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About Nyssa gate city journal. (Nyssa, Or.) 1937-199? | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1972)
Pag« Sixteen The Nyssa Gate City Journal, Nyssa, Oregon Legend of the Magical Cherry Tree In the days of the Christ Child's birth much of the known world was under the dominion of Rome The peo ple paid taxes to the Roman Empire A few weeks before her child was due. Mary and her husband. Joseph, plied their weary way to Bethle hem to pay their taxes On the way. Mary asked Joseph to pluck some cher ries from a tree which, as if by magic, bloomed and bore fruit before their eyes Weary from miles of walking along the dusty road, and anxious to reach the city before dark. Joseph refused Patiently Mary again asked him to pluck the cher ries When he again re fused. the tree bent down its branches so that Mary could reach them Awed and struck by this miracle. Joseph reverently sank to his knees and asked forgiveness of his Lord, and of Mary Now he realized that the baby soon to be born must indeed be the Son of God astronomers' view of the Star of Bethlehem According to an astrono mer of note, who is also an academician, there are four possible hypotheses which have evolved out of the as tronomical features of the Star of Bethlehem In es sence here are his scholarly observations: A very great meteor must have appeared, and it seemed to fall toward the eastern horizon over the city of Bethlehem Since a meteor, is a very transient phenomenon, lasting at most only a few seconds, it is quite local in character If it were large enough to attract the ordinary observ er over any considerable area, its place of contact with the earth could still be identified and become an historic shrine The second possibility to consider is that a comet appeared in the sky A great comet could command the attention of all the inhabit ants of the eastern world, as it existed at the time Comets last for days and have been known to be so dazzling as to be visible even in daylight Such a comet would be on record, even in those days As a matter of fact, the Chinese recorded such a comet in the year 4 B.C., and record that it was visible some time from February to April Even with some vari ance in the seasons, there seems to be more than mere coincidence here. The third possibility is that of a new star An ex traordinary phenomenon, its occurence is very rare The year 1572 is notable as the year when a famous nova was discovered In 1604 Keppler at age 33 ob served a similar happening So impressed by the appari tion. “in triumphal pomp." Kessler wrote three papers on the identification of the year of Christ 's Birth Since then at least 20 brilliant new stars have appeared; the 20th century records five of the most brilliant Scholars venture to suggest that the Star of Bethlehem may have been one of the temporary stars The fourth projection is that of conjunction or com ing together of two or more well-known planets It is possible to compute these times as far back in history as we desire If any three of the conspicuous naked- eye planets. Saturn. Jupi ter, Mars and Venus, should come together it would cre ate an event of historic im portance Such an event evi dently occurred in the year 7-6 B.C. . . . with Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in conjunc tion The Gospel Story According to StMatthew come a Governor, that shall worshipped him and when they had opened their treas rule my people Israel • Then Herod, when he ures. they presented unto had privily called the wise him gifts; gold, frankin men, inquired of them dili cense. and myrrh gently what time the star appeared And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said. Go and search diligently for the young child, and when "When Herod the king ye have found him. bring had heard these things, he me word again, that I may was troubled, and all Jeru come and worship him also "When they had heard salem with him And when he had gathered all the the king, they departed; chief priests and scribes of and. Io. the star, which they the people together, he saw in the east, went before demanded of them where them, till it came and stood Christ should be born And over where the young child was When they saw the they said unto him. In Beth lehem of Judaea; for thus star, they rejoiced with ex it is written by the prophet. ceeding great jov And And thou Bethlehem, in the when they were come into Through the ages the im land of Juda, art not the the house, they saw the pression given in history least among the princes of young child with Mary his and legend is that the mira Juda, for out of thee shall mother, and fell down, and cle of the Star of Bethlehem and the Journey of the Wise Men happened spontane ously "Now when Jesus was bom in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying. Where is he that is born King of the Jews-1 for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him Did Sages Foretell the Thursday, December 21, 1972 "And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were de parted, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying. Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word (or Herod will seek the young child, to destroy him When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and de parted into Egypt " Matthew 2 1-14 In Palestine the church is gay with flags and deco rations on Christmas Eve A procession Is heralded by a streaming banner held aloft by a flying horseman Police mounted upon Ara bian horses are followed by a single horseman standing upon a coal-black steed, carrying the Cross At the end of the procession are church men and members of the government, in tvo- wheeled carriages bearing the effigy of the Holy Child The procession enters a church, and winds its way down to a grotto where, marked by a silver star, is the site of the birth of Jesus Here, too, is the site of the manger Star and the Journey? M.y your holiday abound with lasting happiness — And your heart be filled with the greatest gladness. Another legend tells of a certain nation in the ex treme East which pos sessed a writing ascribed to a person named .Seth From this it would seem that the Star and the fa mous journey had been looked forward to for gen erations To paraphrase the old account "Twelve of the learned men of that country were disposed to watch for that Star; and when any of them died, his son or one of his kindred was appointed to his place . . Year after year these (men) ascended into a certain high moun tain. having in it a certain cave, most pleasant, with fountains, into which, as cending and bathing them selves, they prayed and praised God in silence three days Generation after gen eration. watching ever, un til it should appear descend ing on the mountain having within itself the form of a man-child, and above the similitude of a cross, and it spoke to them that they should go to Judea And journeying thither for space of 2 years, neither food nor drink failed in their ves sels "
