Part 1 (2/2)
The Romans were still marching through the country, and still there was no Messiah. But the farmer thought that maybe he would come before the next fall rains.
The fisherman would go sailing across the deep-blue Sea of Galilee, and while he waited for the fish to come into his net, he thought of how long Israel had waited for the Messiah to come. The beggars in the city streets, who were deaf, or blind, or crippled, would sit at the corners and ask for money to buy food. They were wondering too if the Messiah would ever come and help the poor folk of Israel.
The shepherds, out on the rocky hills where nothing would grow but gra.s.s for sheep and goats and cattle, were also thinking of the Messiah. In good weather and bad they were there, keeping an eye on their sheep, and they had plenty of time to think. When the rain and the snow were in their faces, the shepherds were thinking, _When will he come?_ And when the hot sun climbed overhead, and the heat was like a furnace, or when the east wind came and blew dust in their faces, then too the shepherds thought, _When will he come and save us?_
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Farmers, fishermen, shepherds--these were not the only people who were thinking of the Messiah. Sometimes along the hot, lonely roads of Palestine, where robbers and wild animals were hiding, a traveler would have dreams. Or the dream might come to someone in sunny Galilee, where camel caravans crossed with their loads of spices and jewels and precious things from Far Eastern lands. But it was most likely to come to a man when he was standing in the great, white, gleaming Temple at Jerusalem, where all good Jews went to wors.h.i.+p G.o.d.
And the dream would be that the sky opened, and a great light blazed down from heaven. An army came marching down out of the sky, led by a s.h.i.+ning warrior whose face was bright as lightning. From his eyes shot flames of fire. His arms and feet shone like polished bra.s.s or gold, and when he spoke his voice was like the shouting of ten thousand men.
It was King Messiah! ”Destroy the Romans!” he would cry. ”Burn up their armies! Let not a single one escape!” Fire would pour down from the skies when he gave the order, and the Romans would melt away to nothing, as though they had never been.
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Then the dream would fade away. The dreamer would just be trudging along the dusty road, or watching the camel caravans go by, or standing in the Temple with the crowds of unhappy people pus.h.i.+ng all around him.
It was just a dream. The Romans were still there. There was no Messiah anywhere to be seen.
If only the King would come!
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2. A King Is Born
n.o.body saw the lions in the daytime, for they were sleeping in their caves. But at night they might come out to prowl around the rocky hills, looking for a fat sheep to eat. After dark the hyenas and jackals began to howl. Robbers might be somewhere in the darkness too.
In the night, when other folk were fast asleep, a good shepherd needed to be awake and on the watch, to see that no harm came to his sheep and lambs.
One night when winter was in the air, some shepherds were huddled together on a stony field not far from the town of Bethlehem. Not many miles to the north lay Jerusalem, the capital city of Palestine. But here in the fields it was quiet, and lonely, and cold.
The shepherds sat upon the rocks, or stood leaning upon their staves.
Now and again one of them would see something move, or hear a little rustling sound. He would raise his eyes and peer out anxiously into the darkness to make sure that all was well.
Suddenly, without any warning, the sky was flooded with light from beyond the clouds. Everything had been dark a minute before, but now every stone and tree and hillock in the field showed up bright as day.
The shepherds jumped to their feet. Some were too frightened to speak, and others cried out in terror.
”What is it?”
”What can it be?”
”It's the glory of the Lord,” one called out. ”Lord, have mercy upon us!”
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