Magyar Egyház, 1989 (63. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1989-11-01 / 6. szám

MAGYAR EGYHÁZ

9. oldal

IT ALL HAPPENED ON THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT

A Christmas Story

Now I want to tell you about trees and flowers and birds and beasts whom the Little Lord Jesus met during his flight from Behtlehem to Egypt and whose lives have changed so much that it was almost like a new creation. You cannot find their stories in any book of the Holy Bible but there must have been some truth in them otherwise they would not have been passed from the mouth of one generation to the other and to the other down to this age of ours. Christ Legends we call them.

You remember how the three kings from the East came to the crib of the Little Lord Jesus to adore him and how they laid precious gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh before the feet of the smiling child. But before they got to Bethlehem they made the mistake to ask King Herod in Jerusalem about the newborn King of Kings. They did this in good faith, after all the king of the land should know about this great event, the birth of the King of Kings. And, also, where should visiting kings go first in a foreign land if not to the royal palace? It was a mistake nevertheless as they later found out. For King Herod was a tyrant and a jealous man. It seemed he had never heard about this new king and in fear for his throne he summoned all his scribes and wise men to find out what this was all about. And the scribes trembling for their own lives told him about the child to become the greatest king of all; and that he would be horn in Bethlehem. King Herod commanded the scribes to remain silent, then told the kings from the Orient where to look for the newborn king of the world. Cunningly and with sweet words of royal hospitality he asked them to come back and tell him what they found so he himself could go and adore the world’s future king. All this seemed to be all right to the three kings from the Orient and they promised to return promptly.

This was all in secret. No one heard the conversation between King Herod and the three kings from the Orient. Except the Angel of the Lord who had eyes and ears everywhere. The Angel of the Lord let the three kings go, find the Little Lord Jesus; hut then when they were about to return to King Herod, as they promised him to do, the Angel of the Lord visited them in their sleep and commanded them to take another way and to return home without seeing King Herod again. We don’t know what the Angel of the Lord told the three oriental kings about the evil thoughts in King Herod’s heart and why these men would rather believe a dream than mighty King Herod’s word; fact is they never saw Herod again.

King Herod waited and waited for their return; in vain. He got awfully angry and also scared. As mighty as he was he also knew that he was a tyrant hated by the people. This new7 king was a threat to his throne: he had to find the child and destroy him before he could grow up and become a real danger to him. He sent out his spies to Bethlehem to find the newborn king. They found nothing. Of course, because they were looking for a newborn king. Bethlehem was a poor city and nobody knew ahout a king. People just laughed at the royal spies: “King you say? You can find a king of beggars. But a real king? No, not in Bethlehem.”

King Herod was desperate. And he was cruel, too. Particularly if his throne seemed to be in danger. So he gave a royal order that every baby boy in Bethlehem under two years of age must be killed. It was a night of horror: mothers crying and wailing as their babies were ripped from their arms; helpless fathers who could do nothing against the soldiers’ swords; and dead, innocent babies in bloodstained swaddling clothes.

Mary and Joseph heard of the beginning massacre. Not from people but again from the Angel of the Lord who told Joseph to take his wife and child and run to Egypt where King Herod had no power. Joseph did not wage and ponder but packed up his family in haste. He did not lose his head either: among the few things he packed were the gifts of the three oriental kings — the gold, the frankincense, and the myrrh; these made but a small bundle but Joseph knew they would provide for them on the journey and until he would find work. The donkey was also obedient, not as stubborn and lazily slow as usual; swiftly he moved with Mary and the child on his back and Joseph running at his side. I wonder if the Angel of the Lord had spoken to the donkey, too. After all, the Angel must know the animals’ language also. They got away all right. But Joseph knew the soldiers would detect the donkey’s foot-prints and follow them. So he wouldn’t stop, not for a minute’s rest. They ran a full day. By nightfall they couldn’t take it any longer, so exhausted they were; and the donkey, too. But where to hide? The countryside was rocky and barren, not a cave and the trees were bare, no leaves on their branches. It was winter, you know.

And here comes the first of the legends I wanted to tell you. Off the rocky road there stood a big pine tree. Now, in those days pine trees were just like other trees: in full leafy splendor in the summer but as fall came the leaves would turn yellow and rusty and soon fall to the ground. Bare branches, empty nests. Joseph, somehow by instinct (or just in despair) moved toward this big pine tree. As they sank under it he noticed that on the side of the tree there was a huge cave. Big enough for all of them. In they climbed still trembling that the pursuing soldiers might discover them: the cave was visible and the soldiers would be smart. The poor ones were so tired they had no strength to stay awake. They were roused by the clatter of hooves — woe to them, the soldiers have caught up with them. But as Joseph wanted to peak out from the tree-cave he saw nothing. It was dawning already and still darkness covered his sight. It took a few minutes to realize that branches full of leaves covering the cave-opening caused the darkness. In the midst of winter, in the course of one short night, the bare branches of the pine tree bore new leaves. Joseph heard one of soldiers shouting to the others, “Look, what a funny tree; it has leaves in midwinter!” But they rode by and left there Joseph praying: "Oh, Lord, Most Powerful, our Refuge and our Strength! Bless this tree by which thou hast saved us!” And from that day on the pine tree would never turn rusty or yellow but stay ever green.

It took them maybe another day that they left the land of King Herod. So they were safe from their persecutors. Yet they had a trying journey ahead. Another evening came and it was a chilly one, too. Another legend tells what happened that night. Joseph was able to build a fire but it was a poor one, the twigs were wet from