More than Three Kings

Jan. 6 is the end of a long Christmas celebration in the Philippines.

Christmas trees and decorations are or have already been dismantled and put back in boxes for storage to be put out again come November after All Saints Day.

January 6 is Three Kings Day, when the Christian world pays tribute to the wisdom and good heart of the three Magis – Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar – who defied the powers that be and traveled long to see the newly born King, Jesus. This was recounted by the disciple, Matthew.

I got an amusing text of a Filipino version of the Three Kings (which the Magis – wise men who indulge in astrology are invariably called) account.

Here’s the text:” Do you know that that originally there were six kings who saw the signs in the stars about the birth of Jesus? But only three reached Bethlehem.

What happened to the other three?

The fourth one followed the bright star and ended up in the United States. Not finding the Baby Jesus, he founded Burger King.

The fifth one also followed the guiding star and ended up on an endless wall which turned out to be the Great Wall of China. There was no Baby Jesus. Famished, he concocted something and shared with it with the community. That was the beginning of Chowking.

The star that the sixth Magi followed led him to the Philippines. He also didn’t find a Baby Jesus. But he went into cattle raising and later on put up an eatery: Tapa King.

That’s Filipino creativity and humor for you.

The legend about more than three kings who journeyed to pay homage to the new-born King of Kings has been taken up by other writers. The one by the famous novelist, Hnery van Dyke initially published in 1895, captures the essence of being a Christian.

Titled the “The Other Wise Man,” the story is about a priest or Magi named Artaban from Persia.

Like Gaspar, Melchor, and Baltazar, Artaban saw signs in the heavens that The King had been born. In one way or another he was able to communicate with the three and they agreed to meet at a certain place so they could travel in a caravan through the desert.

He gathered his treasures to offer to the new born King – a sapphire, a ruby, and a pearl of great price. Not far from where he started, he saw a dying man and he had to stop and help him.

When Artaban arrived at their meeting place, the three Magis had already left. Since he missed the caravan, and he can’t cross the desert with only a horse, he was forced to sell one of his treasures in order to buy the camels and supplies necessary for the trip.

He arrived in Bethlehem too late to see the child Jesus because Mary and Joseph with the baby had to flee Bethlehem to escape the evil plan of the paranoid King Herod. They went to Egypt.

Artaban traveled to Egypt and along the way, he encountered people who needed help. As always he stopped, using money from the sale of some of the treasures he brought, and helped them. His search for Jesus took him 30 years but he never saw him.

Artaban arrived in Jerusalem and went to the temple. There he learned that Jesus is being crucified in Calvary and he decided to go there. On his way out of the temple, he saw a woman being sold for slavery. He brought out his last treasure, a pearl, to ransom the young woman.

Then the earth shook. That was the hour of Jesus’ crucifixion. Some part of the temple’s roof fell on Artaban. As he was breathing his last, he heard a voice, “Verily I say unto thee, Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.”

The Magi Artaban finally met the Lord, Jesus.