Then, like now, gold represented wealth and power. Frankincense was a type of incense and perfume. In Mark , Jesus is offered wine with myrrh before his crucifixion, because to be a painkiller, Swenson says. Myrrh would also be used in oil used for anointing kings, which is significant given that the Magi had come looking for the king of the Jews.
But they have come to be known as wise men… Their orientation was much more in what we might today identify with science. Swenson also points out that the Gospel of Matthew reimagines a prophecy from hundreds of years earlier, found in the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, which describes nations of the world recognizing Israel as the light of the world and celebrating that with gifts of gold and frankincense and other gifts of value. The gifts they bore—gold, frankincense and myrrh—hint at Arabia, since unrelated Bible stories describe camel trains of similar tribute emanating from Sheba and Midian, both on that peninsula.
Their interest in stars suggests Babylon, famous for its astrologers. To a carpenter's family, even if they came from royal blood, these gifts were beyond extravagance.
Joseph probably never before held gold in his hands. He would have been paid with denarius, which would have been a silver or copper coin. Mary only would have caught a whiff of frankincense if she brushed against a wealthy person passing through Nazareth.
Myrrh was for the burial of the rich and the powerful, not the poor. Most of us are like Cuba Gooding Jr. The wise men went to great lengths to bring these gifts. They were valuable.
No doubt they were received with awe and gratitude. You would think Matthew would tell us what happened to these three amazing gifts. No one knows what happened to them. Matthew only tells us the wise men brought them. There is not another word in scripture that tells us what happened after that. There are legends, stories. One legend says the thieves crucified with Jesus had stolen the gold given him at birth. Science Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants.
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See how people have imagined life on Mars through history. In addition to anointing prophets, oil was used in the anointing of the dead. Myrrh was presented to Jesus at His birth pointing to His life as a Prophet and it was used at His death to anoint His body for the grave.
Mark And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
John And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. John Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume Breathes a life of gathering gloom; Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, Sealed in the stone cold tomb. Just as the Wise Men gave of their time, talent and treasures, so should we give. Be ready always to share your testimony! When we testify of His love and faithfulness, and all He has done for us and given to us…then we, too, are wise men!
O star of wonder, star of night , Star with royal beauty bright , Westward leading, still proceeding , Guide us to thy perfect Light. This article focused only on the prophetic aspect of these gifts given to Jesus at His birth and they were fulfilled in His incarnation. Many prophecies have a double reference—a near and far fulfillment. A most beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, with a Christmas message to touch your heart and give joy to your soul.
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