Bead Four To the Temple in Jerusalem
B4 - E1 The Journeys Home
As the visitors from the East lay down to rest for the night, their minds were full of all that had happened to them since the beginning of their quest. The initial excitement and preparation had been followed by a long and arduous journey, with many highs and lows but all of this had faded into insignificance at their journey's end. The love and holiness which had exuded from the little family in the stable, the baby and his young mother with her husband by her side, would remain in their hearts and minds forever.
No matter what might befall them on their journey home, the visit to the stable and its occupants would prove to be the most significant encounter of their lives. It had been worth every trial they had had to overcome. They would remember all they had seen and heard and share the story with everyone they knew. Finally, they fell asleep, full of joy and thanksgiving in their hearts at having found the newborn king and paid him the homage they knew he deserved.
Throughout the night, however, they slept fitfully and awoke to talk about the dreams that had disturbed them. Each of them had felt warned not to return to Herod, so having examined their maps, they set off by a different route to return to their own country. Back in the stable, Mary and Joseph were preparing to leave their temporary haven, excited at the prospect of taking their baby home.
The innkeeper and his family had done everything they could to make the stable as clean and comfortable as possible for the couple and the new baby but they were very busy, with the inn crammed full of people who were still arriving to register for the census. Mary and Joseph were anxious to see her parents as soon as they could, knowing that they would be very concerned for their daughter as she had been so close to giving birth when they set off for Bethlehem.
Their donkey had been fed and watered in the stable with the innkeeper's own animals and was now loaded up with provisions for the journey and their few belongings, amongst which, the gifts from their visitors from the East were safely stowed away. Mary and her little son were warmly wrapped up on his back, Joseph, with the lamb snuggled around his neck, was by their side and off they set, having hugged and kissed the family who had done so much for them. The children ran along with them for a while, laughing and waving them goodbye.
After the long journey, the tired couple were relieved and happy to see the landscape of their own countryside, heading first to visit Anne and Joachim and reassure them that all was well. As Mary placed her baby in their arms for the first time, Anne and Joachim were overwhelmed with joy; Anne, immediately searching his face for family resemblances as grandmothers are wont to do and Joachim, moved to tears at the joy of holding his grandson.
They prepared food for the weary travellers and the evening was spent talking, as Mary and Joseph tried to convey to them all the events which had surrounded the birth of their son. Within a few more days, the preparations for his circumcision and naming ceremony had been made. As Joseph pronounced the words that had been given to him by the angel all those months ago in a dream, "His name is Jesus," he was the proudest, and yet the humblest and most grateful man on earth.
They settled back happily into the life of the village, their home filled with even more joy now that they had a baby to share their lives. Anne relished being able to spend time helping Mary during the day and Joachim loved to call around in the evening to visit them and chat with Joseph about the day's events. At nighttime, Jesus slept peacefully in the cradle that Joseph had lovingly crafted for him in the months before his arrival.
Neighbours and friends rejoiced in having their well-loved carpenter and his wife amongst them again and delighted in the newborn addition to village life. Many of them called in to see Mary and the baby, bringing little gifts for him. His parents also needed to keep in mind the traditional visit to the temple in Jerusalem which they had to arrange, to present him, as their firstborn son, to be consecrated to God when he was forty days old.
However, as the time approached for their visit, horrific stories from Bethlehem began to spread throughout the area. It seemed that Herod, far from wanting to pay homage to the newborn king, had sent soldiers into Bethlehem with orders to kill all the male children under two years old, based on the evidence he had been given that the star which heralded the birth of a king had first appeared two years earlier.
This paranoid fit of jealousy and rage at having been thwarted by the travellers from the East was triggered by his already shaky hold on power because, although he was the established king of Judea, he was despised by the people for his brutality and his vicious ways and so was determined to seek out this newborn threat to his power and have him put to death.
Alongside the grief they felt for the bereaved families and for the desolation of the place where they had lodged so recently, the place where their own child had been born, the danger to their son was obvious to Mary and Joseph. They discussed their fears with Anne and Joachim and prayed for guidance. It was decided by them all that the visit to Jerusalem could be undertaken without drawing attention to themselves, so, early on the morning of the fortieth day, they set off on the journey.
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