It was just a few days before the big Christmas pageant
and one of the boys who was going to play a wise man became sick with the flu. The
frazzled play director not knowing what else to do conscripted one of the extra
shepherds to fill in. The newly minted wise man was given his lines and
directions, “Now Johnny, you will go last. After the first two wise men present
baby Jesus with their gifts, it will be your turn. Give Joseph your gift and
say, ‘I bring to baby Jesus, frankincense.” Johnny was nervous, but it was only
one line.
He
practiced and practiced for two days and inevitably the big moment arrived. The
wise men took to the stage. The first one bowed before Jesus and said, “I bring
to the King of kings gold!” The next wise man stepped forward and right on cue
he knelt and said, “I bring to the Christ child a precious gift of myrrh!”
Johnny was sweating bullets. He nervously stepped up and extended his hands and
offered a small box. Poor Johnny got tongue tied, “Uh . . . umm . . . here baby
Jesus, Frank sent these!”
How often do we hear gold,
frankincense and myrrh as part of a Christmas pageant, without ever asking,
what in the world are these things? I think we all understand the value and
importance of gold, but what about frankincense and myrrh?
Frankincense comes from
the sappy resin of the Boswellia tree, a gnarly plant that grows in the harsh
desert environments of Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen. Harvesters slash the bark
and let the resin bleed out and harden. These hardened drips are called
“tears.” The tears are graded by color and aroma, and could be as valuable as
gold during ancient times. Frankincense was an important part of ancient Jewish
rituals in the Temple in Jerusalem. In various forms, it acted as incense,
perfume, and an ingredient in meal offerings.
Similar to frankincense,
myrrh is a resin that comes from another unique plant growing in the same harsh
area of the world. In this case, it’s the thorny, scraggly Commiphora tree.
Much of the ancient myrrh made its way to Egypt, where it was used as an
ingredient for embalming mummies.
Some time after the birth
of Jesus, Magi from the east came for a visit (Matt. 2:1-11). Known popularly
as the “Wise Men,” these Magi were probably the latest in the line of a pagan
priests, mystics and astrologers from Medo-Persian lineage. Historians such as
Herodotus tell us that the Magi were considered “king-makers” in the ancient
world.
Nothing in the Gospel
accounts says there were only three wise men, but that tradition might have
come from the list of their three specific gifts. We can’t be sure if the Magi understood
the prophetic significance behind their gifts, but the Holy Spirit certainly
did. Each of these gifts corresponds to a unique aspect of Christ’s ministry.
The gold—a gift fit for a king—pictured His sovereign royalty. The frankincense
and its use as incense portrayed Christ’s sinless deity. The myrrh was a
forecast of Jesus sacrificial death and burial (Mark 15:22-23; John 19:38-40). In
AD 248, the Christian apologist Origen made this connection writing: “Gold, as
to a king; myrrh, as to one who was mortal; and incense, as to a God.”
Suppose you could give a
gift to Christ, what would it be? How could you possibly select a gift for the
One who not only has everything, but who made everything? The Wise Men did.
They can be an example to us. In addition to the gold, frankincense, and myrrh,
they gave the Savior some gifts we can give him today: their witness and their worship.
-DM
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