Bethany Bible Church Christmas Eve Message
December 24, 2009
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Sing: O Come, All Ye Faithful
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Opening Reflection:
This evening, I’d like to speak to you about good, thoughtful gift-giving.
Now; I know that most of you—when you hear that—are going to say, “Well; it’s really a little late to give any advice. I’ve already bought and wrapped all the gifts I’m going to be giving this Christmas.” But actually, I’m going to speak about some thoughtful gifts that someone else gave on Christmas—the thoughtful gifts that the wise men from the East brought to the infant Lord Jesus in celebration of His birth. You really couldn’t think of more thoughtful gifts than what they gave!
This familiar story is told to us in the Gospel of Matthew. Even though it describes an event that most likely happened a couple of years after the birth of the Lord Jesus, it’s still a very appropriate story for us to think about at Christmas; because it describes their response to the glorious news that the Savior has come into the world.
Who were these “wise men”? The original language of the Bible refers to them as “Magi”—which is where we get our English word “magician”. But they weren’t the kind “magicians” that pull rabbits out of hats. They were most likely scholars who were careful students of the stars. And we’re told that they were “from the East”—which means they were most likely from the regions of Persia or Babylon. As they studied the stars, they saw that a particular star had appeared in the Eastern sky that indicated the arrival of “He who has been born King of the Jews”—that is, the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. How it was that they came to interpret this from the stars remains a mystery to us. But we know this much for sure: they were right!
And we can see from their reaction to this star that they were also truly wise; because they made the long trek across the barren sands to Jerusalem to find the newborn King. And when the star finally led them to find the Child in Bethlehem, they rejoiced, bowed to Him in worship, and opened their treasure to give Him three very special gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Now; have you ever thought about what makes a really great Christmas gift? I suggest to you that it’s a gift that would involve a lot of thought. It would be a gift that was preceded by a careful consideration of who the recipient is, and what would be important to them. It would be a gift that reflects something about them in a very worthy manner. And measured by such standards, I suggest that the wise-men gave an outstandingly good gift to the Savior.
And that’s where you and I come in. We may have, at this point, already purchased most of the Christmas gifts we’re going to give to all our friends and loved ones. But there is still Someone you owe a gift to. You owe your joyful worship to the Savior who’s birth we have come to celebrate. I invite that we take the time tonight to consider carefully what these three gifts from the wise-men symbolized about the Lord Jesus; and that we give to Him the gift of worship that reflects what they teach us about Him.
Read: Matthew 2:1-12
Sing: What Child Is This?
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Gold: A Symbol of His Precious Value
Think of the first gift we’re told that they gave: gold. In a way, “gold” is almost a universal symbol. It’s used everywhere as a measure of that which we consider to be most precious.
Now; the Gospel of Matthew is a gospel that was primarily written to Jewish readers . And I suspect that Jewish readers would probably have remembered the prophecy in Isaiah 60 concerning the wealth of the Gentile nations that would one day come to Israel; “The multitude of camels shall cover your land, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense, and they shall proclaim the praises of the LORD” (v. 6). Surly, in presenting gold to the infant Lord Jesus, they were—in part—fulfilling this prophecy; and were recognizing Jesus as the promised King of the Jews.
But I suspect that these wise men were also recognizing something else about our Lord. One of the things that gold symbolizes is purity. Gold must be refined of all impurities in it in order for it to be truly valuable. And in presenting the gift of gold to the Lord Jesus, I suggest that they were symbolically recognizing Jesus’ absolute purity in the sight of God—that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary; and didn’t bear the taint of sin upon Him that we inherited from our father Adam. As God the Father said of Him at His baptism, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Tonight, as we commemorate the birth of that Baby in Bethlehem, let’s recognize Him for His precious value as the Son of God in human flesh—the only One born into the human family in whom there was no sin—utterly pleasing to the heavenly Father. And let’s worship Him thankfully; because only such a One as He could be the bearer of our sins on our behalf.
