The Star of Bethlehem: The Epic Story of the Birth of Christ

The Star

of

Bethlehem

An Epic Account Surrounding

the Birth of Christ

by

Michael Macari, Jr.

The Star of Bethlehem

Trilogy Christian Publishers, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of the Trinity Broadcasting Network

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Copyright © 2021 by Michael Macari

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-63769-726-9

E-ISBN: 978-1-63769-727-6

This book is joyfully dedicated to my father, whose pure wonder at God inspired his son to write the story of Christmas, held in his heart all these years.

Prologue

Few things in this life rival Christmas and the spirit it brings.

From as far back as I can remember, the Christmas season has been the most wonderful time of the year. I loved every part of it: building wreaths, manger scenes, the music, family, and the once-a-year special foods Nonni proudly made.

But most of all, Christmas was imprinted on me by my father.

Like most immigrant families, most time was spent at home. In the Macari household in the 1960s, that meant anticipating the great movies my father and mother loved. The biblical epics—Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, King of Kings, and my father’s favorite, Quo Vadis, were on once a year. These were the days before cable, VCRs, DVR, and on-demand TV. Miss it, and you would have to wait a whole year to see it again.

My father was inspired by all things God. Simple wonderment was embodied in the great movies which brought biblical stories to life. For me, it was the music as well. Great composers like Miklos Rozsa, Ernest Gold, John Williams. The grand orchestral and scenic soundtracks were, unto themselves, masterpieces. They brought the emotion of the story to life.

It had always been my ambition to make the Christmas story into a major, epic motion picture. After all, I did enjoy a thirty-year career writing and producing TV and video and travelled worldwide doing it. It was the one great project I wanted to do. It never left me all these years. Neither did writing the story which became this book.

I felt I would do this to honor my father, as my way of thanking him for this great gift he shared with me.

I would do it for God, to bring hope to people whom I see as increasingly hurting around this world of late.

I would do it because it simply was there, waiting to be written down.

So, about twenty-five or thirty years ago, during my business and family life, I began to research and outline The Star of Bethlehem.

It was a pleasure for this writer to learn about ancient times and have the opportunity to cross-reference scripture to my very heart’s content. But the file lay dormant for twenty-five years.

Then came coronavirus.

It was hard for me to believe I was feeling compelled to pick The Star back up. I found the folder and perused through it. Hmm, I thought. God knows the world needs Christmas more than ever. Can it be done?

And so, humbly speaking, I prayed.

"God, if this is something You want me to do at this time, You’re going to have to show up in my life. This is meaningless without You."

And, I ask You to bless this, to inspire me, to be there with me to write these things down and tell this story credibly. If it is there, I’ll write. If it is not, I won’t.

It started out slow, then more, and clearer. At times, nothing was there, so the pages went blank that day. At other times, it flowed through and became ink.

After several months, the story seemed complete, at least where the events being written about are concerned. And here you are with it in your hands.

∂

It seems impossible to me that such a childhood dream could really become a reality. Could there be a reawakening of the wonderment, the joy, the familial spirit that is Christmas, in our world today?

I suppose time will tell. I hope so.

Well, we did it, Dad. Buon Natale to the world.

- Michael Macari

Introduction

As was noted in the Prologue to this book, the inspiration to tell the story of Christmas began decades ago. The actual, historical story of the birth of Christ goes back over two thousand years. It is a familiar story that has been told in every nation on earth and to every people group.

There is the inspired book of the Bible, which predicts and recounts the events surrounding Israel’s promised Messiah from a number of ancient writers, most writing many millennia before He ever arrived.

We have heard the stories: the virgin birth, angels, and a star announcing His coming; iconic Mary, Joseph, and Jesus; the little town of Bethlehem. Most of all, Jesus’ birth in a simple manger, and the wrath of a despotic king who massacred many innocent children seeking to kill the Child.

There is no shortage of material on the Christmas story today. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of books that have been written, and millions of paintings, statues, sculptures, illustrations, and historical anecdotes about the event and the people who lived it. And much peripheral material, legend, and belief.

It is an epic story which took place in a simple place and a time of unrest, not unlike our own.

In other writings and stories, He is awaited as Messiah, Savior, vindicator, warrior King. He is depicted as a suffering servant too.

However, as you look at the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (born around 3 BC; died around 30-33 AD), He is undoubtedly the central figure of the whole human race—and the only one who ever lived who had a star announce His birth.

And so begins the story of The Star of Bethlehem.

The Star endeavors to be a complete, insightful, and inspiring new telling of the story of Christmas.

In The Star, we discover magupati, or the magi, who first realized that something of historic significance was taking place. Real people who studied the stars and served wealthy masters and kings with their interpretations, who left comfortable livings a thousand miles away to follow a star.

