So here we are in December - the time of year we prepare to celebrate the birth of our dear Saviour, Jesus Christ. Since I was a little child I sang Happy Birthday to Jesus in my prayers each Christmas day and found it strange that we gave gifts to other people but not to Jesus. I know I wouldn't like it if, on my birthday, everybody else got a present except me. My father used to say that we give gifts to others to show that we love Jesus but this didn't make sense because I still couldn't get my head around the fact that it is He who should be receiving gifts because of the wonderful gift He gave to us.
Speaking of gifts - I was pondering on the wise men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, all very expensive gifts even at that time. We all know what gold is for - spending right? Of course! Every king should receive gold at their birth but did you realise the deep symbolism represented in their other gifts - frankincense and myrrh? I knew there needed to be a deeper, more significant meaning behind these gifts. Not only because they would have had to obtain them from "afar" - no department stores back then. Being kings they likely sent servants out to merchants or further to seek them out - there was great thought behind these gifts. They then traveled great distances to present their gifts and pay homage to their king. So why Frankincense and Myrrh?
Let me share my findings.
Both Frankincense and Myrrh are derived from a resin that is obtained from differing plant species found in Somalia, the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa respectively. The gum produced from the myrrh resin is not just used for perfume but also as an aromatic wound dressing with healing properties and is referred to as the Balm of Gilead in Genesis 37 and Jeremiah 8 and 46 as well as in hymns and other sacred writings. There is also suggestion that myrrh was among the bitter herbs used in the preparation of the original Passover meal in Egypt, symbolic of their covenant with Jehovah.
I would like to think that the wise kings were in fact wise enough to discern and acknowledged that this babe they were visiting was, in fact the Balm of Gilead to Israel symbolic of how this babe of Bethlehem's atonement heals us. I would also like to think that in their gift of Frankincense they were acknowledging that this humble birth was that of the Great Jehovah, the Great I Am, in that Frankincense was the incense burnt in the Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple, symbolic of the divine mediatory role the Messiah plays between the Father and us (see Malachi 1).
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said,
"Faith in Jesus Christ is the conviction and assurance of:-
- His status as the Only Begotten Son of God,
- His infinite Atonement, and
- His literal Resurrection."
Like the wise men that cam from the East, we also can know of a surety that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world, the God of the Old and New Testaments - even Jehovah - the Great I Am, the Balm of Gilead, the Mediator who saved us.
So as we enter this Christmas period and prepare to celebrate with the Christian world the birth of our Saviour, let us think what gifts we may give him. There's a clue in the scriptures that can be found in Psalms 51:17 - "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart" see also 3 Nephi 9:20.
As children of a loving eternal Heavenly Father let us rejoice in the knowledge that He loves us so very much and through our humbling ourselves to receive of His love we open our hearts to also receive of His healing power - the Balm of Gilead. Just as the incense sent sweet perfume up to Heaven in the Temples of old, He pleads continuously to our Heavenly Father on our behalf.
May we think upon the words of the beautiful carol - O Little Town of Bethlehem -
"How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is giv'n!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heav'n.
No ear may hear his coming; but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in."
May the Lord's blessings be upon you and your families and may His peace, love and joy be in your hearts this Christmas Season and throughout the coming years. May we administer the Balm of Gilead to all who will receive of it and thus bless others with the healing power of the Atonement.
