John collapsed on the hay beside his exhausted mother and stared up at the dusty ceiling. The hay stabbed through his clothes and punctured his skin but he was too tired to care. His mother whimpered from exhaustion as she attempted to comfort the screeching child in her arms. Only hours old, the baby boy that they had just been named Jesus was completely ignorant of how tired his family was. Joseph paced the hay covered area between a sleeping donkey and his two sons and wife, Mary.
John pushed himself up to reach for his new baby brother, seeing that his mother needed a break if she was going to live through her first pregnancy. She shuddered as her new son was taken from her arms but her exhaustion prevented her from protesting too much. “It’s alright, mother, I’ll rock him to sleep.” Joseph continued to pace while John rocked little Jesus in his arms. John began to feel concern for his father. “Are you okay, Dad?”
Joseph froze and stared at his sons. ‘Yes, John, I’m just worried. Mary just gave birth beside a donkey! All because of some ridiculous census from Caesar Augustus that required me to bring my family back to the city of my birth and my own family refused to put us up in the house. We can’t stay here long; the possibility of Mary or Jesus getting sick is too high.” John returned his gaze to his limp mother. “I don’t think she is going to be able to move any time soon.” He said. Joseph suddenly became aware of his frail wife and darted to her side. She slowly lifted her hand to place it on Joseph’s cheek. “He is the Messiah, my love, he will save millions of people.” Mary said. John looked down at his resting brother, his squishy head and fragile limbs were finally quiet after being rocked to sleep. This thing was supposed to save millions of people? He couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone millions of others. Joseph put his hand over his wife’s, “I know sweetie, but we have to figure out how to protect him long enough so that he can do that.”He said. Mary slowly formed a smile across her lips. “Do not worry, Joseph, God will provide.” She said.
Moments later, a deep male voice bellowed from outside their manger. “Joseph of Nazareth, we have come to see your newborn son, King of the Jews!” Joseph flashed a look at John, warning him to remain hidden until he had declared safety. John silently nodded and watched as his father left him with his frail mother and sleeping brother. John listened closely but could only make out several words. The hours stretched on and eventually, he dozed off beside his mother, gently caressing the newborn Messiah.
A tear fell down his cheek as John stood on top of a building in Jerusalem staring down at the crowds that were lining the streets. He didn’t know why he was sad or why they were lining up but in his heart, he knew that something terrible was about to happen. A desert breeze flew through his hair and whistled through the desert city. John lifted his head in the direction of the breeze and saw a large sandstorm rising from the desert and covering the sun as it set over the horizon. Suddenly, the crowd beneath him fell silent staring down the road as the man sentenced to death slowly approached. John followed their gaze and instantly locked eyes with a man in the midst of the chaos of guards and heckling citizens. John knew the man was far away but he gazed into his familiar wise but sad brown eyes as if they were inches from his.
John woke with a start, his heart feeling as if he’d been struck with lightning. Breathing heavily, he suddenly remembered his fragile newborn brother was snug in his arms. John looked down at the child in his arms and found a small hand touching his chest and the same wise brown eyes staring up at him. They stared at each other for several moments before Joseph entered the cave breaking them from their trance. “Oh good, you are finally awake! Bring your brother outside John, he has several visitors.” Joseph said. John stared at his mother; her chest rose up and down in restful sleep and decided to reluctantly follow his father outside of the stable. The young boy carrying the newborn rounded the corner and was met with a small crowd staring at them expectantly. They smiled wide and bowed to the infant resting in his arms. John’s mouth opened, so many people had come to see his little brother. He knew of the prophecy of the Messiah and he had just experienced something special with his little brother but how did they all know that Jesus was the one?
John continued to stare at the crowd in amazement until his father told them that they would need to leave and could return in the morning if they wished. The crowd of sheppards slowly moved away and Joseph turned to John. “Go place your brother in the manger beside Mary, and then help me find some firewood. In the morning we will look for a better place to move your mother and Jesus. This place is too unclean to perform the circumcision in eight days.” He said.
John did as he was told and began to walk through the brush surrounding the stable but instead of looking at the ground like he was supposed to, he was staring up at the sky. For all of his eleven years of life, John had never seen them so bright and so many. It was as if the heavens had decided to come alive. And the brightest star seemed to hover over their location on purpose. According to the first book of Moses, the stars represented the number of Abraham’s descendents, which meant one of those stars up there represented himself. John looked at the brightest star in the sky again, seemingly hovering over the stable. He wondered if that star might represent his brother. Joseph, son of Jacob had a dream where eleven stars, representing his eleven brothers, bowed down to him. The stars were beautiful, along with the moon and the sun and he could understand why pagans worshipped them. Every morning the sun rose in the sky bringing a new day and every night the moon rose behind the sun and brought out the stars providing predictable light and life. And yet, here was a star with all its majesty and power hovering over his fragile baby brother. The great was pointing at ,and representing something greater.
