Matthew 2:11, “And when they were come into the house,
they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped
him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts;
gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
Here we learn the story of the wise men
that have looked long and hard, and based on prophecy and their study of
astronomy came looking for the child born of a virgin.
We know these men came in a large
group, traveling as they were through war-torn lands. Part of the true reason Herod was nervous
around them and catered to their wishes is because they walked into Herod’s
land with a small, highly trained army. They
came from a known military power, one who had conquered many lands. The fact they were this major political and
military power also explains why Herod took their information so seriously. They were honest with him about the prophecy,
but their truth cost many infant boys their lives as Herod worked to prevent
God’s prophecy from happening.
From Matthew we learn the wise men
found Jesus and his parents in a house.
This lesson shows us the happy pictures where the wise men are standing
with shepherds in a stable are not accurate.
Added to the mistakes often presented is the fact Jesus here is not a
baby, but a young child. If you wonder
why Herod killed all boys under two years of age, this is why. The wide men found Jesus after he was a small
child, probably walking by now.
The wise men, no, there were not just
three, find Jesus and his parents and arrive to worship the King, even as a
child. Understand prophecy even the Jews
did not, they arrived to greet the King with gifts worthy of a King.
First, gold. Gold was a kingly offering, indicating purity. While we know gold was given, few think about
why God had this delivered to Jesus via the wise men. As Joseph led his family into Egypt to evade
Herod’s death squads, this gold allowed them to live there until it was safe to
return. Here we see a blessing given
that was given with intent, as God knew the future needs of the family. How often do we question gifts because we
forget God knows our future? Isn’t it a
comfort to know our Father knows our paths, and prepares for them? Yes, it is.
Second, frankincense. Frankincense stands for divinity. Here you see a sweet savor amidst
sacrifice. All through the old testament
sacrifice was done to cover sin, and was a sweet odor to our Father. Through Christ this sacrifice was forever
finished, ending the need for sin to be covered for believers, and giving the
Father a sweet savor that will never need replaced.
Third, myrrh. Myrrh represents Christ’s humanity. Its healing properties were well known, as
well as its uses in embalming. Only in a
human body would Christ needs this representation, but through our Father’s
love for us Christ came and took on a human body to be the final
sacrifice. How wonderful our Father’s
love and plans.
If we dig a little deeper, which is
something I think the Father wants us to do with his word, we see even more of
God’s fingerprints on the Christmas story.
John 6:35, “And Jesus said unto them, I
am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst.”
We have heard often that Jesus is the
“bread of life”, which he stated many times.
However, have you ever pondered how his Father helped this
statement? Look to where Jesus was born. The stable he was born in was in the town of
Bethlehem. “Bethlehem” means “house of
bread”. Is there any doubt that the
bread of life being born in the house of bread is not an accident? No, just another thing that makes me smile,
and gives goose bumps as I see how rich God’s word is, as well as His careful
foresight.
We also learn Christ was the offering
for our sin.
Ephesians 5:2, “And walk in love, as
Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a
sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”
Christ was an offering. His sacrifice was sweet smelling. We know that frankincense was sweet smelling,
but how does it figure in? We turn to
Leviticus:
Leviticus 2:1, “And when any will offer
a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:”
All meat sacrifices were offered with
frankincense. Suddenly that gift to a
child means more than at a glance.
Christ was sent to be our sacrifice, our offering, to once and for all
cover our sin. Frankincense was given to
the child Jesus knowing in the long-term role this child would die for our
sins.
If you dig deeper into frankincense, we
learn about how it is harvested. This is
very interesting.
The resin comes from inside a tree,
under the bark. Frankincense is tapped from the very scraggly but hardy
Boswellia tree by slashing the bark and allowing the exuded resins to bleed out
and harden. These hardened resins are called tears.
To collect frankincense properly, a
slow and carefully executed process must be followed. The process can only take
place twice a year – once in the spring and then again in the fall, and takes
two weeks.
Looking at Myrrh, it is the aromatic
resin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora, which
is an essential oil termed an oleoresin. Myrrh resin is a natural gum. When a tree wound penetrates through
the bark and into the sapwood, the tree bleeds a resin. Myrrh gum, like
frankincense, is such a resin. When people harvest myrrh, they wound the trees
repeatedly to bleed them of the gum. Myrrh gum is waxy, and coagulates quickly.
After the harvest, the gum becomes hard and glossy.
Isaiah 53:5 gives us the key for the
two gifts, frankincense and myrrh.
“But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes
we are healed.”
I Peter 2:24 is the resolution to the
prophecy. “Who his own self bare our
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
We are healed from the stripes given to
Christ. Both frankincense and myrrh are
wonderful gifts taken from cutting stripes, or gashes, into the trees to let
the gum run out. Most would know this
process best from how we get maple syrup.
Christ was beaten, his back shredded before he was hung on the cross for
our sins. While it is hard to imagine
such pain from gifts, the underlying truth of both frankincense and myrrh was
their prophetic look toward the Christ child’s painful death.
The positive look from all this, is
that the Christ child was sent to be torn for our sin and die as a sacrifice,
but to never stay dead. After three days
our Lord rose from the dead, making Him the one true God and ending the
sacrifices demanded in the OT forever.
