Proem

January 6 is the day of Epiphany. Epiphany is the festival commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi or Three Kings.

The Three Kings

In common parlance we call them the Three Kings. The Bible refers to them as the Three Wise Men or Magi. The Bible does not contain the names of the Three Wise Men.

However, tradition and the apocrypha have the names Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltazar.

The gifts they brought were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Nobody actually knows where they came from. The Bible just says Wise Men from the east.

The Fourth King

Edzard Schaper published in 1961 The Legend of the Fourth King. The fourth king was a young Tsar or king of Russia. The author did not give a name of the Tsar.

The young Tsar intended to give gifts of fine linen and furs from Russia. After two or three months of travel the young Tsar met the Three Kings who were also on their way to visit the King of Kings. One night, when the entourage lodged in an inn, the Tsar overslept and when he woke up the Three Kings were already gone.

The young Tsar intended to follow but since he was not knowledgeable about the stars, he just wandered from place to place. Along the way the young Tsar spread goodness and kindness. Eventually he reached seashore.

At the seashore there was a galley that was trying to impress into service a young boy as a rower. The boy's service was needed in order to pay the indebtedness of his father. The Tsar took pity of the boy and volunteered to take his place as a rower in the galley. For thirty years the Tsar was put in chain as a rower.

After thirty years the Tsar was released at the same site. He was met by a rich merchant who was tasked by his mother to take care of any rower put ashore by the galleys. The rich merchant was actually the boy whom the Tsar took his place in the galley. The rich merchant took care of the Tsar and restores him to health.

The Tsar went on his way and eventually reached Jerusalem at the time when Jesus was about to be crucified. The Tsar finally saw Jesus Christ when He was hanging on the cross. So the fourth King finally accomplished his mission of seeing the King of Kings not at His cradle but on His cross.

The book "The Legend of the Fourth King" is very good to read.

Eskaya Legend

After reading the book, it struck me as amusing when I remembered that the Eskaya of Bohol has a parallel story. The Eskaya of Bohol has a legend that Jesus Christ came to Bohol as part of the unrecorded time between Jesus' 12th year and 30th year. The legend says that Jesus Christ was in Bohol for three years.

So when the Tsar of Russia was serving as rower of a galley for 30 years, Jesus Christ also wandered around in the east. The difference was, Jesus was walking on water instead of riding on a boat.

Stories are just stories. Whoever told the Eskaya version of the story of Jesus Christ must have some lessons to impart. Jesus was here in Bohol preaching goodness and healing the sick. In fact it is claimed that the Eskaya beliefs were actually preached by Jesus Christ when he was in Bohol.