Gifts for Jesus : Gold,Frankincense and myrrh: Neil Vimalkumar: TOI : The Speaking Tree

By Neil Vimalkumar

In the biblical narrative, we read about the wise men from Persia who brought gifts to baby Jesus. They brought Him gold, frankincense and myrrh. These gifts hold a lot of significance and meaning.

Gold represents royalty. This is evident because these wise men came looking for a king and they went searching in a palace. In fact, their query in Herod’s palace was: “Where is he who is born king of the Jews?”

While this unsettled King Herod, the biblical account of Jesus’ kingship is subversive. This ‘king’ was born in a borrowed manger. The kingship ascribed to Jesus is not political power. Just before Jesus’ crucifixion, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, asked: “Don’t you realise that I have the power to release or crucify you?” Jesus replied: “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.” Jesus’ kingdom is spiritual, and not geographical or political. A quote attributed to the French emperor and General Napoleon Bonaparte is insightful: “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon sheer force. Jesus Christ alone founded his Empire upon love; and at this hour, millions of men will die for him.” This is rare royalty.The second gift placed in obeisance before the baby was frankincense. The resin-like material is fragrant and is obtained from Boswellia trees grown and traded in the Arabian Peninsula for about 5,000 years. This gift reminds one of the practice of the high priest, who went before the altar of God to burn incense. The role of the high priest was to plead on behalf of the people. Jesus comes across as one not only to represent God to humankind but also to represent humanity before a holy god. The Bible underscores this role of the Messiah that was born: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin.” Truly, a pleading priest.

The third gift that was offered to the baby was myrrh, which is also a sap like substance taken from certain trees, has medicinal value and is also used in embalming. Myrrh, symbolises death. Jesus was introduced at the start of his public ministry as “a lamb who would take away the sin of the world”. From Abraham to the Passover in Egypt, these Jews had sacrificed a blemish-less lamb for forgiveness. The blood of a lamb was only a shadow of the ultimate sacrifice that God Himself would offer.

Gandhiji once observed: “Jesus, a man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”

As the adage goes: “What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” This Christmas season, no matter who you are, by His grace, you could be a gift to someone else. Let’s make sure the gift goes on.

The writer is a trainer with Life Focus Society.