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
—Matthew 2:11

When Solomon received wisdom from the Lord in a dream, the first thing he did on waking was to go to Jerusalem, to where the ark of the covenant stood. The ark of the covenant is a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s wisdom is like a magnet: it always draws a person to Jesus Christ and His glory. No wonder that as soon as the magi, the wise men from the East, saw the Messiah’s star in the sky, they immediately set out to seek His presence. When they found Him, they worshipped Him and, opening their treasures, presented gifts. Their gifts were not simple ones: each gift symbolised something about Him, and each gift can tell us its own story about the Child who was born.

Gold

The word gold first appears in the second chapter of Genesis, which tells about Eden: “Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.” (Gen.2:10-12) Notice that three ingredients are mentioned here as well: gold, bdellium (a fragrant resin) and the onyx stone. It is said of Jesus that He is the Word of God, and also that He is the wisdom of God, so in every word there is hidden wisdom, which the Lord reveals to those who thirst for it.

In Hebrew, gold is zahab (H2091). Every letter in Hebrew has a corresponding symbol and meaning. The letter zayin stands for a sword and even looks like one (point down). When Paul wrote about the whole armour of God, he said that the sword is the word of God. (Eph.6:17) The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter he, stands for God’s grace, and the letter bet stands for a house. So we get: the Word of God, which filled the house with grace. This is what the apostle John writes: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jhn.1:14) At the birth of Jesus, the Word of God, full of grace and truth, came to dwell in the flesh, in God’s house or temple, which is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gold, in other words, points to the divine origin of Jesus Christ. The prophet says of Him: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa.7:14), and Matthew in his Gospel explains what Immanuel means: “God with us” (Mat.1:23). In the Old Testament there was a separation between God and man. God was in heaven, and man was on earth. But at the birth of Jesus Christ something so wonderful happened that when the magi saw the star stop over the place where the Child was, it is written that they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. The joy now is that God is not somewhere far away — He is with us forever!! Amen!

Frankincense

Frankincense is an aromatic resin obtained from a particular kind of tree. In Scripture a tree symbolises a man. That is why the ark of the covenant was made of gold and wood. The ark of the covenant, which is a type of Jesus Christ, speaks of Jesus’ divinity and humanity. But Jesus is not like any other man. Yes, He looked like a man, but the ingredients, so to speak, are completely different. The first man, Adam, was made from the dust of the earth, but the last Adam, Jesus, is the Man from heaven. When Jesus testified to Nicodemus about His birth, He said: “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (Jhn.3:13) What kind of Man is this?

The second word that appears in the second chapter of Genesis is bedolach (H916), bdellium. This word can be divided into two parts. The first two letters form the word bad (H906), which means linen garments. In Scripture linen garments symbolise righteousness (Rev.19:8). Jesus is not an ordinary man; He is the righteousness of God, which came to us on earth from heaven. It is this righteousness, which a person receives as a gift through faith, that the law and the prophets bore witness to. (Rom.3:21) When we receive Christ into our heart, we receive God’s righteousness, for Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness is now with us and in us forever. Our righteousness is not in works and deeds; it is seated at the right hand of the Father.

The last two letters of the word bedolach form the word lach (H3892). This word means fresh, young, green, and it often refers to the young shoots of trees. It speaks to us of eternal life. It is God’s righteousness that gives life and renews youth. Proverbs says that the way of righteousness is the way of life. (Pro.12:28) Paul, too, writes about the righteousness of Jesus Christ: “…grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life…” (Rom.5:21)

A remarkable property of frankincense is that when you heat it, it gives off a fragrant smell. Fire, or great heat, speaks of God’s judgment and also of temptation, so when Jesus was tempted, the result was a sweet aroma to God. It is written of Jesus that He was in all points tempted, yet without sin (Heb.4:15), and since He was tempted in all points, He is able to aid those who are tempted. (Heb.2:18) The only way to overcome temptations is through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus, when heated by the fire of temptation, can give off a sweet aroma, and only His righteousness leads to renewed youth and eternal life.

When King Nebuchadnezzar threw Daniel’s friends into the fiery furnace, the fire did not even touch their hair. All because their righteousness was the Son of God — Jesus Christ. Jesus is the tree of life from which the frankincense is taken, and He now lives in us who believe. Paul writes to the Corinthians: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life…” (2 Cor.2:15-16)

Myrrh

Myrrh, which is also an aromatic substance, was used in ancient times to embalm the dead. When Jesus died on the cross, Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh. Jesus is the only Man on earth who was born to die for you and me. Myrrh comes from the Hebrew word mar (H4751), bitterness. Bitterness symbolises slavery, so on the cross Jesus set us free from every slavery, whether it is slavery to sin, sickness, poverty, addictions or any other form of the curses of the law. By His sacrifice on the cross Jesus redeemed us from the curses of the law, having become a curse in our place. (Gal.3:13) It was no ordinary man who died for us. So, to understand and value the power of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we need to know and believe what kind of Man died for us.

The third ingredient that appears in the second chapter of Genesis is the onyx stone. When Moses struck the rock with his rod, water flowed out of it, and with it the Lord gave the whole people of Israel drink. (Exd.17:6) Recalling this story, Paul said that this Rock was Christ (1 Cor.10:4), and the Lord testified about the living water: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive…” (Jhn.7:37-39)

Notice the wonderful similarity between the Hebrew words for onyx and gold. In the word for gold the first letter stands for the Word of God, who is God, and in the word for onyx it stands for El Shaddai, God Almighty. The last letter in the word for gold stands for the house, the Temple of God, and at Christ’s birth God’s house was His flesh. In the word for onyx it is the Spirit of God. After Christ’s resurrection, the temple or house of God, where God Almighty dwells, is His Church. The Church is not a physical building surrounded by walls, but the body of Jesus Christ. Not a physical body but a spiritual one, which functions, grows, is filled with God’s grace and edifies itself in love when the parts of the body come together.

When Peter received the revelation from God that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus told him that on this rock, on Christ (the Messiah), He would build His Church. The same Peter wrote in his epistle: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious.” (1 Pet.2:4-7)

Amen, Lord! Truly, to us who believe, this Stone is very precious. Everything He has done for us is precious to us: His birth, baptism, temptations, obedience to God, death on the cross, burial and, finally, His resurrection from the dead. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! “For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.”

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P.S. Dear and beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! With all our hearts we wish you a joyful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! May the peace of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always, and may the Spirit of God root you in the love that passes knowledge — the love of Christ.
With love,
Your Paul and Svetlana