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The Three NOT Wise Men

By Guy K. Henry

www.guyhenry.com

“Have I got some news for you!” Joel excitedly whispered.

His two friends gathered around the fire and waited for Joel to tell his story. It was late, so the three men stood alone at the city gate. Seth threw some twigs into the fire and settled down, waiting for Joel to begin.

“I was sweeping the floor at King Herod’s palace when I overheard some foreigners talking,” Joel began. His little eyes darted back and forth to gauge the reaction to his tale. “I heard them say that the long promised king would be coming this night to our city.”

Ethan, who was not too smart, asked, “Which king?”

Seth asked in awe, “Do you mean THE king, the Messiah, the Savior who I’ve heard about in temple since I was a boy?”

Joel leaned into the light of the fire and responded with a long, “yesssss.”

Ethan slowly caught on. “Do you mean the king who is going to free us from them?” He pointed to the Roman Soldier’s headquarters. The Romans were cruel to the Hebrews. They longed for the promised king to come and free them.

Joel touched the tip of his nose and said, “That’s the one!”

Ethan moaned out loud, “I don’t like the Romans!”

Joel and Seth looked nervously around and made an angry “Shhhhhh” sound at Ethan. No one wanted to make trouble with the Romans.

Joel took charge. “If the king is coming tonight, then we had better get ourselves ready to meet him.”

Ethan straightened the wrinkles out of his robe and brushed off some dirt and said, “I’m ready!”

Joel scolded, “Ethan, we are talking about meeting the greatest king there ever was. If you think that just straightening out your robe is good enough, you are very wrong.”

Seth added, “We’ve got to hurry and get ready. Let’s split up and meet back here in one hour. Then we can look out for the king.”

 At first, Ethan wasn’t sure how he was going to prepare himself, aside from pulling out the wrinkles and brushing off the dirt on his robe. Then he decided that he’d go all the way with this. “I’ll go home and put on an entirely NEW robe!” He was sure that the king would be impressed with his crisp clean outfit.

He had a long way to go, so he started to run down the street. He ran around one corner, and almost crashed into a man.

“Excuse me,” he said, “I’m in a big hurry!”

The stranger held his hand to Ethan’s shoulder. “Sir,” he said, “can you tell me where my wife and I can find a room for the night?”

 A few blocks away Seth was trying to figure out how he’d impress the king. “A gift,” he thought, “I need to give the king a gift.” He didn’t have much to give. Then he remembered his life savings. Many years ago he had buried a bag of silver coins in the floor of his home. “I’ll dig them up and give them to the king!”

He began to walk faster towards his house. “I hope I can remember where I buried them,” he thought.

Just then he saw a man crossing the road and coming towards him. As he came closer, the stranger began to wave his arms at him.

“I don’t have time for this,” Seth mumbled to himself.

“Sir! Sir!” the approaching man called, “I wonder if you would help me.”

“What do you want?” Seth impatiently grunted.

“Please, can you tell me where my wife and I might find a room for the night?” the man asked.

Seth took notice of the man’s wife and said, “She looks like she’s very pregnant.”

“She is, that is why we urgently need to find a room. I think she’ll deliver tonight,” the man frantically said.

Then Seth remembered that he had little time to find and unearth the coins to present to the king. Abruptly he said, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

 Joel had begun to walk for only a minute after the group had split, when he turned around and returned to the meeting place. Joel thought, “I’ll use my time to write the king a song. When he arrives, I’ll sing it to him. Oh, He will be so impressed!”

Joel worked hard on his song. He softly sang it to himself, but he’d sing it loudly and boldly when the king arrived to rescue them.

“Hail Hail, Here comes the king!

Seeing him makes my heart to sing!

He’s come to take us all Bye Bye!

The Roman army will cry, cry!”

Joel’s stomach turned to ice when a finger gently tapped him on his shoulder. Had a soldier overheard his song? Was he in deep trouble? He was relieved to see that it was only a fellow Hebrew man.

“Sir,” the man said, “my wife and I are in a desperate search for a room for the night. Do you have any suggestions?”

Joel looked at the woman who was standing in the shadows. “She looks like she’s soon to have a baby!” he commented.

The stranger burst out, “She is! Probably tonight! That’s why we need a room very soon!”

“I want to help you,” Joel said, “but I must stay here and watch for the arrival of the great king. I am working on a song to sing for him when he gets here.” Then Joel turned away and angrily said, “Do not disturb me!”

Slowly the stranger walked back to his wife. Soon they were gone.

Moments later Ethan and Seth returned to the city gate. Ethan was wearing his new robe. Seth held a bag of silver coins. Joel quietly hummed his song.

“I can’t wait until the king gets here!” Ethan blurted out.

“Keep your eyes open,” Joel warned. “We don’t want to miss him.”

By now it was late at night. The three men shivered in the cold air. Soon a small group of men passed through the city gate.

“It’s them! It’s them!” Joel said getting very excited.

“The king? Do you mean the king?” Ethan stuttered.

“No,” Joel answered, “It is the men I saw at Herod’s palace. They must be here to welcome the king! It won’t be long now!”

The men silently walked by Joel, Seth, and Ethan. They continued into the city.

“Maybe they got lost,” Ethan said.

“Don’t take your eyes off of the gate!” Joel sternly said.

A little while later a large group of shepherds silently came through the gate. They too passed by and went into the city.

“Stay here!” Joel commanded. “Keep your eyes on the gate, you don’t want to miss the king, DO YOU?”

Just then the sound of a crying baby broke the silence of the night. “That sounds like it is very close,” Seth said.

“Shhh,” Joel warned, “don’t be distracted from watching for the king!”

One by one the men fell asleep. Morning came, and they awoke to the sound of the busy city traffic. Ethan straightened out his robe. Seth checked his bag of coins. Joel hummed his song.

Ethan spoke first. “I guess the king never came.”

Joel agreed, “You are right, I know that there was no way we could have missed him!”

The king’s name is still Jesus. He’s still not what most people are expecting. Are you missing Him?

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