Dec 23, 2011

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh... These 3

GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, and MYRRH, given as gifts by the wise men when they finally reached Jesus when he was a couple of years old, were also given at His death. They were a gift of FORESHADOWING and PROMISE to the world.

A lot of people look at the Bible, reading the Christmas story, and place the wise men, whom they presume to be three, at the manger. And that's alright, even if it isn't what the Bible actually says. We know there were three differing kinds of gifts given before Him, but the Word also tells us Herod had all baby boys UNDER TWO killed, ACCORDING TO the timing the wise men gave regarding the star they had followed. There may have been two wise men, or twenty, and at the time, it mattered for their own lives, but for the story, the wise men weren't the point or to be the focus. The FOCUS should be on 1- the babe, the Christ, and 2- the specific gifts brung before Him.

You see, GOLD foresees Judas' betrayal of Jesus; FRANKINCENSE is considered to be a burial scent; MYRRH was a perfume, likely part of that which was broken open at His feet by the woman who washed them with her tears, preparing Him for burial. They are a promise, a foretelling, to those who believe in and on the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, that He would indeed be killed; that He would lay His life down and bring it back up again, for death could NOT hold Him; the grave had NO POWER over Him, and the same is true for US WHO BELIEVE.

We will die one day, true... and when we do, Jesus promises that at some point after death, unless we are those who meet Him in the sky, we will be resurrected and have bodies that are glorified; different than the ones we now have. He did, and the Word tells us, we will, too, if we trust and believe in and on the Lord Jesus Christ AND WHAT HE DID ON OUR BEHALVES at the cross.

This is what the GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, and MYRRH are ultimately about. Eternal salvation. They are a foretelling and a promise. They help us remember and believe. They are there to help guide us to the babe, the Christ.

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