“John! John! Jooohhnn!!” The young boy snapped from his trance. His father was calling for him and his hands were empty. John frantically began to gather some brush at his feet and yelled back at Joseph. “Yes father! I’m coming!” John hurried back to the mouth of the stable and smiled sheepishly at the sad amount of firewood he’d managed to gather in the last hour. Joseph shook his head. “Fortunately, I found enough to last us awhile. What were you doing out there? Taking a nap?” He asked. John shook his head in denial. “No, I was staring at the sky. The stars seem a lot brighter tonight and look at that one.” He said while pointing at the star directly above them that was nearly twice as large as the other stars. “Is it just me, or does it feel like that one is pointing at us?” John asked. Joseph took a break from building the fire and followed his son’s finger. He gazed for a moment in silence. “The heavens are blessing your brother and calling upon the wise men.” He said and then returned to building the fire as if super bright stars pointing at them were an everyday occurrence. “The wise men?” Asked John. Joseph didn’t look up from the fire but responded. “The Magi are experts on the stars and the prophecies of the books of Moses. They see the stars as a means to communicate with the Lord and understand the world around us. The men will likely travel from distant lands to meet Jesus and bless him.” He said. John stared at his father in fascination. “How long will it take them to get here?” John asked. Joseph backed away from the fire, having finally gotten it started and stared seriously at his oldest son. “Many moons, we will not be able to return to Nazarene until their arrival.” John sighed in acceptance. “Well, at least we won’t have to worry about it being too dark at night.” He said. Joseph chuckled. “Alright John, go into the stable and try to get some sleep. Check on your mother and brother first though.” He said. The young boy did as his father told and after seeing that his family was fast asleep, he did the same.
Forty days later, John woke to his father’s gentle shaking. “Get up and help me with your brother, we have to leave.” He vaguely remembered Joseph telling them last night that they’d be leaving in the morning but he couldn’t remember where they were going. “Dad, where are we going?” He asked. Joseph walked across the room to Mary and Jesus and started gathering their few belongings. They’d been moved to the guest room of Joseph’s family several weeks ago and while it was cleaner, it was considerably smaller but at least they had blankets instead of hay to sleep on. Joseph impatiently responded. “We have to take Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to God.” John groaned. “Why? I’m pretty sure that giant star proves God knows he was born. Can’t we just ‘present’ him here?” He asked. Joseph flashed him a death stare. “John. Do as you’re told. One day, you will understand the purpose of God’s law.” John sighed and got up to help wake his mother and prepare his brother for the short journey.
The light over the mountains was just beginning to creep over the desert when the four of them took to the road. His mother held his young brother to her chest while riding on their donkey, and Joseph walking in front to lead the donkey. Mary smiled at her oldest son. “Did you sleep well, sweetie?” She asked. John nodded. “How far is it to Jerusalem again?” Mary shrugged her shoulders. “Only a couple of hours, we’ll visit the temple and then return to Bethlehem.” She responded. John stared thoughtfully at the ground. “What if the Magi come while we are gone?” Mary shook her head. “They are probably still a ways off, sweetie. It is very unlikely that they were only a 40 days’ trip from Bethlehem.” The young boy’s’ shoulders slumped. “I want to go home, mom. I love my baby brother, but I don’t understand why we have to go through all of these things for him. He probably won’t even remember.” John complained. Joseph grunted his disapproval but remained silent. Mary smiled at John. “I know, believe me, I would like to return home as well but this is all a part of God’s plan. Jesus is going to be a very important person in our people’s history and we must do everything we can to protect him and care for him. You know this though; I have seen him touch you.” She said. John stared at his mother surprised and attempted to shrug off her true meaning. “He touches a lot of people.” He said. Mary shook her head as she bobbed back and forth with the donkey. “No, he touches you and shows you things. He has yet to do this with anyone else.” John shrugged, the first time Jesus had shown him something with his touch, he was astonished but he was growing used to them and was beginning to see them as repetitive dreams. And they were usually scary dreams that he didn’t understand. “They are not always good things.” He said. Mary was curious what Jesus was showing him but recognized that John was not ready to discuss them so she remained quiet for the rest of the journey to the temple.
Written: August 15, 2015
Closed System 