Wise Gifts

I am sure you have someone in your life that can be difficult to get gifts for. Usually when you ask them what do you want for Christmas they shrug and say, "I don't know". Funny enough but that is usually  what I say when my mom asks what I want for Christmas. Though those people are tough to find the perfect gift for we usually find something they really enjoy.

As I began to study for a first person narrative over the Magi for the students I began to wonder about those gifts that they gave. I mean it is hard enough for my mom to figure out what to give me as a gift but what if you had to give a gift to the King of Kings. Wow what a task! Yet as I read the story I begin to find significance even in the gifts that were given to Jesus by those Magi.

Everyone knows that the three gifts were given were Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. But did you know that all of these gifts were commonly given to kings? Myrrh as an anointing oil, frankincense as a perfume, and gold as value were all things for a king. But not only were these gifts given to kings but they also had prophetic significance as well.

Let's take the gold for example. Everyone knows what Gold is and that is worth a lot to all cultures and through all of time it has held some value. Well the gold was a symbol of kingship. Jesus wasn't just any other guy but he was and is the King of everything.

What about frankincense? Well this was a perfume or incense that was used in worship. So this was a symbol of his priesthood and his ability to be our great high priest between us and God. Hebrews talks a lot about this idea if you want to know more about that.

Ok, what about myrrh? Well myrrh was anointing oil that they used on a dead body. This signifies that Jesus would die for us. Actually in the Gospels when the women went to go check on the body they were going to put this anointing oil on Jesus.

This just goes to show me once again that the Bible is way deeper than we will ever know. When we open his word it is just oozing with who he is. I hope this information is a faith builder in your life. It may even be a fun thing to share around the dinner table this Christmas with your family. I hope you never look at those gifts, the nativity story, or the Bible for that matter the same ever again. Have a Merry Christmas!