The King and His Bride…and the Shepherds
There once was a great and good king who
was engaged to be married.
When his betrothed was younger, she had
been kidnapped by an evil prince, taken to a far-off land, and imprisoned and
tormented in an effort to force her to marry the evil prince. However, the
great and good king disguised himself, traveled to the far-off land, and after
many trials and privations, fought the evil prince and his wicked servants,
freeing his beloved betrothed, and bringing her safely back to his Kingdom.
Before the wedding date, the good king
had to leave on an urgent matter on behalf of his people. Keeping in mind the
horror of the kidnapping, he called together a cohort of trusted servants,
known as shepherds or pastors, and placed the safety and welfare of his
bride-to-be in their hands. The great and good king was confident that these
men would faithfully care for his beloved and that he need not be concerned for
her well – being.
As for the betrothed, as she looked at
the kindly faces of the shepherds, she was certain she had nothing to fear and
that she could spend her days and nights looking forward to the return of her
husband-to-be and preparing herself for that great wedding day and their
marriage supper.
After the king departed, the first few
weeks were quiet and restful. The betrothed enjoyed spending time with her ladies
in waiting, gardening, walking in forests and by waterfalls and gently running
brooks; and of course she was preparing, always preparing for the return of the
king and the much-anticipated wedding day.
As for the pastors, at first they were
content with fulfilling the king’s charge to them, but the longer the king was
gone, the more restless they became.
“How long will he be gone? When will he
return?” they asked one another.
As the weeks became months and as the
months multiplied, they asked, “Why hasn’t he returned? Perhaps something
happened to him? Maybe he is ill. He could have died of sickness or even been
killed in battle.”
At one time these pastors spoke of the
king and only the king. They talked to the bride-to-be of the king, they talked
to the people of the king, they taught the children of the land about the king.
Then one day a messenger arrived from an
adjacent land. The ruler of that land was giving a ball and was extending an
invitation not only to the pastors, but also to the king’s betrothed; he wanted
the pastors to bring her with them.
Such a thing was unheard of in all the
history of the land of the great and good king. From time immemorial kings
would only dance with their spouses or their intended spouses, and queens and
queens to be would only dance with their husbands or husbands to be. The eyes
of kings were only for their queens, and the eyes of queens were only for their
kings.
The pastors thought, “Even though such a
thing is unheard of, the king has been gone far longer than we thought he would
be. He may come back, or he may not. The young woman must be bored waiting for
him, we certainly are. If the king does return, would he not be pleased to know
that we had brightened his betrothed’s life by taking her to a grand ball where
she could shine before others? He would certainly appreciate our efforts.”
And so it began, for as word spread
abroad that the beautiful betrothed of the good and great king was being
escorted by the king’s pastors to balls and festivals invitations deluged the
royal court. The shepherds convinced the young woman, after prolonged argument
with her, that even though such a thing had never happened before in their
kingdom, that these were exceptional times and that the king would not only
understand, but that he would approve.
