The Four Gifts of the Wisemen

Matthew 2:9-11

Confused? No doubt you are thinking, "I thought they only gave three gifts?" We often focus on three gifts and overlook the first gift they gave. We will consider all of the gifts as we study our passage today.

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When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2:9–11

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The first gift, one that we are all familiar with, is gold. Gold had a symbolic purpose of representing the royalty of Jesus. He was born "King of the Jews", but he was so much more. He is the King of Kings (Revelation 17:14; 19:16). It is also symbolic of His wealth (Psalm 50:10).

The second gift is frankincense. Frankincense is symbolic of the priesthood. Jesus is our High Priest after the priestly order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5). As our High Priest, He offered up His blood as the sacrifice for our sins, and He prays for us continuously (Hebrews 9:14; 7:25). Frankincense symbolizes this because it was used in the bread of the presence and in the incense offered in the Holy Place of the Temple/tabernacle.

The third gift is myrrh. Myrrh symbolized His suffering and death. We see this in Mark 15:23 when Jesus was offered wine mingled with myrrh while He was on the cross. Also, His body was anointed with myrrh for burial (John 19:39). Interestingly, the book of the Bible in which myrrh is mentioned the most is Song of Solomon. In this book, Solomon symbolizes Jesus, and the woman symbolizes the church. Myrrh is used as a perfume in this story. It was the suffering and death of Jesus that purchased the church out of slavery to sin.

The fourth gift is one in which all the other gifts are related. This gift is the one that they gave first. It is the gift of worship. In verse 11, before the wise men gave gold, frankincense, or myrrh, they fell down and worshiped. They knew Who they were in the presence of, and they reverenced Him.

Today, we cannot give Jesus gold, frankincense, or myrrh, but we can still give Him our worship. He is just as worthy today as He was then. There should be times when we all kneel in His presence. There should be times when we fall on our face before Him. This is true if He was simply the ALL POWERFUL God, but He is also our loving Savior, the sacrifice for our sins, and our Redeemer. These should not decrease our worship, bur rather increase our worship. May we remember to fall before Him in worship, just like the wise men.

Father, Jesus is worthy of our worship. May we not become so familiar with the idea of Your love, mercy, forgiveness, and acceptance, that we forget YOU ARE GOD. Above You there are no others. Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and is worthy of all worship and praise!