December 22
“Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod; they returned to their own country by another route.” Matthew 2:11-12
The gifts that the wisemen brought to the baby Jesus don’t seem to be very appropriate for a newborn. Instead of baby clothes, diapers, a stroller and baby toys, these men brought
the baby gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were not exactly the most useful gifts they
could have brought. If someone brought these gifts to our baby, we would probably politely
smile and say thank you, and then go put them in the closet with the things we plan to regift(well maybe not the gold we would probably sell that). But these gifts actually have very
important significance. The wisemen may not have understood their meaning, but God
directed their hearts to bring the perfect gifts.
1. Gold is a gift for a king. It is rare and valuable. It doesn’t rust or corrode and is mentioned
often in the Old Testament in reference to the wealth of kings and the building of the
temple. We are not told how much gold they brought to Jesus, but it is possible this is the
money Joseph used to pay their escape to Egypt following Herod’s orders to have all the baby boys killed.
2. Frankincense is a gift for a high priest. The most important duty of the high priest was
to conduct the service on the Day of Atonement. He would make a sacrifice for himself and for all the people to atone for all the sins they had committed during the year. He would
then take the blood from the sacrifice into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle it on the mercy seat. He used an incense like frankincense when he entered the temple. The smoke of the
incense was intended to fill the Holy of Holies and hide God who dwelt on the mercy seat at the altar so that the high priest could be there in the presence of God without dying. To see God in all of His glory would result in death. When the wisemen brought frankincense to
Jesus they were proclaiming him to be the high priest. This foreshadows the fact that Jesus would offer the sacrifice to atone for the sins of His people once and for all. Unlike the Old Testament priests who had to return to the temple every year to make the sacrifice, Jesus,
on the cross, would make the ultimate sacrifice gaining eternal redemption for all who
come to God through Him.
3. The last gift is myrrh. Myrrh was a spice used for medicine, anointing oil and embalming. It was mixed into the oil that was used to anoint prophets for the divinely appointed work ofrevealing God and communicating His will to the people. This gift represented that Jesus
was coming as a prophet and to fulfill the prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the
Messiah. It also symbolizes bitterness, suffering and affliction and foreshadows the fact thatthe baby Jesus would grow to suffer greatly as a man and would pay the ultimate price when He gave His life on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus came as King (Messiah), Priest (to atone for man’s sins), and Prophet (bringing the
Word of God). The wisemen’s gifts represented each of these roles Jesus would fulfill and pointed to all that He would do during His time on earth.
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