It’s easy for both us and our kids to assume there were only 3 wise men, that came with 3 gifts to the manger scene, as our nativity sets seem to indicate, even though this is not the case. So let’s learn more about these Wise Men, and what their gifts can teach us about our own gift giving to our kids this Christmas…
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST VERSION HERE
When you think of the Wise Men, what comes to mind?
You may think of a group of 3? Camels or fancy clothing? Or maybe you are reminded of a nativity set you put out every Christmas?
I think about these 3 Wise Men decoration dolls my mom had when I was growing up…They were all dressed in different colors of velvet—blue, green and red and held tiny little gold or silver boxes and jars. I always loved unpacking them every year, until my mom moved them to sit up high on a shelf in our living room, so me and my sister wouldn’t try to make them our dolls to play with. (smart thinking mom!)
You probably have some image in your head too, right now, when you think of the Wise Men...
But really, they weren’t at Jesus’ birth…they never saw him in the manger like our nativity sets seem to indicate. They didn’t get to meet Jesus until several years later, not to mention, the Bible never says there were only 3…There could have been many more. I guess we sometimes just assume that because there are 3 gifts mentioned in the Bible.
So that’s just some fun trivia for you…that you may or may not have known…but if not, its fun to learn or to teach our kids as we sit out Christmas decorations this time of year.
But what I really want to zone in on, is the 3 gifts that these Wise Men brought to Jesus…
It is true, that they were called wise for a reason…For these men to be able to recognize a new star in the sky the night Jesus was born, which is there link to the manger scene and maybe why they get grouped into the nativity overall, meant that they had to be VERY familiar with the stars in the sky already.
To compare their knowledge to mine about the stars…
If I had a map of the stars and one of my kids accidentally spilled a dot of juice on it, I wouldn’t know the difference (haha!) But these men clearly had a great understanding of the stars and also knowledge of the Old Testament prophecies…
Researchers say, the Wise Men likely knew the Old Testament prophecies because of the prophet Daniel—He had been the chief of court in Persia at one time—you know the guy in the lion’s den, as we refer to him with our kids! And studies show that Wise Men were likely from Persia, as it says they came from the east. Daniel 9 gives a detailed timeline for the birth of the Messiah.
And in Matthew 2:2, it says they followed this new “Star of Bethlehem” to find the King of the Jews…
They travel 800 or 900 miles by foot or animal, only to find King Herod. When they ask about Jesus, the “king of the Jews,” Herod gets mad and jealous, probably thinking,”What new king?—I’m the ONLY king!”
And once again these men show why they are called wise, because when Herod tells them to report back when they find Jesus, so he can go worship him too, they clearly saw right through that! Matthew 2:12 says they took another route home to avoid going back by Herod’s castle…
Knowing all of that, these kings were wise about stars, wise about Bible prophecy and wise about reading people…So there must have been something wise about the gifts they chose to bring 900 miles to give to Jesus, right?!
The Bible says they brought: gold, frankincense and myrrh…
Why these 3 gifts? And what can we learn from their gifts this Christmas season as we are all giving lots of gifts?….especially to our kids! Glad you asked…
Let’s start with gold first:
Gold was a common gift for a king, especially in those days. It was used to make crowns, jewelry, idols, to build fancy kingdoms, etc….overall gold represented great wealth and nobility.
It would have been like a “no brainer” gift for a king! Kind of like toys are a no brainer for us to give our kids at Christmas…it’s just what we do! So a gift of gold was practical and just made sense. A lot of scholars believe that it was this gold that likely provided the money for Mary and Joseph to take Jesus and flee to Egypt to get away from King Herod, soon after the wise men left them to return home.
We all know traveling is expensive, especially when Mary and Jospeh didn’t know how long they would have to stay away, because Herod would stop at nothing to search and search for Jesus. It would be several years until Herod died, allowing them to return home safely.
God provided for them through this gift of gold from the wise men, knowing they would need this gift that very day to leave and protect Jesus. So the fact that the wise men were not at the manger was no coincidence…it was planned by God for this exact time.
And we spend time planning too don’t we? Especially around this time of year with shopping, cooking, hosting, etc. Some of us shop for presents for months in advance, while the rest of us last minute mommas pack it in to a few short weeks before the kids get out of school!
Regardless, we ALL plan for practical reasons, so we can afford everything and get everything done, so that those most wanted toys won’t sell out…because we want to give our kids the things on their most wanted list if we are able to, right? I love getting to see my kids open their gifts on Christmas morning and eat up all the sugar in their stockings…its a special day…and its FUN!
I think of the Wise Men bringing Gold to Jesus as the “shiny and stereotypical present,” much like we stereotypically give our kids shiny wrapped gifts of toys or Nikes (if your my oldest son—thanks to my husband!)
