Philonicus the Thessalian shifted nervously as he waited for the king's reply. It was easy enough to see that the horse was truly of the finest breeding, King Phillip II had little worry on that account. Yet what good is the horse to me if it can not be trained! It is a magnificent animal, to be sure, but altogether a useless one. Philonicus did not rush the king's thoughts. If he was to sell the creature at the price he had named, it must be to the king. The nobles would hesitate to pay thirteen talents even for a horse that was of both the fine breeding and sound training. The stallion reared and bucked in the pen behind him, for no apparent reason. It was doing little to aid in convincing the king. Philonicus cursed the beast in his head but showed no outward sign of his foreboding. Despite his caution, his hopes were soon disappointed.
"I have no use for the horse, Philonicus. You shall have to take it elsewhere."
"Are you quite sure, your Majesty? I can assure you that you shall never find his equal!"
King Phillip discarded the warning with a laugh. "Perhaps in breeding, but I have five hundred chargers in my stable and all of them are better mounts!"
The countenance of Philonicus fell. If the king would not buy it, the nobles probably wouldn't either - even at a lesser cost. He would have to take the beast into the next kingdom and who could tell if the journey would be worth his while.
Alexander had been at his father's side throughout the entire conversation, listening to the sale with interest. Now he touched the king's arm.
"May I buy the horse, Father?" King Phillip looked at his twelve year old son in astonishment.
"What would you do with such an animal, Alexander?"
"Ride it." The few noblemen who were gathered around laughed aloud at the comment. The best horsemen among them had already failed to ride the beast! The king did not laugh, he knew his son was neither a foolish boy nor ignorant in the art of horse training. Thus, Alexander's confidence intrigued his father. "I will make you a wager, Father. Buy the horse, and if I can not train it, I will, myself, work until I have earned you the full sum back." King Philip's brows rose at the proposal.
"And how would you go about earning such a sum? A king's son can not hire himself out to work like a peasant's child."
"No, but why could I not work in your stables with the boys who are there?" The king laughed.
"You have thought it all out! Philonicus, I will buy the horse from you as a wager with my son." Philonicus looked more surprised by the king's decision than even the nobles, but he had no intention of arguing. The king sent one of the servants to get the thirteen talents that the horse dealer was to be paid. Alexander looked towards the stallion with eagerness.
"May I go in with the horse now?"
King Phillip nodded. "Do as you like." The prince removed his cloak, which had been fluttering in the wind, and slowly walked up to the fence. The ebony stallion paid him little attention. He was agitated and covered in sweat from constant pacing. One of the nobles had suggested that the animal was anxious because it didn't like to be caged in, but Alexander had a different theory. All morning he had watched the horse, as the nobles and even the king himself tried to work with it. The prince had little interest in doing the two years work that it would take to earn thirteen talents on a stable boy's wage, but he had made an observation that he was willing to rely upon. Standing outside the paddock he spoke to horse softly.
"They think but little of you." The horse glanced at Alexander from across the pen. His ears were moving, in all directions, trying to detect the slightest sound. As Alexander continued to speak, the horse turned towards him. Suddenly it's nostrils flared and it reeled in the opposite direction; kicking and snorting. It careened around the pen as if it were trying to escape an invisible threat.
"The animal is crazy!" One of the nobles said, others agreed and the king silently questioned the wisdom of the wager he had made. Alexander paid the discussion no heed. The stallion was slowly approaching him, though the progress was interrupted several times as the horse took off in a panic. When he finally got close enough, Alexander reached his hand through the planks of the fence and touched the shimmering coat. The horse was trembling. It brought its head around to smell his hand and Alexander could feel its muscles suddenly tense. He had just enough time to withdraw his hand before the horse reared straight up and took off in a panic again. The boy laughed and quickly climbed over the fence.
"Your awfully big to be so afraid!" The boy's presence within the paddock caused the horse to stop dead from a full on gallop. It was breathing hard as it turned towards him again. "Come on, I'll show you how to get away from it." The boy walked towards the far corner of the pen, squinting into the sun. "Come here." The horse turned towards him and began to follow, this time he approached Alexander without distraction. "That's it! It isn't so bad in this direction, is it?" The horse was finally calm. It lowered its head and stretched it's nose toward Alexander.
