11
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11
Christmas Gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
Napsal(a) New Christian Bible Study Staff
In the Christmas story, the wise men bring gifts to the Lord: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The gold is listed first, because it is the inmost - signifying good, e.g. the good that we do when we love the Lord and the neighbor.
The frankincense is next. It signifies rational truth, which is the set of true ideas that we know, not about external things like cars or cooking, but about what is really good, and what is really true.
These rational truths are built on earlier knowledges that we learn, before we have really made them our own. Those early knowledges about spiritual things - often learned in childhood - are represented by the myrrh.
In a way, these gifts are really a reciprocation. We can't actually give them to the Lord until the Lord has given them to us. We necessarily start out by learning and doing the Lord's law (myrrh). The Lord can then call up those memories to become rational truths (frankincense). Then, over time, and with effort, those truths can be transformed into good (gold). The wise men from the East had gone through this process of learning and becoming vessels that could receive truths and goods. They were able to perceive the Lord's birth, and find him, and bring gifts to him.
John 1:1-14
1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2
The same was in the beginning with God.
3
All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made.
4
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.
6
There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John.
7
The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.
8
He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light.
9
The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
10
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn't recognize him.
11
He came to his own, and those who were his own didn't receive him.
12
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name:
13
who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
