Given how special it was to me as a child, and to so many children that I've known over the years, I've always liked to imagine what it would have been like for a little boy to be present when the different parts of the story took place. There could quite well have been a young boy present with the shepherds. What would he have felt when the angels appeared on the hillside, and even the adults were "sore afraid"? How would he have viewed the search to find the baby in a manger? A shepherd boy would know what that was and be horrified at the thought! And how would he feel when he saw the little baby that the angels had announced as their saviour?
What if a boy came with the wise men? What if he was a Jewish boy, who was hired as their interpreter?
I wanted to stay true to the actual Christmas story. Not the modern condensed form that had the wise men and the shepherds all happening at the same time, but the authentic one, based on what the bible says and what we know of that time of history. The shepherds came to a stable, with a baby in a feeding trough (manger) for animals. The wise men came into a house, and Herod, who had diligently inquired the exact time that the star had shown up chose to kill all babies two years old and younger. Most historians put between 18 months and 2 years between the two. I went with 18 months.
I stuck with tradition: 3 key wise men, and used the traditional names. No reason to doubt that, but they would have come with a big entourage, so I included that. I add in Simeon for good measure. At all times, I chose to stay true to the bible's account of what happened.
An excerpt from the story is in my previous blog post.
The Kindle eBook or paperback can be bought at these English-language Amazon sites:
US Kindle and paperback
Canadian Kindle
Australian Kindle
UK Kindle and paperback
