down and went to sleep. But within hours Balthazar was awake. He ran to Melchior's tent. He was up. “You, too?” Melchior asked.

“A dream.” Balthazar said. “Warning us to leave immediately. And take a different route.”

“Caspar and I had the same dream,” Melchior said.

“Where is Caspar?”

“Warning the family.”

Just then the young man returned panting. “They're gone. The house is empty.” The other men looked alarmed. “But not ransacked. And the donkey is gone, too.” They let out sighs of relief.

“Thank God,” said Balthazar.

“We must go as well,” said Melchior as he went to wake the escort.

They were on the road by first light. Melchior was revising their itinerary on the fly and griping about not having had enough time to do it properly. Caspar was quiet for once. Balthazar was lost in thought.

Of the two kings he had met on this trip, he knew which one he had liked best. But they all start as a child. To become a king is a bloody business. He hoped that whatever happened to the boy, he did not become like Herod, using his power to intimidate and terrify and spill the blood of others. If only he could retain his innocence and desire to help.

And that's when Balthazar realized his joints and back didn't hurt anymore and his stomach had settled down. Even though he didn't get much sleep that night, he felt refreshed. He tried to pinpoint when exactly he began to feel better.

He decided that from now on he would talk to travelers more often and collect any news he could from Judea. He was very interested in what kind of king Jesus would grow into.