When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men began to seek him and once they found it where He was, came to worship Him.
“1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2 KJV
Notice that they told their intention in coming to the newborn King right away. They weren’t looking for special favors like many would have done. And they weren’t trying to get their name in a ledger that they were among the first to come and visit Him. No, instead they made it clear that they had come to worship Jesus.
“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 KJV
When they first came to Jesus they did exactly what they said they would do. They fell down before Him and began to worship Him.
And then after they worshipped Him they opened to Him their treasures and presented gifts to Him. They brought gifts fitting for the King of kings.
Every one of these gifts are significant. It is not by accident that these are the gifts these wise men brought to Jesus. In fact, Heaven is trying to speak to us through these gifts.
And remember that these kings were coming to Jesus in person, traveling with their gifts, and were down on their knees worshipping Jesus when they gave them to Him.
GOLD
Gold represents kingship, prestige, and wealth.
This was only the beginning of the great wealth that would come to Jesus during his lifetime and through His ministry. In fact, some of the greatest offerings in the Bible were those that Jesus received.
Because Jesus was the King of kings, they came and piled up gold for Him. Have you been doing this for Jesus?
These men were the first to present gold to Jesus, and pile up money for His Kingdom. However, we are to still be bringing our gold, our tithes and offerings to the Lord for His Kingdom today.
FRANKINCENSE
Frankincense was an expensive perfume that was used by the priests when they were ordained into the priesthood. So, by presenting Jesus with this gift, these men were not only proclaiming Jesus as the King of His Kingdom, but also proclaiming that He is the Great High Priest, the Lord of lords.
Because of this frankincense, when anyone came into the room and got around Jesus, they could smell that aroma of the priestly perfume all around.
MYRRH
Myrrh was a precious oil used for anointing and ointments. Myrrh was also used as an oil to treat the dead from the time of their death to the time of their burial, because there was no embalming in those days.
Remember when the woman came in and poured the costly oil onto Jesus feet, which made so many people mad and was considered a waste? But Jesus rebuked them, and said she had done a great work and has anointed me for my burial.
This myrrh was brought to Jesus because He would die for our sins. He died for us so that we would live for Him.
It is very likely that they understood not only that Jesus was coming to save His people from their sins, as Isaiah the prophet had written about (see Isaiah 9:6), but also that Jesus would purchase their healing and deliverance through His shed Blood and His death, as Isaiah had also written (see Isaiah 53:4-6).
Jesus is the King of kings, and He is worthy of our worship and our gifts.
