Matthew 2:11
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. 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.
Wise men from the East were guided to the house in Bethlehem where they found the young child with Mary his mother, and falling down they worshiped Him and opened their treasures to present gold and frankincense and myrrh. Though there was no royal honor or guard around Him and His parents were poor, they recognized His divinity and exalted status as the child born King of the Jews and Prince of heaven. They gave their hearts to Him as their Saviour with great faith and trust, greater than any found in Israel, bowing in homage though He was only an infant in lowly surroundings. Their offerings were the choicest and richest things their land afforded, and by providence those valuable gifts from a heathen country became provision to sustain the poor family in their flight to Egypt and stay there as strangers. As the first fruits of the Gentile world coming to His light, their example sets the pattern that gifts and gratitude belong to Christ and His work, giving Him the best of what we have in sincere and uncorrupted faith.
House and Visitors
The visitors who came into the house were wise men from the East, upright men honored for integrity and wisdom who studied the indications of Providence in nature and lived according to the light they had. Because they studied and read the heavens, God reached them in a way suited to their understanding, using a remarkable star, with angels appearing in its form, to draw them and guide them toward the child. Led by that star and by signs in the heavens, they followed to Bethlehem to the house where they found the young child with Mary His mother.
The setting was humble, for there was no honored company, no loyal or royal guard, and no worldly honor around Him, and His parents were poor, uneducated peasants. Their falling down to worship Him was genuine honor for the child king, unlike Herod's false claim that he also wanted to worship and honor Jesus.
God protected and preserved the infant Jesus from Herod's murderous intent and Satan's devices and from every danger until His earthly mission was accomplished.
Worship and Faith
The child they found was only an infant of lowly appearance in humble surroundings, yet they recognized beneath that lowliness His divinity and exalted status as worthy of honor, the child born King of the Jews and Prince of heaven. They did not merely admire Him but worshiped Him and gave their hearts to Him as their Saviour, trusting Him though there was no royal honor, guard, or protection around Him, a faith greater than any yet found in Israel.
Even while He was still a babe, even lying in a manger, they bowed in homage before Him and presented precious, costly gifts, for no sacrifice is too great or too costly for the Son of God. That birth in humble circumstances belonged to the plan of redemption, in which He entered the stages, temptations, and needs of human life in order to sanctify them and to show that people need not remain in sin.
Their gold, frankincense, and myrrh honoring the Child of Bethlehem stand as evidence of their faith in Him as the promised Messiah. Such sincere, uncorrupted faith, with the virtues of His character, is as precious to God as those gifts were.
Prophecy and Nations
The magi had learned from prophecy that the Messiah's coming was near, having searched the Scriptures and traced prophetic time to the period of His appearing, and they understood that the knowledge of the Lord's glory would fill the whole world. They lived according to the light they had, though they were neither Jews nor Gentiles in standing, and their searching led them to recognize the time of Christ's coming. Guided by the star to His light, they came as the first fruits of the Gentile world, and in that coming was fulfilled the prophecy that Gentiles and kings would come to the brightness of His rising.
The child they found at Bethlehem was in humble surroundings, with no royal guard or honored company about Him, and His parents were poor, uneducated peasants. That lowly appearance stood in sharp contrast to the promised work of the Messiah in restoring Israel and bringing salvation to the Gentiles and to the ends of the earth. At His birth, while the Jewish people were absorbed in their own plans and did not recognize His coming, wise men from a heathen land came to worship Him and brought gifts.
The star and the wise men recognized Christ, while the priests and rulers failed to know the Son of God. The Eastern magi responded faithfully to the light they had received, coming to the child, worshiping Him, and offering gifts, in contrast with those who missed the time of their visitation, for God reveals truth to those who heed the light given them. Their visit foreshadowed people from every nation coming to Christ and sharing in His kingdom.
Gifts and Provision
When they opened their treasures they presented gold and frankincense and myrrh to the young child. Those were the choicest of the goods entrusted to them, the richest and rarest things their land offered, costly gifts and rare treasures brought to honor the newborn Saviour. The giving was an act of homage due to a person of rank, brought to the promised One through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.
God moved them to seek Him and to honor the infant Saviour with valuable offerings. By His providence those gifts from a heathen country became His provision and refuge for the poor family. The offerings honored the infant Jesus and were valuable enough to sustain Jesus and His poor parents, supplying their needs during the flight and journey into Egypt and their stay there as strangers in a foreign land among strangers.
Their visit also made the nation aware of the Saviour's birth and directed attention to the event prophecy had foretold.
Pattern for Giving
The opening of treasures to present gold, frankincense, and myrrh sets the pattern of giving Christ the best of what is possessed, and that best includes time, money, and love. Giving to Him is done by helping the poor and by teaching people about the Saviour, and such gifts please Him and receive His blessing. The example directs gifts and gratitude to Christ, the gift of God to the world, to be used in His work for the salvation of people. They are not to be bestowed on friends while forgetting Him, the great giver of blessings, nor diverted to selfish indulgence and human glorification.
The gifts are the example of bringing God a thank offering for what He has done, each person giving in proportion to ability, and God accepts such an offering. Honoring Christ at His birth by presenting gifts of gold and silver means using material possessions to make heaven's gifts evident and to meet temporal needs. Offered in sincere, uncorrupted, pure faith, those gifts provide the standard for service to God. Every transaction by His servants and all service due Him should be as clean, pure, precious, and valuable in His sight as those offerings.
Offerings given to Jesus in love are not wasted, and bowing before Him even as a babe in a manger to offer precious gifts showed a truer appreciation of the honor due Him than the disciples later showed. The costly, rare treasures brought to the Son of God at Bethlehem stand beside Mary's two doves, whose smallness did not make the offering unacceptable. God values the willing heart and love behind the gift.