What Presents Did You Get?
Matthew 2:1-12
December 27, 2020
So what did you get for Christmas this year? Did you get everything that was on your list? Maybe you are like our family and you still have presents to unwrap yet as you haven’t been able to get together with family. Here are some last minute gifts to consider for that special hard to buy for person.
1. Nose whistle, because a recorder simply wasn’t annoying enough
2. How about some lights for your beard
3. Or for the couple
4. For the Republican in your family
5. For the snorer in your family
These are some fun white elephant gifts. It is fun to give some gag gifts once and a while. Growing up with the big Bogaard Christmas gathering there would often be a gift under the tree from Santa and it was sure to be pretty funny.
Often time however we tend to put more thoughtfulness into the gifts that we are giving to our loved ones. We ask for lists. We want to know what people want and/or need when we are buying them gifts. Sometimes we give a gift that the person wouldn’t normally buy for themselves.
Gift giving has become a focal point of the Christmas season. It is fun to give and to receive gifts for sure. We love to see the expression on someone’s face when we got them the perfect gift.
Today we look at the first gift givers at Christmas, the gifts that they gave and who they were giving them too. Let’s turn to Matthew 2:1-12.
So as we have done with Joseph and Mary, what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to these Magi from the East.
There were three wise men, Melchior, Baltazar and Gasper who traveled from the east on camels to present Jesus with gifts? If we were putting this to the snopes.com test it would come back with mixed results. Just like so much of the Christmas story, some of the blanks have been filled in by the Western church to fit in with western culture.
So separating the truths out of here. We don’t know for sure how many there were that came to see Jesus. We say three and see three in Christmas pageants because of the three gifts that they bring. The truth that we know is that they did present 3 gifts to Jesus but we don’t know how many Magi that there were. It could have been anywhere from 2 – several.
They may have been former Jews that had remained in Babylon after the exile. This would explain them knowing the promise and prophecy. They may have been learned astrologers that when they saw an anomaly in the sky, they knew something was going on and after consulting manuscripts came across the prophecies of the Old Testament.
If they were men of high position they would more than likely have traveled with an entourage of servants and so on. The facts are that we don’t really know for sure any of this. We don’t know how many, their names, exactly what was meant by Magi or wise men.
We do know that they had seen a star and based upon its appearance or something else they were pretty sure that a new king of the Jews had been born and they had traveled from the east to pay homage to this new king. They weren’t totally sure where to find him but figured King Herod would know. I’m guessing here that they did not know Herod’s paranoia.
They found out where the king was supposed to be born, in Bethlehem and they were able then to proceed and find Jesus there in a house (not a stable or cave). When they saw Jesus they bowed down and worshipped him and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And lastly after they had worshipped they did not go back to Herod as they had been warned in a dream not too.
Before we talk about the presents I want to point out a strange thing and something for us to consider. When they told Herod about this new born king, Herod was troubled and I guess I get that but the part that is a head scratcher to me is, “and all Jerusalem with him.”
When the chief priests had been asked about this event, you would think that after they reported to King Herod that they would have rejoiced. They had been waiting for the promised Messiah and here it appeared that these Magi had pretty good word that it had happened. Why would they not send a secret contingent to tail the Magi and see what they find? Why were they troubled?
I’m guessing they were troubled because they knew Herod’s paranoia and there would be probably be bloodshed if Herod thought for a minute that there was a challenge to his throne. Even though they knew about the prophecy, they were expecting a king, not a baby. The news would surely not come from some pagan Magi. God would surely make it known to them. Pride was in the way. It was such a foreshadowing of things to come as the religious elite would fail to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They failed from the very beginning.
Casting Crowns sings a song called, “While You Were Sleeping” which talks about missing it.
Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleepin'
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleepin'
While you were sleepin'
United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night
America, what will we miss while we are sleeping?
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay?
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King?
Will we be sleepin'?
Will we be sleepin'?
The Magi were not going to miss it. They found Jesus and they worshipped him. Something that we should always do when we find Jesus is to worship. Grown men, bowing down before a baby in worship. We also humbly come before Jesus in our worship.
-Talk a little bit about how worship has become about me and what I get where it should be about God and our worship of him-
They presented him with gold. This was a fitting gift for royalty. When the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon she presented him with gold. Gold has retained value for centuries. By presenting him with this gift they were recognizing him as a king of a future kingdom. He was a royal descent but his kingdom would not be an earthly one.
The book of Matthew was written for the Jew to convince them and teach them that Jesus really was the Messiah. The Magi were helping establish this from the beginning of Jesus life. This was also foreshadowing. Jesus would be crucified and be called the King of the Jews. Jesus would establish his kingdom in heaven that he will rule and reign forever.
The second gift we read about is frankincense. Frankincense was burned as incense during worship. It would have been burned in the temple on the Day of Atonement by the high priest. It would fill the Holy of Holies to shield the High Priest from the presence of God. It was very valuable so it was not able to be purchased by most but reserved just for special occasions of worship. This definitely was one of those times again as they bowed low and worshipped the babe.
The last gift was one of myrrh. This might seem like a strange gift to present to a baby since this was mainly used in embalming. We look at this gift also as a foreshadowing to the death of Jesus. In John 19 Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus prepare Jesus body for burial and Nicodemus brings a mixture of myrrh and aloes.
This gift also had value and would have probably been native to where these men traveled from and so they brought the best of what they had to present to the new born king of the Jews.
There is a good chance that Joseph eventually sold these gifts. Joseph would be told in a dream to flee to Egypt because Herod was coming to kill all the little boys of Bethlehem. These would have provided him the means to be able to be away until Herod died and it was safe for their return.
These men presented gifts of great value to Jesus that helped solidify any questions of who he was. This sets up the story for the Jews and later us as well as to who this little baby born to Mary and Joseph truly was, the promised Messiah. Even these pagan men knew it.
What gifts are we giving to Jesus? We want to give gifts to our loved ones that they will like. We put sometimes a lot of thought and energy into it. What gifts are we giving to Jesus? What did you give to Jesus in 2020 and what can you give to him in 2021. Will you acknowledge him as the king of your life and bow down in worship?
In this season of gift giving….the gifts the wise men presented to Jesus had great value and purpose but the true gift was the gift of God’s son to his people.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14
Make sure you receive the greatest gift ever given and is still given today for me and for you. The gift of Jesus Christ. The gift I give to all of you is the good news of the gospel that God sent is son to die for me and for you, so that you can have your sins forgiven and stand pure before the father and be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven.
This gift isn’t used for a while and forgotten but it will change your life and guide you until death. Simply open your hearts to receive it. Joy to the World, the Lord is come.
Amen
