“What Gifts Do You Bring Him?”
Matthew 2: 1 – 12
Giving and Receiving
What do you enjoy more, giving gifts or receiving? I know that I was very excited to give Alisha some of her Christmas gifts this year. There were at least a couple of BIG surprises for her! And maybe we enjoy giving because we know what it’s like to receive. Jesus himself said that “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20: 35). And when we give, and someone really appreciates our gift, we ourselves are blessed. We receive more from giving than we do from receiving. Our story today is about some gift givers.
Story of the Magi
This story is a part of Matthew’s Christmas narrative. Often we see Nativity scenes with shepherds and Magi both present—like in our “Un-Christmas Pageant”—but most scholars believe that the Magi didn’t arrive in Bethlehem until several months later. Some think it might have been as long as two years later based on Herod’s decision to have every male child two years old and under murdered.
These Magi, wise-men, and scholars—traditionally, but not necessarily, three—travelled a great distance based on their study of the stars. They were members of a priestly class of Persian (Iran) or Babylonian (Iraq) experts in the occult, such as astrology and the interpretation of dreams.
They came to Jerusalem and first told Herod—the now sickly and still very paranoid king. Herod tried to manipulate the Magi so he could eliminate any threat to his rule.
The Magi found Jesus and his mother at home in Bethlehem—and our passage says they were overwhelmed with joy. They had come to journey’s end and found the king of the Jews. Indeed, they had come to worship him.
They brought Jesus gifts also of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Each gift would be an appropriate gift for a king (Ps. 72: 15 [gold], Isa. 60: 6 [gold and frankincense], and Ps. 45: 8 [myrrh]).
It’s interesting to note that some say the gifts the Magi brought represented the tools of their trade—what they would use in their astrology—and that here in this story they give those very things to Jesus. “By offering them to Jesus, they are declaring the end of their practices.”
These gifts can also represent the significance of Christ for us also, and can give us a good idea of how to respond to him—of what gifts we are called to give him.
Gold—the Gift of Loyalty and Obedience
This gift can be said to point to Christ’s kingship—gold is a gift for royalty. Christ is the final king of Israel—he is the king of kings. He is our king and we are his subjects. We, as his disciples, live in the kingdom even now. He is our Lord and ruler. We talk about accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour upon conversion, but we are to spend our lives submitting to Jesus as Lord.
Have you allowed Jesus to be Lord in all areas of your life? What areas do you keep to yourself? As king, Herod forced obedience and compliance with his rule. Jesus doesn’t force himself on us, but he wants to have Lordship in our lives. Have you given him the gift of your complete loyalty and obedience?
Frankincense—the Gift of Trust and Worship
This gift can point to Jesus in two ways. First, it can point to Jesus’ role as our high priest since incense was used by priests in temple worship. Jesus is our intercessor, our mediator before God. He is our avenue to forgiveness. He is the doorway to God the Father. He is always interceding for us.
Our response to Jesus’ priesthood is faith. He is the one who we can depend on to know our situation and to be our advocate before the Father as high priest. He is the go-between between us and God. Our gift to Jesus is our trust that he makes this possible. Our gift to Jesus here is our prayer—for prayer is the ultimate act of trust, of turning over our situation to a God who draws close in Jesus and mediates our forgiveness through him.
This gift can also point to Christ as divine since it was used in worship. Scripture tells us over and over that Jesus is “image of the invisible God.” He is the Word made flesh. He is the exact imprint of God’s very being. In him the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell.
There are people who would have us believe and think that Jesus is a great moral teacher, a powerful role model, a revolutionary who changed the world. But most people stop short of calling him God. To call him God would be to admit that he deserves more than our admiration. It would be admitting that he deserves our worship. Our gift to Jesus here is our worship, to honour him as God, the one through whom we have life and existence, as well as hope and salvation.
Myrrh—the Gift of Service and Sacrifice
There are aspects to the Christmas story, and this one in particular, that remind us that not all will end well with this Jesus—death is on the horizon. We hear it in Simeon’s words to Mary and Joseph in Luke’s Gospel. And we see it in Herod’s slaughter of the children. And we also hear it here. This gift is also a symbol for Christ’s sacrificial death. Right at the beginning of the story we see the cross anticipated. Christ ultimately would give the gift of himself. His death would bring us life. Myrrh was used in anointing and embalming a dead body. What a strange gift to bring a child-king!
This speaks to how we are called to bring Jesus the gifts of service and sacrifice. We are called to serve. We serve Christ through our gifts of time and energy and even money. We serve Christ when we serve one another. We serve Christ when we give sacrificially of ourselves, when our service costs us. That’s what sacrifice is—costly service. Ultimately we are being asked to sacrifice ourselves—to give the gift of ourselves to those around.
“What Can I Give Him?”
One Christmas hymn, “In the Bleak Mid-Winter,” goes like this: “What can I give him, poor as I am/ If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb/ If I were a wise-man, I would do my part/ Yet what can I give Him/ I can give my heart.”
Maybe you don’t feel you have much to give to Jesus. Maybe you can’t imagine being able to give him something of value. Maybe you think, “It’s Christ who has given me immeasurable gifts. What could I possible bring him?” Maybe like the little drummer boy, you think, “I have no gift to bring that’s fit to give the king.”
But the most valuable gift is the gift of yourself—your new self in Christ that God has given you. The most valuable gifts we can bring him are our obedience and loyalty, our trust and worship, our service and sacrifice. We do all come before this king, our king, as poor people. We all come with empty hands. We can all sing those carols that speak of our poverty in his presence.
Today is Epiphany Sunday. In eastern Orthodox churches it’s actually Christmas. They use a different calendar. We don’t usually draw attention to this Christian feast day in Baptist churches, but it is the feast that celebrates what happens in our passage. Epiphany is the revelation of God to the Gentiles—to that portion of humanity beyond God’s people, Israel. Epiphany is that feast that reminds us that all people have access to God’s revelation in Christ. It’s a message for everyone. The story of the Magi is the story of God revealing Himself to all humanity. The story of the Magi is the story of God revealing Himself to us. And when these wise-men met this Jesus, what was their response? They laid down their treasures. They honoured this king they had sought with the only light they could follow. They gave up their practices. And they worshipped him.
This story invites each one of us to consider what we need to give Jesus. What gifts are you willing to bring to him? How are you going to respond to the God revealed in Jesus? And for all that he has given us, what are we willing to give in return?
