Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - THE GIFTS

 THE GIFTS

Last week, the question was about how the wise men knew the Jewish prophecies and to look for a sign regarding their fulfillment. Recall that when those signs appeared, they acted with confidence, travelling four months to seek out the location to where the sign led and to pay homage to the prophecy’s fulfillment. They must have known it was to the birth of a child and to that end they brought gifts to present to the child. How old was Christ when the wise men came? We don’t really know, but Matthew 2:11 states that “…when they came into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him.”

This passage implies that the wise men came to a house, not a stable with a manger, and that they worshipped a child not a baby. According to the Bible, when the wise men came and presented their gifts to the child they could not have been there at the same time as the shepherds. For the shepherds, according to Luke 2:15-16, made haste to be at the side of the babe in the manger.  Matthew only speaks of the wise men following a star (2:7), but makes no mention of shepherds, or for that matter a stable.  What Matthew does talk about is the gifts.  But why those gifts?  Why would one bring those particular items to a baby or a child?  

Gold might be expected if they truly believed that this newborn was to be a king but frankincense and myrrh?  

Frankincense was considered to be involved with priestly duties, and in Jewish law there was to be a strict separation of religious and royal functions, while myrrh was a substance primarily used in burial rites.  These would not be items one would expect to be given to a child, but to a person who was to be both a king and a priest.  Up to this time, only one person in the Bible was both a king and a priest. This was Melchizedek, king of Salam and a priest during the time of Abraham.

Now in Isaiah 60:3 it says that: “The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”  In 60:4: “…Your sons shall come from afar…” and 60:6 “…They shall bring gold and incense, And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.”  Notice, no myrrh.  (Isaiah is speaking upon Christ’s second coming, where there will be no death, henceforth, no need for myrrh.  Just gold for the King and incense for the Priest.)

It’s amazing how the Bible brings everything together and how indeed the wise men did bring appropriate gifts to the child after all. And today, what do we do? We often don’t even  walk across the street to read messages about the Child much less consider a four month journey across a desert to give gifts. It doesn’t have to be gold or frankincense, but what do we give to or on behalf of the Child?

Actually what we can give and need to give is much more simple than gold or incense.  All that is required of us is to be of service to our fellow man. Matthew 25:40 states: “…‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”  Essentially, our help and empathy towards our fellow man is a service to the Lord, and that is an appropriate gift for the Child.

And it’s also something to think about.