Licking Valley courier., 1922-12-21

born King of the JewsI for we have seen his star
in the East, and are come to worship him.
When Herod the King had heard these things, he
was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
And when he had gathered all the chief priests
and scribes of the people together he demanded
of them where Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem Of Judea,
for thus 1t Is written by the prophet
And thou, Bethlehem, In the land Of Judea, are
not the least among the princes of Judea; for out
Of thee shall come Governor, that shall rule my
people Israel.
Then Herod, when he had prlvlly called the
wise men, inquired of them diligently what time
the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go
and search diligently for the young childI and
when ye have found him, bring me word again.
that may come and worship him also.
| When they had heard the king, they departed,
and 10, the star, which they saw in the East, went
before them, till It came and stood over where
the young child was.
When they saw the star, they rejoced with
exceeding great Joy.
And when they were come into the house. they
saw the young child with Mary his mother and
fell down, and worshlped him: and when they had
opened their treasure, they presented unto him
gifts; gold, and frankncense and myrrh.
|
should not return to Herod, they departed into
their own country another way.
These Three Wise Men were named Melchlor,
Kaspar and Balthazar. They are sometimes called
the Three Kings Of Cologne" Their bones are
said to rest In the cathedral of Cologne. This Is
the finest specimen Of Gothic architecture In Eur
ope and Its building took more than 600 years
124S to 1880. Anyway skulls purporting to be
theirs were exhibited as late as the Eighteenth
century. To touch them was to be healed. An
old prayer charm reads:
Kaspar. MelchIOr and BathaIar.
And in the hour of death
Early tradition supplemented this account by
adding fourth wise man. And the story of this
fourth wise man Is one for us all to keep In mind
at Christmas time.
This fourth wise man started with the other
three to make the journey to Jerusalem and pay
homage to the newborn King. But he never
} reached the manger where lay the child, Instead
, he sacrificed his life to render service. Never
theless, before he died he was granted vision
Of the Christ. Henry Van Dykes "The Story Of
. the Other Wise Man" tells the tradition most ex.
cellently well:
Detained by his efforts to save dying stranger,
Artaban becomes separated from his companions.
|
from place to place. feeding the hungry he goes,
clothing the Naked nursing the sick, comforting
: the oppressed
, One after another he spends for others the
precious gifts which he had hoped to offer to the
Christ At last he surrenders his one remaining
! : pearl In order to ransom tormented slave girl.
! Strpck on the temple by falling tile he lies
: bleeding and breathless. But ne hears Voice
commencing him.
!, Unable to believe the testimony Of his own ears
. the Other Wise Man murmurs:
= mot so, my Lord For when saw Thee ar
hungered and fed TheeT Or thirsty, and gave
= Thee drlnkH When saw l Thee a stranger, ant
!, took Thee inI Or naked. and clothed Theei Wher
. saw Thee sick and in prison and came unit,
. Thee1 Threeand.thirty years have'1 looked afte
n Thee; but have never seen Thy face nor min
|. istered TO Thee my King"
a But the Voice replies;
"Inasmuch as thou hast done II unto one OF tn
= least Of these my brethren thou hast done II unit
d me-" .
Il It hard to imagine The Fourth wise Man n