#themagi

Epiphany - The Wise Men and Their Gifts for Jesus

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him...And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:1-2, 9-11 (NLT)

Today is Epiphany (Wikipedia), a celebration of the Wise Men visiting Jesus in Bethlehem. It is also called “Little Christmas” (the traditional end of the Christmas season). The Magi, Wise Men or Kings are only mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew and were “distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after His birth, bearing gifts of gold (as a precious metal), frankincense (as perfume or incense) and myrrh (as anointing oil). These were standard gifts of the time to honor a king or deity. Scholars think that these three were also chosen for their special spiritual symbolism about Jesus himself—gold representing his kingship, frankincense a symbol of his priestly role, and myrrh for His crucifixion.

I wonder what Mary and Joseph thought when complete strangers presented them with such expensive gifts? How would we feel if strangers turned up at our door to worship our baby, bringing gifts we could never afford ourselves? It would have been awkward if Mary and Joseph had said "We appreciate the thought, but these presents are too nice for us, we can't accept them." It sounds absurd, yet how easy to respond this way? Jesus offers us the most valuable gift in the world, but how many of us say, “No, I can’t accept that, I am just not worthy of it. I don’t deserve it.” Jesus has so much more than gold, frankincense and myrrh for us. He gives us His life and He left us The Holy Spirit to supply us with wisdom, comfort, protection, friendship and much more that we can choose to receive. There are seven gifts of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2) And all the Fruits of the Spirit! “But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23, ERV) Joy and peace are two of those gifts, but we miss out on them when we see ourselves as unworthy of Christ's love. Guilt, shame, a sense of “not being good enough” block peace and joy and that is not what Jesus came for. His mission is to bring peace, salvation, joy and love to us. 

Once you allow Christ to transform your heart and mind and invite The Holy Spirit inside you, He shows you how God sees you: beloved child; wanted, called by Jesus and saved by His blood. Did you know that Joyce Meyer writes love letters to Jesus? As you fall in love with Jesus, all the gifts of the Spirit begin to grow and flow inside of you. There may be days that are bad (we’re still human and the Devil is still out there), but you grow stronger in your gifts, by the power of Jesus and with your Spiritual Armor (Ephesians 6:14-18). “On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong.” (Eph 6:15) 

God loves you more than life itself and He chose to come to earth as a baby to rescue you from this sinful world. There is still a star guiding people to where Jesus can be found, just as it guided the Wise Men of Matthew 2, all you have to do is follow it. There is nothing God wouldn't do to draw you closer to Him and because of Jesus, you can accept the most valuable gift of all: salvation in Jesus Christ and the joy and peace that comes from knowing Him.