12/16/2020 The Magi, the Gifts and JESUS
Matthew 2:1-2, 11 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him….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 and of incense and of myrrh….[New International translation]
Biblical Lesson
The visit of the Magi is one of the great visual images of Christmas. Numerous children’s plays will include three young children, wrapped up in old robe-like “bedsheets” with crowns on their heads. You may remember receiving or sending numerous Christmas cards over the years of three crowned men on camels with outstretched hands holding gifts. Or, you may recall images of three men entering a stable presenting their gifts to baby JESUS, lying in the manger, with Mary and Joseph standing nearby and the baby under a huge bright shining star. These are the Christmas card “Three Wise Men.” These are the images we have carried around with us for years. Many have even suggested that the reason we give each other gifts on Christmas is to remind us of the three wise men who gave gifts to Jesus. However, the story of the visit of the Magi actually described in the Gospel of Matthew may not be what we envisioned as children or have carried with us even into our adult years.
First, when Matthew describes the visit of the magi or wise men from the East who journeyed to Jerusalem, the number three is never mentioned. Matthew just states that there came Magi or wise men from the east. Perhaps there were three or four or many wise men that came. It is often assumed there were just three because of the three gifts that are mentioned: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The Magi are sometimes depicted as kings. Others believe the Magi were astrologers who studied the stars. Several translations even use the word “astrologers” in Mathew 2:1, including the Living Bible, Amplified Bible, New English Bible, and other translations. Some who believe the Magi were kings point to Isaiah’s reference to the Messiah in Isaiah 60:3 prophesying that: “Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” See, New International translation.
And then there are the gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. See King James, Living Bible, and Revised Standard translations. What was the purpose of these gifts? Some state that the gifts were “symbolic” of the kind of gifts you would give to a king during those times. Gold represents a valuable commodity (like money), myrrh being an anointing oil, and frankincense a perfume.