Sunday, December 8, 2024

Gifts

 

Chapter 22 Gifts

From Other Little Ships

"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 frankincense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:11

The first Christmas gifts. Do we give gifts at this holiday because God gave or because the Wise Men gave?

These gifts were well chosen and no doubt represented not only careful Christmas shopping but also the providential hand of God.

Gold was a gift for a King. It bespeaks the infant's royalty. A conviction to which these Magi had already testified --- before the insane King of the Jews, Herod, himself!

But this gift was not only symbol. It was also substance. This young family was about to have to flee for its life to Egypt. This gold would allow them the luxury of flight into foreign territory without fear of destitution. It would soon come in very handy.

The second gift was very powerful and was used in its entirety immediately. The incense was broken open and burned as a scented offering in fragrant worship before a small baby who was God incarnate. This was the custom of most eastern religions and I'm sure that this humble stable never smelled better.

I can see Mary's face as she receives or opens the last gift. Myrrh.

The word "myrrh" means "to crush" or "grind" and may first refer to the method by which this pungent, aromatic spice is produced or symbolically to the occasion for which it was most commonly used.

It was a very costly spice that was used in the preparation of a dead body for burial. It's like giving embalming fluid or a cemetery plot as a birthday or Christmas gift.

Do you see Mary's face? What a strange and ominous gift. What were the Magi saying about this new life and its purpose?

This awesome life was also very costly and precious. But it would render it's greatest aroma when it was crushed and offered on Calvary's hill.

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