The men waited for another eruption with bated breath. Instead the stallion that they could not hold still with ropes, stood quietly before the prince for several minutes. Alexander took a halter that lay over the fence and tied it onto the horse without trouble. Then he paused and his eyes scanned the courtyard. In a moment, they fell upon that which he was looking for. It is a good thing that the gate is on this side of the paddock! He observed. Should it have been anywhere else his task would have been a trickier one. As Alexander reached for the gate several of the nobles began to object, but King Phillip quickly silenced them.
"Let the boy alone! He has already gotten further than any of you did." Alexander was careful to lead the horse in a straight line, as he went out of the gate and towards the shade of the stables. He took the horse into a paddock that was between two of the buildings and released him there. Only then did he breath easily again.
"He will be quite as tame in there as any of our horses."
King Philip II was confused. "I have been watching you all the time, my son, yet I haven't the slightest idea what it is that you have done."
Alexander smiled triumphantly as he slid the bolt across the gate. "I simply put him into a paddock that is in the shade."
Philonicus had received his pay long before, but he had remained in the stable yard watching the young horse trainer with interest. "Why would that make a difference?" The horse dealer asked. He was observing the stallion with growing surprise, for the animal that had paced and reeled almost continually for weeks was walking calmly around the paddock.
"Because..." Alexander spoke slowly, intentionally dragging out the men's suspense. "He is afraid of his shadow." Everyone looked at him in disbelief. King Phillip II laughed aloud at the simplicity of the solution.
"That is why you turned him into the sun."
The prince nodded. King Philip shook his head and looked at his boy with admiration.
"My son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee!"
There was a secret to riding Bucephalus, one that only Alexander had observed. The key lay in something other than skill, knowledge, or perseverance; all of which, though useful, failed to take into account that the horse was afraid of his shadow. The best of horsemen could not ride the animal because they didn't understand him. We too have a horse to ride - though few of us think of it in that way. It is a tall, white stallion with an unmarked coat and hundreds, even thousands, of great men have tried to tame it and failed. That horse's name is Righteousness and we are told that he is impossible to stay atop. Most of us have already proven the impossibility of this task to ourselves through numerous failed attempts. Some may be trying to conquer it still, but their best efforts too will fail to accomplish true righteousness.
As the King and the nobles failed to see Bucephalus' fear, we have missed the fact that we were disqualified long before we even set out to gain success. You see righteousness is a record as well as an attainment. Thus, as soon as we sin we are forever barred from achieving it and Romans ii. 23 says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." So why are we still trying? Why do we not simply tell the horse dealer to take the animal elsewhere as King Phillip did?
That option is quite simply not available to us. We know that righteousness is required of us. It is in fact the very standard by which we will all one day be judged. So our very eternity itself depends upon the attainment of it. We therefore find ourselves faced with an impossible task, an untameable horse that must be ridden. If men of skills and knowledge far superior to his could not overcome the horse, Alexander knew that he couldn't either. Yet the prince did not take that to mean that Bucephalus could not be tamed. Instead he showed great wisdom in looking for a solution outside of himself. Thankfully, like Bucephalus, righteousness has a secret. The solution to this problem is also outside of us. It has nothing to do with shadows, rather Righteousness requires a certain rider. We can not do it, however, righteousness can be achieved.
Righteousness is simply a description of God's character. So He is not only the creator of this standard, He is also the fulfilment of it! God Himself can meet the requirements.The law that commands us to be righteous, that measure we must meet on judgement day, was intended to show us Him.
"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Galatians iii. 24
God calls us to be holy even as He is holy, which in our own power is impossible. Yet when we fail to attain it in our own strength, God intends for us to come to Him. He has known all along that righteousness could only be met by Him and so He offers it to us as a gift. That is not to say that we no longer face the requirement to be righteous, rather that we can now find our righteousness in Him. Jesus has attributed His righteousness to us and thus the impossible task is suddenly done! Yet He offers us still more for He is willing to ride with us, pulling us up into the saddle with Him that we might know what it is to be carried by this great, white stallion. This is the process of sanctification worked in us through His Spirit which is progressively setting us free from sin and building His character within us - essentially teaching us to ride the way He does. So He has tamed and ridden the untrainable horse and attributed that work to your name so that you might be saved. Now He bids you to mount as well. When you do, remember that it is His horse, you can ride it only when He is in the saddle with you.
"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans viii. 3-4)
In Christ
quiana
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