December 29: The Gifts

“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, frankincense and myrrh.”

Matthew 2:11–12

Today’s devo is for the Bible nerds; us girls who love getting deep into the hidden meanings of things and guessing why God allowed certain details to make it into the biblical story. 

So many of us can rattle off the three gifts the Magi presented to Jesus like it’s nothing. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Easy, right? But, to be honest, a lot of us aren’t really sure what two out of three of those gifts even are. So let’s do some research and see what we can learn! Our goal for today is to end this devo with a little bit of a deeper understanding of God’s Word.

OK, let’s start with the easiest one: gold.

This one’s pretty simple in terms of understanding its meaning and significance. Gold was then, and is still today, an expensive, luxury, and highly prized precious metal. For the Magi to give it to baby Jesus, they were acknowledging His worth. Think about it! Who do you give your most expensive gifts to? The people who mean the most to you, right? We wouldn’t buy our mom the same thing as we would buy for an acquaintance who we got a last minute birthday party invite from. The Magi knew that Jesus, the long awaited Messiah, deserved more than a card they picked up at CVS. He was precious to the world. Therefore, they gave Him something precious: gold.

As we keep moving, here’s where things can get a little less straightforward. Next up is frankincense.

Traditionally, frankincense was a type of incense used for sacrificial offerings. Immediately, our minds can start to make the connection to Jesus.

“[Jesus] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 

1 John 2:2

Of course, the Magi might have just presented Jesus with frankincense because it was another valuable good, or because that was the gift they traditionally gave to kings. But, we wonder if it might have been a sign about what Jesus was sent to earth to do. He would be the sacrifice to end all sacrifices, the spotless lamb who would atone for our sins, just like it says in 1 John 2:2.

Fascinating, right?

The last gift Matthew tells us about in his account of Jesus’s birth is myrrh.

When you research it, the potential significance of this gift is mind boggling. Did you know that myrrh was traditionally used to prepare bodies for burial? This is wild! It’s almost as if the magi had a sense of where this was all heading, which would make sense because they knew the Scriptures so well. We know now that Jesus came to earth ultimately to die for our sins then be raised to life on the third day in victory.

It reminds us of the moment Jesus had with Mary right before He went to the cross. She poured an expensive bottle of perfume all over His feet while the disciples looked on in disbelief. But check out Jesus’s response.

“When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.”

Matthew 26:12

We don’t know about you, but it doesn’t feel like a coincidence! Maybe the Magi were doing the same things as Mary, many years earlier. 

I guess we have to add this to our list of questions to ask God when we get to heaven, but how cool is it that God gives us so much rich detail in His Word?! We could study it our whole lives and never run out of things to explore and questions to answer. Today, ask God to open up your mind to a deeper understanding of the Bible.

Pray: Holy Spirit, give me discernment, understanding, and curiosity as I read your Word.

Further Study: Read about Jesus and Mary’s moment together in Matthew 26. 

Interact: Speaking of gifts… What was your favorite Christmas present you got this year?