Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11 CSB
Sometimes we put a lot of thought into gifts, we search out in advance, order from AliExpress and hope it arrives in time, create something, because we care about the person the gift is for.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh were gifts for a king, these same three items were apparently among the gifts, recorded in ancient inscriptions, that King Seleucus II Callinicus offered to the god Apollo at the temple in Miletus in 243 BCE, gifts fit for a God.
Frankincense is a perfume or incense (we love the aroma of candles that are calming and fill our senses).
Myrrh is an annointing oil.
Research has been done into the healing properties of frankincense.
These are not random gifts, but loaded with meaning, because the giver knew who the gifts were for, knew what was important, and were symbolic of how important to the giver the recipient was.
Gifts fit for a King.
Gifts fit for a God.
I wonder what the conversation was like as the "wise men", Mary, Joseph, sat around a sleeping baby revealing treasures and sharing their stories of how they got to that place, what God is up to, what's next.
The meaning can't have been lost on Joseph and Mary that here in their arms was a King, God, Messiah, Saviour.
#christmasthoughts
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