'They opened their treasures and presented Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.’ Matthew 2:11
Friends, do you have any crackers left? Did you pull them on Christmas Day? The terrible joke, the tacky gift, and the crown? Why on earth is there a crown in a cracker? Maybe because of the 3 wise men, maybe because of the three kings. As we’re introduced to the three wise men, in today’s Gospel, the point that I think is being made is very simple: You’d be crackers to worship anyone but Jesus! The obvious question in response is why? Why does St Matthew insist that: 'You’d be crackers to worship anyone but Jesus'. The answer, Matthew give us is, that wise people worship Jesus because of who He is. In this passage at least (Matthew 2:1-12) it is the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh which point to who He is! So let’s take these gifts, ONE at a time.
The first is of course gold, and gold is the gift fit for a king. This is the identity which Matthew wants to focus on the most, and as so it is found right the way through today’s passage. Jesus is a king, have a look at v2.
The wise men ask: ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?’ Jesus is—first and foremost—the king of the Jews. Here is the Jewish king for whom, the Jewish nation had been waiting. However, Jesus is not only the king of the Jews, no Jesus is also King of the world. Look back again at v2. What do the non-Jewish wisemen say?: 'We observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.' It’s not just Jews who should worship Jesus, but also non-Jews—that is—the rest of the world. Here, in the manager is a King. The king, who is king over the Jewish nation, yes, but also the king of the entire world. No wonder Matthew says: You’d be crackers to worship anyone but Jesus. But why does Jesus deserve our worship more than, say, King Charles? Our second gift gives us a clue.
Frankincense, was used by priests in the temple, as a sign that their sacrifices and prayers were rising up to God. By giving incense to Jesus, the wisemen were showing that they believed—amazingly—that the baby before them was God himself. Just as incense was offered in the temple to God Almighty, so incense was offered in the stable, to a baby who was God Almighty. Jesus is not only king but God Himself. It would be easy for us to miss the significance of this gift. How often have we heard the story of the wisemen and their gifts, and given no thought to their meaning. How often have children jokingly confused this gift of frankincense with Frankinstein the monster. And yet, here in this simple offering, is a sign of an amazing truth: God became man, God was born as a baby, God the Son chose to become Jesus of Nazareth! As the wise men gave their gifts—as they knelt before Mary's son—they were also kneeling before God's Son, One who had no birthday, One who had always existed. In the gift of incense—somehow, on some level—the wisemen had knew this truth. No wonder Matthew says: You’d be crackers to worship anyone but Jesus.
One gift remains and in many ways, this is the most startling, the most amazing, the seemingly most inappropriate of all: myrrh. Myrrh was used to embalm the dead. It seems, that the man born to be king was the man born to die. Die not as a failure, not as a revolutionary before His time, no, Jesus’ death would be a victory. Jesus came to be a sacrifice, to appease the wrath of His father, so that when he does return to judge, humanity might stand a chance. Each time we choose to worship something, someone other than Him, we reject Jesus as our one true and rightful king, and thus deserve judgement. And yet what the wisemen’s third and final gift shows is that judgement need not be guaranteed. Jesus comes as a sacrifice to take our place, to receive our guilt, and to wipe our slate clean. In that third and final gift of the wisemen, we catch a glimpse of another, far greater, gift. this time not from man to God but rather from God to man. A gift of peace with God given by Jesus as he died upon the cross.
So there we have it: three gifts which tell us who Jesus is. Three gifts which tell us why: You’d be crackers to worship anyone but Jesus. How do we unwrap this undeserved gift? By acknowledging Him as our King,
by recognising Him as God, and by receiving His sacrifice with thanksgiving. As we do this we find ourselves forgiven, reconciled, and adopted into God’s family. No wonder Matthew says: You’d be crackers to worship anyone but Jesus. As we head off into 2025 the story we know so well—about the gifts the wisemen gave to Jesus—is meant to pull us up short. The story of the wisemen is meant to cause us to reassess our lives, to reflect upon what and who we worship, what and who comes first in our lives. Recognise Jesus as King - in the giving of gold, recgonise Jesus as God - in the giving of incense, and recognise Jesus as sacrifice - in the giving of myrrh. As our opening carol ended: Glorious now behold him arise; ?King and God and sacrifice: ?Alleluia, Alleluia, ?sounds through the earth and skies. Amen (from Fr Mike).