Gold was just the traditional gift for a king—like toys wrapped under the tree for our kids and there’s nothing wrong with that…But that wasn’t the only gift the wise men brought…remember these guys were called WISE for a reason…
The other 2 gifts they gave had more eternal purposes…
Because there is SO MUCH MORE to Christmas than earthly gifts of gold—AKA shiny new toys or whatever it may be—even though most of our time and money tends to go to those things. But moms, we can’t forget our real eternal purpose this Christmas…
2 out of the 3 gifts from the Wise Men were about eternal things for a reason! Because, believe me, they definitely weren’t the “common” gifts for a baby or a king…And it’s definitely not the common thing in our world today, to think of anything beyond the presents under the tree at Christmas either!
But you and I need to be more intentional about this with our kids, so they understand Christmas presents are fun, yes, but the greatest gift about Christmas is JESUS!
So what can we learn from these other 2 gifts to help us apply this?!
Frankincense actually means “pure incense” and in Old Testament times, before Jesus was born, it’s scent was traditionally found burning in the temple along with the animal sacrifices that people brought to be forgiven of sins. It was also used for medicinal purposes and still is used for that today if you are into any of the mainstream essential oil brands…
But all the things this gift represents is so cool, because Jesus was to grow up and be our pure and perfect sacrifice on the cross for our sins, so that we could have forgiveness once and for all and have a relationship with God and a home in Heaven. That is the ultimate gift…that no medicine could heal or money could buy…forgiveness of our sins and the chance for a new life with Jesus is the greatest gift!
The other gift given by the wise men was Myrrh…
I have to think that Mary, as Jesus’ mom, was probably like “Well that’s an odd choice to bring my baby,” 🙂 because myrrh was a spice traditionally used to embalm wealthy peoples bodies when they died…Usually for kings and the richest of people since it was very expensive.
But we see in Matthew 19:39 that Nicodemus and Joseph (known to be a wealthier disciple) took 75 pounds of myrrh, which is a lot, to prepare Jesus’s body for burial after he died on the cross.
So again, this gift of myrrh, like frankincense, had a much bigger meaning too! It wasn’t just an odd baby present (like a baby wipe warmer) that serves no actual purpose okay?! 🙂
This spice was chosen to give Jesus for a purpose. It was a gift that prophesied Jesus dying on the cross for us…
So yes, the gold given to Jesus was the typical, shiny and standard gift for a king, like new toys and presents are for our kids at Christmas, but these other two gifts from the Wise Men were far from typical or standard…
But 2 out of the 3 gifts given were not the standard gifts like we so often focus on at Christmas. The majority of the gifts from the Wise Men were about Eternal and Spiritual things to come…
So this says a lot to us moms, about how yes, presents are fun, but we should be doubling up on the spiritual emphasis of Jesus this Christmas, more than stressing about things that don’t matter in the long run!
You might say…okay I’m with you…How can I do this better?
I think each of us moms need to really plan and think about what is best for our families and our kids ages in how to do this better, but I do have a few helpful suggestions:
- Make sure you check out the bonus podcast that came out last week, right before this episode, because I shared some of my families favorite and trusted devotional books and storybooks, some specifically about Christmas, but all can help lead into some great conversations about Jesus with your kids…
- LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST HERE or check out the previous BLOG HERE.
- On the podcast mentioned above, I refer to a new product from my hosting ministry, Love Worth Finding, called “Let’s Talk Christmas Traditions” Card Set. It’s a set of 25 cards, one for each day of December leading up to Christmas, or if your like my family, just do a few at a time whenever you can fit it in, like sitting around the dinner table or riding in the car…
- It will ask things like What’s your favorite Christmas cookie or what do you like best about your Christmas tree? Or what’s on your wishlist this year? Things like that. They start simple and get more detailed as you go. But there is a QR code on each card with a link to learn how to lead that question into a spiritual conversation with your family. Really cool…I’m excited to have these this year!
- GET THIS “Let’s Talk Christmas Traditions” Card Set HERE. (And use code F31M10 for 10% off your purchase!)
- I also have a great, FREE resource that you can grab on our website RESOURCES PAGE—it’s an Interactive Nativity.
- This resource gives your kids something to color and offers a kid friendly nativity story, where your kids can help you bring in their colored characters to the story, to ensure they are paying attention. (Like a modern day felt board story time—if you grew up in the 90’s.)
- You can even do this with older kids and other family members and bypass the coloring, but it’s still a great resource to share the true story of Christmas together!
Well that’s all I have…I hope this has been helpful and you have learned something new—I know I definitely have studying more about these three gifts from the wise men!
Please be sure to share this episode with a friend and follow me on Instagram @faithful31moms and remember, to keep up the good work of pointing your kids to Jesus!
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