Read Isaiah 9:6-7
Sing: Silent Night
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Frankincense: A Symbol of His Sacred Service
The second gift that we’re told the wise men presented to our Lord is frankincense. Frankincense may have a funny name to our ears. But in ancient times, it was something also very precious. It was a white gummy substance that was made from certain trees; and it was highly valued for its use as incense.
The Jewish man or woman who would have heard of this gift might have thought back immediately to the Old Testament Scriptures and to the law of Moses. When God gave Moses instructions regarding worship in the temple, and the making of offerings before God, frankincense was an important part of those offerings. For example, the priests were commanded to make a special incense with which they were to come and present themselves to God; and frankincense was a key ingredient of this incense (Exodus 30:34). Without it, their approach to God would not be acceptable. What’s more, it was also used as a key ingredient in the presentation of the grain offerings they were to present to the Lord (Lev. 2:1).
Frankincense was symbolic of that which made the offering of something precious to God acceptable. And I suggest to you that these wise men were recognizing something very special about the Lord Jesus when they offered the gift of frankincense to Him in celebration of His birth. They were recognizing that He had been set aside by God for a sacred service on our behalf—that His life would be lived as a life of total devotion and obedience to the Lord; and as an act of sacred service on our behalf. As He Himself said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Tonight, as we commemorate His birth, let’s recognize the Child born in Bethlehem as One set aside by God for sacred service as our High Priest—ministering acceptably before God on our behalf. He is, as it were, our offering—seasoned with frankincense and set apart as acceptable in the sight of God. And as we recognize this about Him, let’s also thank Him and worship Him for His service to us.
Read: Isaiah 61:1-3
Sing: Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
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Myrrh: A Symbol of His Loving Sacrifice
The third gift that we’re told the wise men gave to our Lord is myrrh. It too was a fragrant substance that was highly valued. But would have stood out to the Jewish people in a couple of very important ways.
First of all, it was a fragrance that was often used to express love. In the Song of Solomon—the great love song of the Old Testament—King Solomon wanted to leave an emblem of his love to his bride; and so we’re told that he spread “liquid myrrh” on the handles of her door (Song of Solomon 5:5). In fact, that great Old Testament love song mentions “myrrh” more times than any other book in the Bible. And I suggest that these wise men were recognizing something of God’s love for fallen, sinful mankind in the birth of Jesus Christ. “God so loved the world,” John 3:16 tells us, “that He gave His only begotten Son . . .”
But there’s another aspect of myrrh that may have been expressed in the gift of the wise men. Not only was it a fragrant substance that was used to express love, it was also mixed into the burial clothes of loved ones before they were laid in the tomb. The Bible tells us that after Jesus was crucified, before His body was laid in the tomb, His friends came and bound His body with strips of cloth mixed with fragrant myrrh (John 19:39-40). And I suggest that these wise men recognized something even of the death that Jesus would die on our behalf on the cross; and that, as the Bible teaches us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Tonight, as we celebrate Jesus’ birth, let’s humbly recognize that He was born into this world as an act God’s love for sinners like you and me; and that, in the ultimate act of love, He died on the cross on our behalf and paid the death penalty for our sins in our place. And as we do so, let’s worship Him with our thanks.
Read Isaiah 53:1-6
Sing: Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
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When you think of the gifts that the wise men presented to our Lord—the gift of gold as a symbol of His precious value to us; and the gift of frankincense as a symbol of His sacred service to us; and of myrrh as a symbol of His loving sacrifice for us—then I think you’d have to say that their gift stands as the most thoughtful Christmas gift ever given.
And before we close our evening, I ask you to consider the context in which their gift was given. Matthew tells us; “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh”. Can you see that the two things characterized their attitude in giving these gifts were “great joy”, and “worship”?
You and I may have already bought and wrapped many of our gifts. But we really haven’t celebrated Christmas as we should unless we recognize the things about Jesus that these wonderful gifts proclaimed about Him, rejoice in Him with “great joy”, and sincerely give Him the gift of worship He deserves from us.
Sing: Joy To the World