Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Matthew 2:11 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.
GIFTS OF GREAT VALUE
Who doesn't know about the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that the wise men gave to Jesus? These treasures have been immortalized in this verse from Matthew's gospel as well as in Christmas hymns and carols sung the world over.
Surely these gifts given to Jesus were of great value, and they no doubt helped pay for the family's hasty departure to Egypt to avoid the menacing hand of Herod. The gifts given were an act of worship on the part of the wise men, given out of love for God whom they realized had given them an even greater gift in sending this Child. The men brought their tribute not because it was demanded or required of them, but because they wanted to bring it.
When we give gifts, it is our custom to remove the price tags so that the receiver does not know how much the gifts cost. But it's noteworthy that when God gave us the gift of His own Son, He left the price tag on--and rightly so--because we needed to see it. We needed to know that this Christ was true God and therefore truly valuable, worth more than all creation put together. That way when He died 30 years later we could be sure our sin had been paid in full.
As they offered gifts most rare
At Thy cradle, rude and bare,
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin's alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heav'nly King!
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 127:3)
