The Best Gifts

The Best Gifts

Matthew 2:1-12

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary,

and they bowed down and worshiped him.” vs. 11

Figuring Out Gifts

So, how are you doing as far as being ready for Christmas? Have you figured out those last minute gifts and what to get everyone on your list? Only 2 days left! They say that internet sales will reach an all-time high but of course you have to think about ordering it in time to have them delivered.  By the way…did you see that story about the pkg. that was stolen that the UPS delivered Of course it caught my eye having worked for UPS all those years.  The story goes about this lady in Clermont Florida that had over $1,800 worth of merchandise stolen right off her porch so she decided to do something about it. The fact was that q few houses on that block had packages disappearing. She set up a security camera across the street thinking she would catch the thieves. Most of the people thought it was probably a teenager.  She set up the camera and told her daughter that if she heard anything to look out the peep hole to see if she could see who it was.  She sets up a decoy package with writing on the outside about the supposed contents and of course waits.  Well, she was astounded when she watched the video.  In the video she sees this school bus pull up and out gets this 8 year-old girl.  She walks along the front of the house, looks at the package, looks around a little, sort of tiptoes up to the door, picks up the package and walks away.  The perpetrator was an 8 year old girl! Pretty crazy!

I find the whole gift thing to be pretty intricate in figuring out who to give what and when. For example, you see these people this day so you know you need those gifts first but you can wait on these people because you won’t see them ‘til later, etc. etc. etc. I got caught this year as I was looking for a gift for a friend of mine.  I had been looking for about a month but never found the thing I really wanted to get him.  Finally, the night before I was going to see him, I run out and get him a gift card. I had planned to get him something earlier but it just somehow never happened and I ended up getting it at the last minute.

Today we are going to look at  the story of some men who bring the baby Jesus some gifts from Matthew 2:1-12. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Matthew 2:1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 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, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

There’s More To The Story…

Matthew 1 opens with the genealogy of Jesus. It tells of the 42 generations of fathers that have led to Joseph, the legal earthly father of Jesus but of course as we know, not biologically, because the Holy Spirit is the one who moved in Mary. As we approach Matthew 2 there is a lot of things that had happened. First and foremost, Joseph had a visit from an angel and shortly after that, Jesus is born. It’s interesting, Joseph seems to have had multiple visits from an angel. We see in Matthew 1:24-25:

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 1:24-25

Some things that just not explained to us

• Mary went to visit Elizabeth but did she come back before she and Joseph took off?
• Did Joseph go with her to see Elizabeth?
• How did everyone in there town accept everything that happened?
• Did she go away fat or maybe showing a little bit and then return later with a baby?

Lots of questions that we don’t have answers to. Then, in Luke 2:39 we are told:

“When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.” Luke 2:39

Again so many things that are unanswered.  Mary has had Jesus. They were in Nazareth in Galilee and traveled to Judea and to Bethlehem for the census.  At some point they traveled back to Nazareth in Galilee.  Notice the words in Luke, “they had done everything required by the law.” And…don’t forget, Joseph and Mary had not been married so we assume, although the Bible never tells us the details.

• When did t Joseph and Mary get married? We know it’s after Jesus is born but would the priests at the temple consecrate or circumcise Jesus if they weren’t married?
• Did they wait til they got back home and have a big wedding?

God didn’t include all these details but it’s fun to think about and try to summarize what happened.

And What About Those Magi

And what about the Magi? There is a lot we know about them but much that we don’t. The term Magi is the base from which our modern words “magician” and “magistrate” are derived so we assume these guys were of some importance. What questions to have about them?  For example:

• They came from the east to Jerusalem so were they Persian? Some of their gifts were things that are thought to be more plentiful in Persia so that comes into play as well.
• There were at least two because the Scripture says “men” plural, but most people think there were at least three because of the number of gifts but we are not really sure how many there were. It could have been 2 or it could have been 20, a whole group.
• Popular myth calls them astrologers but that is a guess, mainly because of their awareness of the star, that is a guess. In the second century, a church father named Tertullian suggested that these men were kings because the Old Testament had predicted that kings would come to worship the Christ. Tertullian also concluded that there were three kings based on the number of gifts mentioned, gold, frankincense and myrrh
• In the sixth century, someone decided that their names were Melchior, Baltazar and Gaspar.

Bringing Gifts

What I want to focus on today is the gifts that they bring.  In their day, when approaching royalty or persons of high religious, political, or social status, gifts were often brought. It was a sign of respect and honor. The passage gives us a bit more insight to some of the details. Verse 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, frankincense and myrrh.” vs. 11

Some things to take note of:

1. They come to the house. So they are no longer staying at the stable. In fact, we aren’t sure how long they actually stayed in the stable. But this indicates they have moved on from the stable and are possibly back home
2. The word “child” here indicates that the child is in the toddler stage. It is literally translated “little walker.” So it could be that some time has passed since the birth scene we were looking at.

All that being said, the gifts that are brought have some very insightful significance for us and our understanding of who exactly Jesus is and how they understood who he is. I know we are used to saying gold, frankincense and myrrh but let’s look at them in a different order today.

