Title: The Joy of Jesus
Contents How are our friends? Is the weather too hot? Today, I will tell you the story of a cool day, where the teacher can cool off a bit. Now, I am going to tell you the story of Christmas in midsummer and the story of the Magi in Christmas. Many children are already familiar with the story of the Magi, right? But today, I'm going to tell you a hidden story of the Magi that our friends have never heard of, interesting and impressive. Shall we immerse ourselves in that hidden story world? Whirlik~!
According to legend, there were originally four wise men. Their names are Caspar, Melquire, Balthasal, and Altavan-. Those who studied the stars and waited for the savior of mankind to be born, learned that a savior would soon be born in the land of Judea. So the four wise men decided to go out to worship the king with their own treasures.
Among the four, Altaban prepared rubies, sapphires, and pearls as gifts, but he left one day later than the others. He hurried to join the party, nonstop at night. But then I met a sick man lying on the road at night. Altaban thought for a moment, ‘Shall we just go?’ But he decided to help him. After spending time caring for the sick on the road, Altaban crossed the desert alone. After that, when I arrived in Bethlehem, I could only hear that they had gone to Egypt without seeing the party. Altaban went down to Egypt and wandered from street to street in search of the baby king. There was no place I didn't go to all over the land of Egypt. I've been to slums, to prisons and to slave markets. Then, when he met the hungry, he gave food, gave clothes to the naked, looked after the sick, and comforted the imprisoned, and wandered day by day in search of the Savior.
In the meantime, Altaban's dark hair turned white, and 33 years have passed since he left home to meet the king, and he was over 70. Of the rubies, sapphires, and pearls that were presented to the king, ruby was used to save the baby, and sapphire was used for living, so now only pearls remain. He cherished the pearl in his heart. And just then, he heard a rumor that the Savior he was looking for had gone to Jerusalem. Altaban was very happy and went to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was crowded with people coming to celebrate the Passover, a Jewish festival. But somehow, he felt a gloomy atmosphere, so Altavan grabbed a passerby and asked. But the man said that on that day he would crucify the two thieves and kill a man called Jesus, whom people believed to be the Messiah. ‘Isn’t that the Jesus who was going to be put to death on the cross is the one I had been looking for all my life?’ Altavan’s heart was pounding. While being swept away by the people to the execution site outside the gates, Altavan was dragged by a man and met a crying little girl. “Please save me. You are dragging me into slavery.” Hearing that mournful voice, Altaban thought of the pearl in his heart, but hesitated for a while thinking that he should give only this to the Savior. Finally, Altaban gave the pearl to the girl. “Look. Take this and let the girl go.” But that was the time. Suddenly, the sky darkened and the ground shook, and the heavy tile on the roof fell and struck the old Altavan's head. Altavan fell down bleeding.
At that moment, a soft and gentle voice was heard from somewhere. “Altavan, the king you have been looking for is here. You found me, but I was always with you. You gave me water to drink when I was thirsty, and you gave me food to eat when I was hungry. Thank you, Altavan-.” Altavan's helpless lips twitched. “Lord, when did I feed you when you were hungry and drink when you were thirsty? When did you provide clothing when you were naked, search for you when you were in prison, and care for you when you were sick? I have never seen the Lord, let alone serve him.” Altavan didn't have the energy to speak any more. A soft, gentle voice was clearly audible to everyone this time. “Whatever you did to the most insignificant, you did it to me.” Altaban, who heard the voice of God, died with the most peaceful and radiant face in the world.
Looking at the words of the Bible, Matthew 25:31-46, it says that Jesus is coming to make the final judgment. The reason Jesus came is to separate us into the righteous and sinners. It is said that the righteous are on the right and the sinners are on the left. What is Jesus' standard to distinguish between the righteous and sinners?
Jesus said to the righteous on the right: “Dear friend, you gave me food when I was hungry, and water when I was thirsty and anxiously searching for water. And he welcomed me when I was wandering the streets because I had nowhere to rest. I was very happy to have you Also, when I was shivering from the cold on a winter day, I gave away clothes quietly. They even wash dirty clothes. And I can't forget how he gently held my hand and wiped the sweat from my forehead when I was sick and in the hospital. Do you really remember? You believed in me and stood by me when I was having a hard time because of injustice.”
At that time, the righteous who were listening quietly asked Jesus. “When did we do that?” Shall we read together Jesus' answer at that time? Matthew 25:40 verse, the beginning!
There are many people around us who need help. The head of a boy and girl, the grandmother and grandfather who are alone, the children who are starving because they do not have money for meals, the beggars, the homeless, and the people who do not know the Lord… . Jesus said that the little things we do for those people are what we do for the Lord. Jesus said that those who truly help others are the masters of the kingdom of God. And seeing such a person, Jesus is very pleased. I hope that all of our friends will become protagonists in the kingdom of God that the Lord is pleased with.