The Gifts of the Magi

A grandmother sent her grandson a dress shirt for Christmas. Unfortunately, she sent the wrong size. (Grandmothers sometimes forget how quickly children grow!) Her grandson took a size 14 neck, but the shirt she gave him was only a size 10.

Nevertheless, the boy’s mother insisted that he send his grandmother a thank-you note. So here is what he wrote.

“Dear Grandma. Thank you very much for the nice shirt. I really like it. I’d write more, but I’m all choked up.”

I hope that the Christmas season hasn’t left you all choked up!

The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas dates all the way back to that first Christmas in Bethlehem when the wise men presented their gifts to Jesus. There is much mystery surrounding that story, as there is around so much of the Christmas story.

Who exactly were those wise men? If there weren’t three of them, how many were there? And what about that star they were following? What was it? How was it possible for a star to lead them to a particular house in Bethlehem? And why were Joseph and Mary living in a house in Bethlehem? How long after Jesus’ birth did this take place? Questions! Questions! Questions!

Well, we won’t try to tackle all those questions today. Rather, I want to examine the gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus. I want us to try to see if there are any lessons in those gifts for us. What meaning was there in the gifts that they laid at Jesus’ feet? Were they totally arbitrary gifts, or do they have some spiritual significance?

Let’s turn to the story again, as Matthew records it.

Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Isn’t it interesting that, when the wise men came into the house, they worshiped Jesus, not Mary. They brought their gifts to Jesus, not Mary. Surely, if Mary were all that some people believe she is, the wise men ought to have worshiped her, and given gifts to her. But of course they didn’t because Mary was just an ordinary woman. She was an ordinary woman who had been chosen by God to serve in an extraordinary role.

It is significant that the wise men brought gifts when they came to see Jesus. In the ancient world, it was always customary to bring gifts to a superior. For example, when a citizen had an audience with a king, the citizen first presented a gift to the king, in token of his allegiance and good will. Gifts were a sign of respect and honor.

The wise men, though not kings themselves, were very powerful and influential men. Matthew tells us that they “bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts.”

They worshiped Jesus and gave him gifts. Someone has said that “empty-handed worship is not worship at all.” True worship costs you something. Worship that costs nothing is worth nothing.

Six days before Jesus’ death on the cross, there was a dinner given in his honor at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany. It is described for us in John 12:2

Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Mary worshiped Jesus, and it cost her something.

On another occasion, Jesus was sitting in the Temple with his disciples. It is described for us in Mark 12:41

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

The widow worshiped God and it cost her something.

Worship is costly. Yet we often think of worship as a time to get something from God, not as a time to give something to him. Have you ever heard someone say “Well, I didn’t get much out of that service!” Or, “I’ve stopped going to that church because I’m not being fed.”

Have you noticed that some people hop from church to church searching for bigger and better thrills in the worship service? Those people are only revealing their own ignorance of what worship really is. Worship is when we praise God for who He is. And our praise must be accompanied by the gift of ourselves, or it is hollow praise.

The wise men bowed down and worshiped him and gave him gifts. What were those gifts? Gold, frankincense and myrrh. The fact that there were three gifts is probably why people think that there were three wise men. However there is a very ancient Syrian tradition that there were twelve. We don’t know how many there were, but we do know that they brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Why those gifts and not something else?

1. Gold was and still is the most valued substance in history. It has been coveted, and hoarded, and fought over since the dawn of time. Men have given their lives to possess it.

It has been called the “King of Metals”, not only for it’s beauty and scarcity, but for it’s special physical properties. Gold doesn’t corrode. It is extremely malleable; it can be beaten into paper thin leaves without becoming brittle. It has tremendous tensile strength and flexibility; it can be stretched and extruded into the finest wire filaments without breaking.

For these reasons, gold has become the most important metal known to man, not only for its economic value, but for its scientific and industrial value as well.

The importance of gold is recognized in the Bible. The very first mineral mentioned in the Scriptures is gold. Gold was found in the Garden of Eden. Gold symbolizes the very best of man’s possessions on this earth.

In ancient times, gold was not kept in banks; it was found primarily in two places: in palaces and in temples.

Because of its value, gold became associated with kings and rulers. Archaeologists have uncovered some stunningly beautiful royal artifacts made of gold. For example, one of the burial coffins of King Tut of ancient Egypt was made of solid gold. It is extremely heavy, and would be worth over two million dollars on today’s market.

Gold was also used in worship. In pagan temples, as well as in Israel’s Temple, gold had a prominent place. The lid of the Ark of the Covenant was made of solid gold, as were the figures of the cherubim who stood above it. Gold was the material of choice for religious purposes because it was the finest way possible to express how you felt about the God whom you worshiped.

So it was significant that the wise men brought gold to Jesus. When they came looking for him in Jerusalem, they asked “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” They had come to honor a king; gold was the appropriate gift for a king.

