The Gifts of Christmas: Gold

Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12

As goofy, and completely different from my personality as this picture is, I actually like it for a couple of reasons. One, the crown is gold, and we will be discussing gold as it relates to a crown in the lesson tonight. The "Bling" rings are meant to show wealth, that will also be part of the lesson. There are the white clothes. That, too, is significant to the lesson.

Now if only we could get the smug look off of his face lol. Doesn't this speak to the heart of man also? We get a little bit of what we consider wealth, and we want everyone to know it. We put it on display to brag about what we have obtained. That is a far cry from what Jesus did when He came to this world as a baby.

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Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

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.

Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

Matthew 2:1-2, 9-12

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The wise men, came to Jesus from the east. They came to Jerusalem expecting to find Him there. When they did not, they learned that He was to be born in Bethlehem. So, they headed there. When they arrived, they worshiped Him. They also gave Him gifts.

The first gift they gave was gold. We do not know how much gold they gave, but it wasn't enough to make the family wealthy for the rest of their lives. It wasn't really about the monetary value at all. Rather, it was about what the gold symbolized. The gift of gold was a statement of faith. They believed this baby to be the "King of the Jews".

Gold represents Jesus's royalty. II Samuel 7:12-13 says, "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever". Also, Isaiah said, "Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (Isaiah 9:7).

While the Jews were looking for Messiah the king to come, they were not expecting Him to come as a baby. This did not bother the wisemen though. They came and gave Jesus the gift they had prepared. Gold declared Him to be the King of the Jews promised by God. Paul wrote, "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11).

While Jesus has not sat on the throne of David yet, there will come a time when He does. Revelation 21 tells of this event. Jesus will reign in New Jerusalem during the Millennium. What an exciting time that will be! No more sin. No more tears. No more death. No more judgment. All things will be made new. This is what the wisemen were signifying with the gold they gave. We will truly know Him by his name "Emmanuel - God with us".

Father, we long for the time when we will see Jesus sitting on the throne of David. At the same time, we are grateful for Your patience. We know that there are still many who need to be saved. We pray that You will draw all people unto Yourself and that they would be saved.