All I Want For Christmas ...myrrh!

All I Want for Christmas is Myrrh

Matthew 2:1-11

Matthew 2:1-11

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem

2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east 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 Christ 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 be the shepherd of 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 make a careful search 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 in the east 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 and of incense and of myrrh.

(NIV)

Why would you give

Myrrh to a baby?

In Ancient Rome myrrh was priced at five times as much as frankincense, though the latter was far more popular. Myrrh is an aromatic gum resin collected from Commifera trees. The myrrh hardens into tear-dropped shaped chunks. Goats would create gashes in the trees with their horns and then rub against the trees and the shepherds who tended them collected the resin which had stuck to the goats’ hair. Later harvesters would collect the resin after cutting three deep gashes into the trees.

Myrrh :

• Taste: Bitter

• Touch: Burns (astringent)

• Take: Gives a Buzz (narcotic)

Why would you give such a gift to a child? Honestly, myrrh may be the perfect gift for baby Jesus?

The Message of the Myrrh

Myrrh is basically used as medicine.

Mark 15:22-23

22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).

23 Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

(NIV)

Jesus is the Great Physician!

Isaiah 53:4-5

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

(NIV)

Myrrh was a part of every Greek soldier’s basic equipment.

Jesus came to end the World’s basic war!

John 19:30

30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said,

"It is finished."

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

(NIV)

Myrrh was a basic ingredient used in embalming the dead!

Myrrh was burned in ancient Roman funerals to mask the smell emanating from charring corpses.

John 19:38-39

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.

39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.

(NIV)

Although less than one pound was normally used in Israelite funerary preparations, Nicodemus brought 75.

Jesus was born to die!

It is not far from the pricking of the straw to the piercing of the flesh. It is not far from the water and blood associated with the birth to the sweat and blood associated with the new birth purchased on the cross. It is not far from angelic choruses singing “Glory!” to angry crowds inciting men to the gory act of crucifixion.

Yet for this cause came Jesus into the world!

Revelation 13:8

… written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

(NIV)

Since Jesus was born to die for you, will you live for Him?