Since it’s around 30+ days to go before Christmas, I am going to share with you a special story in the hope that it will also touch your hearts the same way it did mine. I have actually written this article on my past blog entries on Friendster and had actually written about it on MOD Magazine, but I’m publishing it again because I want to share it with my new friends. This is an inspiring story, which will nourish our souls.
The Fourth Wise Man
The story begins with the four wise men planning their trip to Bethlehem to visit the King of the Kings. The group was about to leave when the fourth wise man suddenly met an emergency. His servant got terribly ill. So the three wise men, Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar set off without him. He remained at home to attend to his servant’s needs.
At this time something was happening at Israel. King Herod ordered the massacre of all newborns. Upon hearing this, the fourth wise man wasted no time and left immediately to look for Baby Jesus and save the precious child’s life. Upon arriving in Jerusalem, he at once chanced upon a group of soldiers raiding several homes and grabbling all the babies they would slaughter. The fourth wise man hurriedly approached the soldiers who were carrying babies. Exhausting all efforts to save the lives of the infants, he finally offered the soldiers a bribe too tempting to refuse in exchange of the babies’ lives. The soldiers, being corrupt as they are, accepted the bribe and freed the children. One of the babies whom the fourth wise man paid for was Jesus, and he never knew. He looked for a sign but never found it.
The wise man returned to his home. Frustrated but not resigned, he continued the search for Baby Jesus. Years passed and the wise man was still searching. Day and night he searched but never found Jesus. Because he was devoted in his search for Jesus—his time and life spent on his journey, he lost all his wealth. He had no money in his pocket and hardly any food to eat but his hope never wavered.
His spirit was strong and his soul was full. Somehow he knew that his faith alone will last him through the days of his life. And true enough; he gained more strength by devoting his time in helping the sick in the leper colony. But working for others proved to be too taxing for his servant that he left the fourth wise man.
By then Jesus was already a man, preaching in different places…telling stories about a man who nobody knew. Jesus was telling about the fourth wise man. And these stories were called “Parables.” Remember the parable of the prodigal son wherein the son left his father only to return? The wise man’s servant left him only to return upon realizing what he had done.
The wise man who was already weak and old heard of the man Jesus, who was telling stories to people. Finally, he said to himself, “It’s time to meet my Master.” He hurriedly set out to meet Jesus Christ face to face. The person whose life he saved but never knew.
When he arrived in Jerusalem, the fourth wise man saw a crowd. There was an uncanny silence yet he heard cries and pleas. As he waded his way through the crowd and reached the top of the hill, there he saw the man whom he had searched all his life—Jesus.
But it was too late; Jesus was already nailed to the cross. Ad this time, there is nothing he could do to save his life. The fourth wise man stood at the foot of the wooden cross and kissed the feet of his Master and wept. “Lord, all my life I searched for You only to find You here. What have You done to deserve this? I could have saved You. But I came too late. I have failed.”
Jesus looked through his eyes with a faint smile and said: “All my life I was also searching for you. And now, you are here. You have come for me and I am glad you came. We will be together again someday. You saved my life and this life I give for you.” Then, the Lord closed His eyes, bowed His head and breathed His last.
--The Fourth Wise Man was made into a movie. It starred Martin Sheen as the fourth wise man. Rent a video or look for it in You Tube, if you can.
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