Gifts of the Magi

I am preaching on the first Sunday of January 2011, and the scripture selection for that day happens to be about the arrival of the wise men on the scene,  bringing gifts to the Christ child.  In preparing for this service, I remembered a lovely gift given to me Christmas 2008 by the then director of music.   It is a beautiful box, which when opened up, has three sections inside filled with gold, frankincense and myrrh. (the gold is enclosed in a thick circular globe.)   I remember thinking at the time.....this is awesome--it would make a great message for children,  but alas, I was retiring, and had no more Christmas Season children's messages ahead, as far as I knew.

Lo, three years later, the opportunity emerges.  As I looked at my lovely box of the three gifts,  I decided I needed to do some research on those items, in order to give an informed message.   I already knew one aspect of the story.  The three gifts were gifts fit for a king, a priest, and a savior.   Gold for the king.  Frankincense for the priest, and myrrh for the savior. Frankincense has typically been used as an incense and myrrh has been used, for one thing, as an embalming material.  (a gift for a savior who was destined to die).   Both myrrh and frankincense have other uses as well. They have been used in religious ceremonies, often for anointing.

 They have been used for perfume and for a variety of medicinal purposes.  They come from tree resin,  and one particular species of tree which grows in Israel produces a resin, which when mixed with oil, becomes the Balm of Gilead. Myrrh in particular is believed to have significant healing properties.   In the ancient world, frankincense and myrrh were equal in value to gold.

My research revealed one other little tidbit of information that I found amazing.  An intentional gash has to be made in the tree, for it to "bleed" and produce the resin used for healing.  I immediately thought of the cross.  Theologically,  it is the Christian understanding that through Christ's sacrifice (bleeding) we are healed.

So not only do the three gifts brought to the Christ child foreshadow the different roles, titles, ways of understanding who Christ was/is  [cosmic king, high priest, savior of humanity], but the gifts also mysteriously link to the death of Jesus on the cross.  Myrrh and frankincense come from trees---trees that are injured, so they can produce healing.

The small pieces of resin  pictured below, are called 'tears'.  

What a story!!