The Wise men found the home of Joseph AMY, (they were not there in the manger scene), “…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 JESUS: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matt. 2:11) It is believed that the richness of gold represents Christ’s deity, kingship and glory. The beautiful perfume of frankincense is said to signify His sacrifice, priesthood and perfection, while the bitter taste of myrrh depicts Him as Prophet, and represents His suffering and death on the cross.
AMY, Joseph was WARNED in a dream take Mary and Jesus to Egypt because King Herod was going to try to kill Jesus, so they needed traveling and living money, “Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and PUT TO DEATH ALL THE MALE CHILDREN who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under…” (Matt. 2:16) In all probability AMY, we can assume from Matthew’s ordering of the words ‘gold, and frankincense, and myrrh’ that he felt the gift of gold to have been the least impressive of the three. Working on that assumption, we can estimate that the current purchasing power of the wise men’s gifts to the baby Jesus would be somewhere over US$1 million. God always makes a way!!!
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham