** spoiler alert ** I recently read another Christmas story by Henry Van Dyke, “The Mansion”, which I really enjoyed and benefited from reading, so I decided to see what other Christmas stories that he had wrote. “The Story of the Other Wise Man” seemed like another potentially good Christmas story from Van Dyke.

Most are familiar with the story of the three wise man that come to visit the Christ child bearing gifts, this is the story of a fourth wise man that was suppose to come with the three. The gift that the fourth wise man brought was three precious gems. During the time of departure for the wise men, the fourth wise man had to travel a great distance to join with the other three. At an appointed time they would leave whether he made it or not. The fourth wise man was on the verge of reaching the appointed departure place at the appointed time, when he stopped to help an old, sick and feeble man in the pathway. It took several hours to resuscitate the old man and help him, which caused him to miss the departure of the three wise men. He had to use one of the gems to buy the necessary provisions to travel the great distance alone to find the Christ child. He traveled the great distance and reached Bethlehem just missing his contemporaries and the Christ child, who had fled to Egypt with his family.

The fourth wise man continued his hunt for Christ in Egypt and then back in the holy land. He was told that he would find Christ among the poor and needy. As he traveled he tried to help as many as possible, which required him to sell his second precious gem.

For 33 years, the man searched for Christ, but never finding him. By this time, the wise man became aged. He heard that Christ was in Jerusalem and was to be crucified. As he entered the great city, he saw a girl being escorted by armed guards. As the girl saw the wise man, she broke away and begged for help from him. Having compassion he pulled out the last gem and gave it to her to buy her freedom. As this event was happening, Christ died on the cross and the great calamities that followed his death started. A tremor knocked down a build crushing the wise man. The girl came to his aid thinking he was dead. She then sensed that another was close by and she turned but saw none, but the old wise man stirred.

Then the old man’s lips began to move, as if in answer, and she heard him say in the Parthian tongue:
“Not so, my Lord: For when saw I thee anhungered and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw I thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? When saw I thee sick or in prison, and came unto thee? Three-and-thirty years have I looked for thee; but I have never seen thy face, nor ministered to thee, my King.”
He ceased, and the sweet voice came again. And again the maid heard it, very faintly and far away. But now it seemed as though she understood the words:
“Verily I say unto thee, Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.”

This story had a similar theme - serving others is the same as serving the Lord - as another one of my favorite Christmas short stories, “Where Love is, God is” by Leo Tolstoy.

I liked how this story built upon the biblical account of the three wise men that visited the Christ child. Especially how the fourth never saw Christ but spent all of his days seeking after him and in the process helping the sick, poor and the needy. The gifts of the fourth wise man were intended for Christ but were used to help Christ’s brethren. As was stated in the story, serving Christ’s brethren is the same as serving him; therefore, the fourth wise man was able to give his gift to Christ. I love the message this story tells. I hope that I can be better at serving Christ by serving his brethren.

I recommend this short story to all who love a Christmas story that has a good message of loving Christ and serving others.