• Myrrh

First the myrrh. In Jesus’ time, people used Myrrh to embalm their dead. A thoughtless gift, you might say for a baby gift?  Not for this baby. For myrrh signifies the death of Jesus. “This was the gum or viscid white liquid which flows from a tree resembling the acacia, found in Africa and Arabia.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary). Myrrh was sometimes offered to prisoners being executed on the cross and in Mark 15:23 it was offered to Jesus. These wise men, in their wisdom knew that Jesus was born to die.  This gift also shows that they recognize him as Prophet. A prophet is one who speaks the word of God. Prophets often paid the a high price for speaking the word of God.  They weren’t the most popular people. In the Old Testament many prophets were called to live out there prophecy.  Jesus comes bringing the word of God. Remember in the book of John he is called “the Word.” His life is a reflection that God is speaking His word to them and there is a recognition that the old way is gone and a new way has come. Isaiah 53:7 says:

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

Isaiah 53:7

The Word dwelt among us, Jesus was God’s new word to us and he spoke his word of salvation in his life and in his death. He also lived out his prophecy by taking on the persona of the lamb of God as we see explained in Isaiah 53. He was a prophet but more than a prophet. He was born to die for our sins.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Cor. 15:3

Christ was born to die to give us life.

• Frankincense

A second gift that was brought was frankincense. Frankincense was an odorous resin imported from Arabia, yet also grown in Palestine. Frankincense was an ingredient used by the priests in temple worship to blend with the smell of the sacrifices. In many ways the temple was a slaughterhouse. People would go to the temple to worship and to sacrifice for their sins.  Although there are sacrifices of bread, grain, and things like that, most sacrifices were animals, lambs, birds, and cattle.  There would have been daily sacrifices of animals and that meant they needed to be killed. The smell of that would have been really strong. Adding to that would be the blood sprinkled on the altar.  Dried blood smells. To combat that smell they had perfumes and incense to override that smell. This would have been a way of association with the temple.  You know how you associate a sweet smell with a bakery, so you would associate frankincense with the temple.  Ephesians 5:2 says:

“…just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Eph. 5:2

To me it signifies Jesus’ priestly role. Think of it this way; the way the aroma of the frankincense overrode the smell of the sacrifices, so Jesus role as priest overrides our sinfulness. It is through him that we have forgiveness. Let me explain it further with a verse from Romans 8:14:

“Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 8:14

In his role as priest, he not only absolves our sins, but he sits right next to God speaking on our behalf. You and I have an advocate who clears us of all we’ve done so that we are now a pleasing aroma to God. What an incredible picture.  To put it bluntly, the stink of our sins is overridden by the pleasing aroma of Jesus. All this is caught up in this gift of frankincense that the magi bring to this child.

• Gold

And then, the gift of all gifts, they bring him gold. We consider gold the most precious of all the metals. It’s beauty and elegance. When I perform a wedding and they exchange rings I remind the couple that their relationship is as precious as the gold rings they are exchanging. Gold has always been the standard of the highest quality and beauty. Kings surround themselves with gold. As in the Olympics, gold is the highest honor. Gold signifies Jesus’ Kingly role. Notice the Magi’s words in verse 2:

“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” vs. 2

They recognize him as king. Even when we consider his death remember that Pilate has the sign put on the cross that he was king of the Jews.  At both the beginning and end of his life we have confirmation that Jesus is king. And these statements are made from those who were not Jewish. Remember that in their time you brought gifts whenever you went into the presence of the kings as a sign of respect and honor. In Revelation, we again se Jesus as king, Revelation 17:14:

“…but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings…”

Rev. 17:14

These 3 gifts challenge us as we think about our relationship with Jesus.

What Can I Bring?

Through the gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold we see Jesus as prophet, priest, and king.  We ask ourselves, what am I bringing to the king?

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” vs. 11

Let me give you my perspective on this.  We think a lot about what gifts we give to people as I talked about in the opening What do we get mom, dad, our kids, our spouse, etc. What gift will you be giving to God.  If you really believe Jesus is your king, your priest, your prophet? Really, there is only one gift he wants.

Ex. I saw Quentin Tarintino, the famous movie producer, on Jay Leno this week.  He told this story of when he was 8.  He only wanted one gift.  His mom was gone a lot and he was raised for the most part by his grandmother.  His mom wanted to make it up to him about not being there for him so she said to ask for whatever he wanted and he would get it.  He really loved Evel Knievel and this toy figure of him that you wind up, pull the string, and the toy goes zooming off and jumps over the obstacle you set up for it.  Well, he gets lots of gifts for Christmas but the one gift he didn’t get was the Evel Knievel toy. He talked about how he got it 2 years later and by then the thrill had worn off.

That’s a long way to go to say this: God only wants one thing.  He doesn’t want your money, your things, your good deeds, etc. The only thing he wants is you. Is that a gift your are willing to give? What can I/you bring to God as an offering? All he wants is you.