2. They also brought frankincense. Frankincense is a resin that is collected from certain trees that grow in the Middle East. As the bark of these trees is cut, a milky white sap oozes out. The sap hardens into beads of amber. When this substance is burned, it releases a beautifully fragrant aroma.

Frankincense was highly prized in ancient times as an incense to be used in worship. Historians estimate that as much as 3,000 tons of frankincense was produced each year on the Arabian Peninsula to supply the Mediterranean world.

A lucrative frankincense trade route was established, complete with camel caravans. Fortunes were made on the valuable substance. Frankincense is still being produced in that part of the world today — Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman — though not in such large quantities.

Frankincense is mentioned in the OT in connection with the worship of God:

Exodus 30:34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the Lord.

So frankincense found a special use in the worship of God. As the white smoke of this fragrant incense wafted upward, it symbolized the prayers and devotion of God’s people on earth to God in heaven.

But when Jesus was born, God came down to dwell on earth with us. Jesus, the Son of God, was God himself in human flesh. As such, he was as worthy of worship as when he was still in heaven.

It is significant that the wise men presented frankincense to Jesus, because they said “we have come to worship him.” What exactly did they mean by that? Well, they probably meant that they had come to pay homage to a new King of the Jews. But the words that they used, and the gift of frankincense that they brought with them speak of the deity of Jesus Christ. The little boy before whom they knelt was the Son of God.

Gold for a king. Frankincense for God.

3. They brought myrrh. Myrrh is much like frankincense in that it is a fragrant resin that is obtained from certain trees and bushes that grow in the Middle East. But it is much darker in color and heavier and richer in aroma than frankincense.

For this reason, myrrh became a popular ingredient in fine perfume. Myrrh also was used for medicinal purposes. It was mixed with wine as an anesthetic to deaden pain.

When Jesus was crucified, they offered him wine mixed with myrrh to relieve his suffering, but he refused to take it.

The most important use of myrrh in ancient times, though, was in the embalming of the dead. When Jesus was taken down from the cross, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus prepared his body for burial. We read in the Gospel of John, chapter 19:

Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.

So myrrh became associated with suffering, pain, and death. Little did the wise men know that the myrrh they brought to the baby would foreshadow the myrrh that would be used to prepare his body for burial some thirty-three years later.

But that was why this little baby had come. He had come to die. His death was the chief and primary mission he had come to accomplish on this earth. He said himself, in Mark 10:45:

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

From the very beginning of his life, the shadow of the cross lay over him.

The noted painter Holman Hunt has a painting of the young Jesus standing at the door of his father’s carpenter shop in Nazareth. Jesus has been working hard all day, and in the light of the setting sun, he stand in the doorway stretching his arms. But the sunset turns his shadow into the shape of a Roman cross on the back wall of the workshop, and his mother Mary looks up at it with alarm on her face.

The wise men brought three gifts to Jesus, each of them highly significant. The gold spoke of his royalty - he was a king. The frankincense spoke of his deity - he was worthy to be worshiped, because he was God. And the myrrh spoke of his ultimate suffering and death - he was born to die.

These were the gifts that Jesus received at his first coming into the world. And the Bible says that he is coming again. Did you know that Scripture tells us that, at his second coming, he will also receive gifts?

There is a magnificent passage concerning the Millennial Reign of Christ in Isaiah 60. At that time, Jesus will reign over all the earth, and the nations will come up to Jerusalem to worship him. Speaking to the nation Israel, Isaiah says:

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.”

The nations will bring Him gold and incense at his Second Coming. Gold for the King of Kings; frankincense for the Lord of Lords. But no myrrh. Why not? The answer is obvious. When Jesus comes again, he will not be coming to die. He has risen from the dead. His death accomplished our salvation, and now he lives forever as our king.

As you have thought about these three gifts that the wise men brought to Jesus, I want you to realize that there is a sense in which each of you can bring him the same gifts.

When you receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you are, in a sense, giving him the gift of myrrh. You are saying to him “I believe that you came to die for me. I believe that your death on the cross was sufficient to pay for my sins and that there is nothing else needed. Jesus, I believe that it is because of your suffering, and your shed blood, that I am put into right relationship with God.”

And when you give Jesus first place in your life, when you worship him in all that you say and do, when you let him be the Lord of your life, you are, in a sense, giving him the gift of frankincense.

It is the perfume of pure devotion; the aroma of a life completely centered on Jesus. If you are living your life that way, with Jesus Christ at the center, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:14, God will, through you, spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

And what about the gold? How can you give Jesus the gift of gold? Well, remember, gold symbolizes the best that we have. You can give Jesus the gift of gold by giving him your best: the best of your time, the best of your possessions, the best of your mind and your talents. By giving Jesus the best of your life, rather than trying to hoard it for yourself, and giving him what’s left over.

The wise men brought significant gifts that first Christmas so long ago. And you can bring these gifts to Jesus today. And not just at Christmas, but every day of the year. They are the gifts that go on giving. And if you give them to Jesus, you will, like the wise men, be “filled with exceeding great joy.”