The Gifts We Bring (Part 3)
Isaiah 53:1-6 & Philippians 2:4-11
Sunday, December 22, 2024
The third gift that the Magi brought to Jesus was myrrh. Myrrh was an all-purpose spice, used for incense, perfume, and cosmetics, but more importantly: in both Mark's and John's gospels, it is associated with Jesus' death. For this reason, this third gift has traditionally been understood to be a symbol of Jesus' human nature. It is a gift at Jesus' birth that points directly to his death.
Bryant Anderson preaching.
Referenced in this sermon:
Current Series: The Gifts We Bring
The magi of the Christmas story brought three gifts to the infant Jesus: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Tradition has long ascribed symbolic meaning to these gifts: gold symbolizes Jesus's royalty, frankincense, his divinity, and myrrh, his mortality. This series delves into these three gifts, examines the significance of these three aspects of Jesus's nature, and urges us to think seriously about what gifts we ourselves bring to the Christ child.
