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 "