I
t was still there. Quiet. Pulsating. Magnificent. Returning to the caravan, the Magi moved south and west, following their obsession. Their hearts pounding in anticipation, the distance to Bethlehem seemed invisible. Its beams reaching for the ground the star locked in stillness, as if to select the very dwelling of its resolve. At last, the caravan halted.
The house and the nearby structures bathed in light. The wise men did not call upon their wisdom to know that they had reached, at last, the end of their mission. Even the camels seemed to know as they settled awkwardly to their bellies without being commanded to do so.
Men of erudition, men of fame, men whose wisdom had the ears of kings and princes, these were the men who entered the modest but well-appointed home in Bethlehem, viewed the babe suckling at the breast of his young mother and fell to their knees in worship. They had come a long distance; they had come anticipating this very moment. However rampant the stories of celestial omens regarding the birth of kings, never in recorded or oral history had it been seen or heard that a star — or whatever it was — would lead men such as they to the feet of a babe such as this.
They brought their treasures. A chest filled with the gold of the realm. For such a child, for such a king, it was no extravagance.
Frankincense. These were men of prayer. Scholars, some of whom had studied the Hebrew scriptures. They knew the stories of the ancient kings of their country, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Great, Ahasuerus. All of the prophecies of Daniel had happened. This they accepted as fact. To each of them, this new king might well be a priest, a Messiah sent by the Hebrew God. Frankincense, a gift appropriate to that possibility.
The physician among them brought a tankard of the Oil of Myrrh, considered by Jews to be the balm of Gilead, an expensive perfume, used by kings and lovers. It had other uses, but these were not in the intentions of the Magi. To them Myrrh was apropos owing to its value, in some cases, exceeding that of gold.
To the young family, these gifts were welcome. The financial benefit alone stunned them. The gold and myrrh was enough to sustain them through the next few years of their lives. Enough to establish Joseph in his trade. Being an anesthetic, myrrh would sooth the red rash so common to infants who frequently soiled their clothes. It was used in this manner by the very rich.