And while they did, a humble village girl and her betrothed husband-to-be were having their simple lives changed forever, historically awaiting the birth of a God-child.

There is much consternation and misunderstanding over the virgin pregnancy of Mary. And traditions—laws—that could have had her put to death. Despite this, Mary makes a perilous journey with her husband Joseph, arriving in the most unlikely of places, and thus becoming an unexpected, central person in humanity’s journey. All the while, Mary and Joseph become the objects of the wrath of a wicked despot.

As in any historical story, we can only surmise what it would have been like to be there. And so, to further understand and perhaps feel the story, we immerse ourselves in it. Did it happen as we believe it did? What would it all look like, sound like, and perhaps even smell like? Who would we meet?

History tells us much. Inspiration fills in the gaps.

The people of Bethlehem, where this was all to have taken place, were simple people—village people. It was their lives that were disrupted by Mary and Joseph’s arrival, then forever changed because of them.

We can imagine the everyday townspeople, their leaders, their lives, their history, even matters of faith that governed them. We can try to say who they were, including the shepherds they hired to tend to the vast natural fields and flocks around their town. Through it, we can gain insight into life there—before and as these events happened.

This historic story has many villains, none more than the legendary King Herod the Great, a merciless, maniacal tyrant who ruled over the nation of Israel at the bidding of Rome. At the time of our story, many soldiers—Roman occupiers as well as temple brigades—patrolled the streets, interfering with the people’s lives.

There was treachery at every corner. There was a world about to implode, not unlike our own today.

It is our prayer that in The Star of Bethlehem we have a fresh, new, and much needed re-telling of the Christmas story.

It is hoped that, in some way, every reader would be touched by this telling of the story, and perhaps even moved to tell others about it, as the people we will meet did, many millennia ago.

Chapter One

The Wanderer’s Dance

∂

Sabra, in Chaldea, Persia

Evening, in a star-filled sky

The desert skies hide little at night.

From his open portico in the palace, Melchior could clearly identify every celestial visitor to the night sky, as he had done for nearly fifty years.

Melchior had been following some particular movements for several months now. He had seen an unusual rising in the east making its way across the desert sky—a sudden, brigt arrival that surprised him one evening during his observations. Over many weeks, he tracked the planet from its rising to its zenith in the eastern sky. It was Jupiter.

It started in silence, unnoticeable to most everyone. A journey begun in an entirely unassuming yet splendid way to those who observed.

From his vantage point on the upper corner of the palace, he had been able to track a rendezvous taking shape, a celestial coming together. Most unusual, even for this veteran stargazer—in complete obscurity despite its unusual brightness in the crisp eastern sky. Unobstructed, always observing, he made notes of their movements. Nightly charting their course, the path to their destination soon began to startle him.

Astounding, he was heard to say. Remphin had heard many wondrous descriptions over the years—some portending trouble, some splendor. But this was different.

As a priestly caste, Melchior was well accustomed to following the heavenly movements of planets, stars, constellations, even comets. His counsel was sought by kings and rulers, all seeking insight into celestial signs that would affect everything from war and famine to the new eras of history.

Indeed, he was not alone in these observations.

Caravans from the west in Arabia and further east in India had carried messages from sages and other magupati regarding observations of these new and unprecedented movements in the heavens. To the magupati, these movements, invisible to the general populace, were messages from the heavens. What was revealed by heaven had profound implications here on earth.

Jupiter was heading westward.

In its dance across the heavens, the planet was seen to stop and then reverse direction! In a period of almost nine months, the magupati observed Jupiter appearing to circle over Regulus, then appearing, as they observed, to create a crown, or halo, over this king star. As Jupiter continued its journey across the skies, it conjoined with Regulus, the king’s star, not once, but three times!

But to their astonishment, this heavenly dance did not end there.

In its third journey, Jupiter aligned with Venus, the mother star, until on one summer evening the two stars drew closer and closer, joining in a celestial kiss, fusing into one brilliant star in the western sky. The sun was in Virgo.

Never before or since had these observations been recorded. To Melchior, heaven itself was speaking. And the implications were, in his sight, nothing short of epic, historic.

But what was heaven saying? To be sure, it would appear that a king was about to appear. But who? Where?

Kings ascend and kingdoms change. But to Melchior and those who had been observing these stars, the heavens had never announced such an arrival in such glorious, unmistakable fashion. Across time and space, Jupiter and Venus conjoining. To the learned seer, heaven itself was announcing a birth; not just for Persia, or India, but perhaps something more universal. A king of all kings, a king of all nations, a universal leader? Or something more—a warrior king, or the Son