Advent: December 20

The first gifts of Christmas were magnificent, indeed! Considering that Mary and Joseph were poor since they didn’t even have a lamb to sacrifice at the time they brought Jesus to the temple, it would have been amazing to have seen this large caravan of revered Magi fall on their faces and present these treasures to the baby. I’m sure they had their neighborhood talking. But the gifts are significant.

Top to Bottom: Myrrh-Gold-Frankincense

Gold was a gift that was reserved for kings, a thing of tribute. Therefore gold speaks to the birth of Jesus as king.

Frankincense was greatly valued throughout the Middle East. It was expensive because it was the best quality perfume that was available. Frankincense comes from tree resin, and is known for being pure, having almost no impurities in it. It is because of this that Frankincense was used primarily for worship and was symbolic of prayer. It was integral in making incense which was used as a burnt offering-a sweet aroma before the Lord. Frankenstein speaks of Jesus’s life, a life lived perfectly, an acceptable, living sacrifice to God. It is why he can be our forever-High Priest and mediate between God and man.

Myrrh could also be used as a perfume also but was more widely used as an aesthetic for burial and embalming. It was used to deodorize clothes and in cosmetics for women. In Jewish life it was the main ingredient for anointing oil.(Exodus 30:23-25).

Myrrh was also used as a pain reliever. When Jesus was on the cross he was offered wine mixed with myrrh. This was offered as a sedative to dull his pain-but Jesus refused.(Mark 15:23) Myrrh would speak of Jesus’s death and, as were the customs of the day, was used in Jesus’s burial. (John 19:39).

As the Magi are getting ready to leave and return to Herod, they are warned in a dream not to return to the evil king. They quickly reroute their trip and go home another way.

Isn’t it amazing that God invited outsiders, those who are not Jewish, to come and see the great things He was doing? He is still inviting the outsider today.