Gifts for the King - Guest Post by Annie Yorty

 

by Annie Yorty

I recently sat teary-eyed in the theater watching The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, directed by Dallas Jenkins. In this movie based on the book of the same name by Barbara Robinson, a family of six unruly and unkempt kids takes over the local church’s annual Christmas pageant. Near the end, in a welcome moment of levity, the boys acting as wise men present a ham as a gift to the baby Jesus.

Magi—A Symbol of Christmas

In a devotion from my newly released book, 25 Symbols of Christmas: Finding Jesus, I show how the magi from the Christmas story remind us Jesus is our wise guide. Due to space constraints, I didn’t elaborate on the gifts the wise men brought to the Christ Child. Nevertheless, these gifts for the King deserve our attention and can help us understand more about how we can honor Jesus as the star of Christmas.

We can get hung up on the inconsistencies between the biblical text about the magi and the way they’re portrayed in nativity scenes, carols, and pictures. Sometimes our worry over artistic license distracts us from thinking more deeply about their purpose in the nativity story.

First, let’s address a couple of myths. Most of our Christmas traditions portray these wise men, as they’re also called, as arriving the night of Jesus’ birth. More likely, they came at a later date to a house Mary and Joseph had moved into. We don’t know how many magi there were. We assume there may have been three because they gave three gifts. They were not necessarily kings. More likely, they were men who studied ancient texts of various cultures to learn truth and watched the heavens for signs. 

We don’t know exactly where they originated, except from the east. Some say from Arabia while others speculate they came from as far away as India. We know they journeyed over hundreds of miles probably for a period of months. We don’t know how they traveled, though most depictions show camels.

Gifts for the King

In his gospel account, Matthew records that the wise men brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This part of the story hearkens back to prophecy from the book of Isaiah. “The people of Sheba will bring gold and frankincense and will come worshiping the Lord” (Isaiah 60:6 NLT). In ancient times, these three items in combination were standard gifts for kings and deities.

Gold

As one of the most precious metals on earth, gold was typically brought to important kings as tribute. In the days when Israel followed God, He blessed His people with gifts of gold from other nations. A gold crown denoted royalty in ancient times as well as today.

God also designated gold as a fitting material to adorn His temple. When He gave David the design of the first temple in Jerusalem, He specified that pure gold must overlay the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant and be used to make the lampstands and other instruments for serving Him (1 Chronicles 28).

We have no way of knowing how much gold the magi brought as a gift for the newborn King, but I don’t believe they traveled over hundreds of miles for several months to bring a paltry gift. Some Bible archaeologists suggest the gold may have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in today’s currency.

Yes, gold is always valuable, but God says there’s one thing far more precious that will hold its value in any economy.  The psalmist wrote, “Truly, I love your commands more than gold, even the finest gold” (Psalm 119:127 NLT).

We may not have a pile of gold to offer our King, but when we love His Word more than any earthly possession, He is honored and pleased.

Frankincense

People valued frankincense, an aromatic resin gathered from the sap of Boswellia trees, long before Jesus’ birth. They used the spice for medicinal purposes, and the wealthy embalmed their dead with hundreds of pounds of its anointing oil. Most Middle Eastern cultures burned the costly resin in ceremonial worship of their deities.

Frankincense also has a spiritual use designated by God. In His instructions for Temple service, God told the priests to add the precious oil to sacrifices on the altar to add a pleasing aroma to the offering.

The baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas “offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God” (Ephesians 5:2 NLT). In this same verse, Apostle Paul exhorts us to follow His example and display Jesus’ self-sacrificing love to people around us.

Myrrh

Myrrh was a rare and expensive commodity at the time Jesus was born. Some estimate its value would have been $4,000 per pound. This tree resin was also used for medicinal purposes, to make expensive perfume, and to anoint bodies for embalming.

When God established the tabernacle as a meeting place with His people, He told Moses to create a mixture of precious spices, including myrrh. He tasked Moses with anointing every part of the tent, the instruments of worship, and even the priests with this oil to set them apart as holy for His service (Exodus 30:22-38).

The gift of myrrh from the magi foreshadowed the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus’ death paved the Way for us to be set apart from sin, to live for God’s purposes instead of our own. Like the priests of old, God calls us to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9 NLT).

Our Gifts for the King

The pagan magi searched for truth, and God led them to the Truth. When they met Jesus, they worshiped and offered their best gifts to Him. In The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, hungry children couldn’t imagine how gold, frankincense, and myrrh would be suitable gifts for a baby. Much to the amusement of the audience, they substituted the ham that was most valuable to their growling tummies in place of the three biblical gifts.

