Christmas 2018 Born in Bethlehem (Part 4-Presented with Gifts)
Hello this is Eric again. A friend asked me, “How can I know that the Bible is true?” So, I am taking some time to answer my friends question and to do this I am looking at one of the evidences the Bible gives to answer this question, Prophecy. As we are looking at some of the fascinating parts of the story of Jesus’ birth—the Christmas Story—and searching for the fingerprints of God’s Prophetic word; the story of the Magi (or Wisemen) stands out as a complex and intriguing example of God’s handiwork that is full of prophecy. My hope is that this excursion will give us a picture of the thoughtful care and loving precision that God has invested in His Redemption plan—and that will grow our faith and help us to know that the Bible is true.
(Read the previous blogs here)
Who doesn’t love getting and giving gifts! Where did this come from? If your mind went to the Magi who visited Jesus, you’d be close. Yes, they certainly bring gifts to Jesus, but it isn’t where we get the idea to give and receive gifts for Christmas. Where did this gift giving come from? The answer lies in the gifts that the Wise Men gave.
Psalm 72:9-11 says,
“Desert nomads will bow before him; his enemies will fall before him in the dust. The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands will bring him tribute. The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him gifts. All kings will bow before him, and all nations will serve him.”
They will bring Him Tribute and Gifts. This Messiah that they have traveled so far to meet and worship, the God of Daniel, the King (or Christ)—what did they choose to bring? Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. These gifts have symbolic meaning—Each of these gifts helps us to better understand what it means that Jesus is the Messiah, and ultimately the answer to our gift giving question.
Gold was for the King’s Crown. This gift makes sense. To bring gold to the King who will rule in majesty, of course. The King will rule and reign on the throne. The King is in charge, and deserves our best, our allegiance, our lives. This reminds us that the Messiah—Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One—is first and foremost in all things. It is His way, His truth, and His life that matters. This is to whom we bend our knee, and who we serve, and who we worship. No one comes to the Father but by Him.
Frankincense* is a little more tricky. Frankincense was used in the anointing oil for the High Priest. When a priest was called by God, his job was to stand in the gap between God and humans, and facilitate—make that relationship possible—by honoring God’s boundaries. The Frankincense was mixed with oil that was poured on the head and would spill over onto the robes of the ordained priest, and the beautiful odor would be present in the priests ministry. Jesus, the Messiah, was ordained by God to facilitate and make possible a relationship with God and His life would spread the aroma of God’s goodness wherever He went.
Myrrh** seems to be the white elephant gift of the bunch. It's a very unexpected gift. Myrrh was used in embalming a body. When someone died, the body would be wrapped with cloths and spices, and Myrrh would be used in that process. Why would you give the Messiah this? Because the Messiah would choose to stand in our place, and bear the punishment that we deserved from God, and thereby satisfy God’s wrath and justice in dealing with our sin. Jesus would make the relationship between us and God possible by becoming the perfect sacrifice for us. He would give His life, as a gift, born to die so that we might be right with God and have eternal life.
The gifts of the Magi remind us of the stark reality of our need to be made right with God, and the beauty of the gift of the Gospel. These gifts help us to understand what making the Gospel possible would entail by foreshadowing the role Jesus had in accomplishing this, and the price that was going to be paid by Jesus to satisfy the Holy Justice of God because of His great love for us.
We have learned to give gifts at Christmas because God gave to us first--through the incredible generous love of God. Jesus came to be the gift, and give His life as the gift from God for us, because He loves us. How do we respond to that? We receive the gift by faith (trusting God), and then; we say "Thank-You" by sharing the gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others in and through our lives!
My prayer is that you would taste and see how good God’s heart is, and how much He loves you—right now! To help us do that I want to encourage you to go and read Psalm 72. Look at this Psalm as a prayer for the Messiah—especially in light of what we have just learned—and ask God to show you His heart for you, and others. I will leave you with a snippet from Psalm 72: 12-14, as a taste of the goodness and hope that the Messiah and His Gospel brings;
“He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to him.”
