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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
By 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.
Scriptural Confirmations #86
86. 4. The state of him who is not in faith but in doubt, is described; that he is double minded, unstable (James 1:6-8).
Happy is the man that endureth temptation; for it is such that no one is tempted of God, but by his own lust (James 1:12-14).
It pleased God to beget you by the word of truth (James 1:18).
Draw nigh to God, then He will draw nigh (James 4:8).
Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts, men of double mind (James 4:8).
He who knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin (James 4:17).
Regenerated through the living Word of God (1 Peter 1:23).
The Lord is a living stone; that ye as living stones may be built up into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:4, 5).
Whosoever is born of God, doth not sin, for His seed remaineth in him (1 John 3:9-10; 5:18).
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone that loveth Him that begat, loveth him that is born of Him (1 John 5:1).
Look ye that we lose not, but receive a full reward (2 John 1:8).
Whosoever abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth hath both the Father and the Son (2 John 1:9-10).