What gifts will you offer to Jesus—your King, your High Priest, and your Savior—this Christmas? (click to share on X)

 

Would you like to add meaning to your Advent season with free resources and 25 Symbols of Christmas: Finding Jesus? Visit my website to download a Christmas journal page to record your heart thoughts. If you have children and would like to read the devotions aloud with them, I offer a coloring page for each day. Also, you can use my Candy Cane Gospel to tell people about Jesus throughout the season. Go deeper with each devotion when you view short daily videos at my YouTube channel. The links are listed below.

I wish you a merry Christmas and pray you know Jesus better than ever by the beginning of the new year.

25 Symbols of Christmas: Finding Jesus: https://mybook.to/yksqv

Free Christmas resources to download:  https://annieyorty.com/books/

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@annieyorty1014

Blog – Perceive God: https://annieyorty.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieYorty2020

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annieyorty/

X: https://x.com/AnnieYorty

Crosswalk: https://www.crosswalk.com/author/annie-yorty/

From Ignorance to Bliss (Amazon):  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1649498365/ref

Empowering Homeschool Conversations: https://www.spedhomeschool.com/podcast

Ordinary Moms of Extraordinary Kids podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/ordinarymoms/

 

Bio

Award-winning author Annie Yorty writes and speaks to encourage others to perceive God’s presence in the unexpected twists and turns of life. She has written From Ignorance to Bliss: God’s Heart Revealed through Down Syndrome and a devotional, 25 Symbols of Christmas: Finding Jesus. She also contributes devotions and articles at Crosswalk.com and cohosts Empowering Homeschool Conversations, the authority in homeschooling diverse learners.

Married to her high school sweetheart and living in Pennsylvania, Annie mothers three adult children (one with intellectual disabilities). A lifelong learner, Annie seeks new and eclectic challenges. She gravitates toward anything crafty or creative—except sewing clothes. Sporadically, she works at learning to play the piano and ukulele. Always open to travel adventure, Annie helps organize mission teams that share God’s love around the world. She wishes she had more time to read, crochet, and practice Russian. Amidst the fun, challenges, and chaos, Annie encourages others to look upward with her and perceive God. Annie would love to visit with you at AnnieYorty.com.

 

Follow The Star

by Barbara Latta

“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’.” (Matthew 3:1-2)

Men from a land to the east of Israel followed a star to guide them to the infant King they had read about in the prophecies of scripture. They studied the signs in the sky which verified what they were reading. These men knew God has spoken and they followed His directives.

When the dry wind of the desert blew across their faces, burning eyes, cutting skin, and filling their mouths and noses with sand, they still followed the star. Mile after mile they trudged because their hearts burned with the truth of what they followed.

Days blurred into each other as the trip extended into weeks. Most scholars think the baby Jesus was around two years old when visited by the Magi because of the order of King Herod to kill boys two years old and under. Whether these wise men started their search two years before Jesus was even born, or it took two years to decide to make the journey and then complete the trip, we don’t know. But we do know they traveled a long distance, endured the hardships of travel, and maybe even suffered ridicule from some of their peers. “You are following a star to find a Jewish King?” they could have asked.

Did they see the star during the day? I don’t know. It could have been brightly shining during the daylight as well; but if the glow wasn’t beaming in the sunny sky, they still kept going even without the visible sign they had been following. Did they wonder each day if it would reappear at night?

Nevertheless, they sought, followed and fulfilled their goal. They didn’t waver in their quest. They listened to God’s messenger when they were warned of Herod’s evil intentions, thus preventing Herod from knowing where they found the young family.

What can we learn from these wise travelers?

• God’s Word contains His message. We need to follow it.
• Hardships will come against us to try to deter us from our quest, but the truth is worth pressing on for.
• The voice of evil will try to trick us into believing a lie, but following God’s warnings will keep us from being deceived.
• Peers may ridicule us and think we are fanatics, but finding the King will silence our doubts.
• Keep going in the direction of the star and we will stay on track.

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The bright shine in the sky led these wise men to Bethlehem and the baby, yet all the searching of Herod’s soldiers couldn’t find Jesus. Herod was blinded by His own agenda and had himself on the throne. God’s guidance gives us the way we need to go. Doing things our own way blinds us to wisdom and closes the door on the answers we need.

What does the star say to you this season?