Will you receive the gift Jesus has for you? Learn more about that gift and how to receive it here
Come Lord Jesus! -- and Thank You
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
______________________________________________________________________________
*For the young Jesus, this gift symbolized his divinity or his status as high priest, as frankincense was a key part of sacrifices to Yahweh in the Old Testament—https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-frankincense-700747
**First mentioned as a principal ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23). It formed part of the gifts brought by the wise men from the east, who came to worship the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:11). It was used in embalming (John 19:39), also as a perfume (Esther 2:12; Psalm 45:8; Proverbs 7:17). It was a custom of the Jews to give those who were condemned to death by crucifixion "wine mingled with myrrh" to produce insensibility. This drugged wine was probably partaken of by the two malefactors, but when the Roman soldiers pressed it upon Jesus "he received it not”—https://biblehub.com/topical/m/myrrh.htm
(Read the previous blogs here)
Who doesn’t love getting and giving gifts! Where did this come from? If your mind went to the Magi who visited Jesus, you’d be close. Yes, they certainly bring gifts to Jesus, but it isn’t where we get the idea to give and receive gifts for Christmas. Where did this gift giving come from? The answer lies in the gifts that the Wise Men gave.
Psalm 72:9-11 says,
“Desert nomads will bow before him; his enemies will fall before him in the dust. The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands will bring him tribute. The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him gifts. All kings will bow before him, and all nations will serve him.”
They will bring Him Tribute and Gifts. This Messiah that they have traveled so far to meet and worship, the God of Daniel, the King (or Christ)—what did they choose to bring? Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. These gifts have symbolic meaning—Each of these gifts helps us to better understand what it means that Jesus is the Messiah, and ultimately the answer to our gift giving question.
Gold was for the King’s Crown. This gift makes sense. To bring gold to the King who will rule in majesty, of course. The King will rule and reign on the throne. The King is in charge, and deserves our best, our allegiance, our lives. This reminds us that the Messiah—Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One—is first and foremost in all things. It is His way, His truth, and His life that matters. This is to whom we bend our knee, and who we serve, and who we worship. No one comes to the Father but by Him.
Frankincense* is a little more tricky. Frankincense was used in the anointing oil for the High Priest. When a priest was called by God, his job was to stand in the gap between God and humans, and facilitate—make that relationship possible—by honoring God’s boundaries. The Frankincense was mixed with oil that was poured on the head and would spill over onto the robes of the ordained priest, and the beautiful odor would be present in the priests ministry. Jesus, the Messiah, was ordained by God to facilitate and make possible a relationship with God and His life would spread the aroma of God’s goodness wherever He went.
Myrrh** seems to be the white elephant gift of the bunch. It's a very unexpected gift. Myrrh was used in embalming a body. When someone died, the body would be wrapped with cloths and spices, and Myrrh would be used in that process. Why would you give the Messiah this? Because the Messiah would choose to stand in our place, and bear the punishment that we deserved from God, and thereby satisfy God’s wrath and justice in dealing with our sin. Jesus would make the relationship between us and God possible by becoming the perfect sacrifice for us. He would give His life, as a gift, born to die so that we might be right with God and have eternal life.
The gifts of the Magi remind us of the stark reality of our need to be made right with God, and the beauty of the gift of the Gospel. These gifts help us to understand what making the Gospel possible would entail by foreshadowing the role Jesus had in accomplishing this, and the price that was going to be paid by Jesus to satisfy the Holy Justice of God because of His great love for us.
We have learned to give gifts at Christmas because God gave to us first--through the incredible generous love of God. Jesus came to be the gift, and give His life as the gift from God for us, because He loves us. How do we respond to that? We receive the gift by faith (trusting God), and then; we say "Thank-You" by sharing the gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others in and through our lives!
My prayer is that you would taste and see how good God’s heart is, and how much He loves you—right now! To help us do that I want to encourage you to go and read Psalm 72. Look at this Psalm as a prayer for the Messiah—especially in light of what we have just learned—and ask God to show you His heart for you, and others. I will leave you with a snippet from Psalm 72: 12-14, as a taste of the goodness and hope that the Messiah and His Gospel brings;
“He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to him.”
Will you receive the gift Jesus has for you? Learn more about that gift and how to receive it here
Come Lord Jesus! -- and Thank You
Do you want to walk on this journey with us?
Subscribe here
______________________________________________________________________________
*For the young Jesus, this gift symbolized his divinity or his status as high priest, as frankincense was a key part of sacrifices to Yahweh in the Old Testament—https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-frankincense-700747
**First mentioned as a principal ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23). It formed part of the gifts brought by the wise men from the east, who came to worship the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:11). It was used in embalming (John 19:39), also as a perfume (Esther 2:12; Psalm 45:8; Proverbs 7:17). It was a custom of the Jews to give those who were condemned to death by crucifixion "wine mingled with myrrh" to produce insensibility. This drugged wine was probably partaken of by the two malefactors, but when the Roman soldiers pressed it upon Jesus "he received it not”—https://biblehub.com/topical/m/myrrh.htm
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