The Bethlehem Star

The Bethlehem Star
Pg. VI
Carpenter of Nazareth Claims to Be
Witness to Miracle of Peace
on Journey!
By Nehemiah, the Scribe
One Joseph of Nazareth, a young man who says he
traces his lineage to the family of our great King David, has
journeyed here to Bethlehem for the census of Augustus,
bringing his very pregnant new wife, Mary. But Joseph’s
story is unlike any other traveler’s story we have heard.
“I have traveled here many times before as a child;
but never have my eyes seen such wonders as they did on
this journey!” he says, as he gathers straw for his pretty
young wife’s bedding.
They arrived rather late into the town last night,
unfortunately, and there simply were no rooms left in any of
our inns. In fact, Bethlehem hasn’t seen so many travelers
around here since the glorious days of Judas (Maccabeus, of
course).
At any rate, believe it or not, citizens, grumpy old
Zacchaeus, long-time owner of the Servants’ Palace Inn on
IVth street, actually permitted them to take shelter for the
night in his run-down ramshackle stable, “…as long,” he
said, “as they didn’t disturb the sleep of my Goliath!”
Goliath, as you will recall, is that enormous ox who won
Ist prize at our province fair this last harvestfest. That is
one la-a-arge animal.
Joseph, a kind young man with a pleasant
countenance, and already a rather full beard for his young
years, was a soft-spoken man, but one who spoke
with the confidence of a seasoned leader. He is
well on his way, he said, to becoming a master
carpenter, under the tutelage of his father, Jacob,
who has been responsible for much of the
synagogue work in the region of southern Galilee.
As we talked, I finally got around to asking
him, rather casually, actually, about his journey
from Nazareth. But, as it turned out, that’s where
the real story lies. It’s about an LXXX-mile
journey, as you know, or closer to C miles if you
take the Jordan Valley route, which they did. And
that is where he claims to have witnessed what he
believes to be a sign, maybe even a miracle of
nature.
This is what he told me:
“I’ve made this journey before, a lot of
times, although never with a bride. And every time
I’ve gone through that Jordan valley, my dad and I
have had to carry some sort of weapon because of
the robbers and the wild beasts. We’ve seen bears,
lions, wild boars, snakes, you name it; that valley is
an arena for danger, I always thought. You never
travel through there unless you can be part of a large
caravan.
But not this time. This time was different.
Mary—that’s my bride—and I actually found
ourselves getting way behind the others from
Nazareth, mainly because I was trying to keep
Jasper, our family donkey, moving as slowly and
smoothly along as I could so the journey wouldn't be
so rough on Mary. That had to be tough on her back.
Oh, she never complains; but I figured it's gotta be.
In fact, we just made it. She actually gave birth to
our son just late last night, only shortly after we
arrived here. That was a close one.
When we started out, it was already pretty
cold, unusually cold for this land of ours. We’d
dressed in woolcloth, so we were okay on warmth
and all, but then, on the first evening of the trip, it all
of a sudden started snowing. Now you know we