Advent Presentation: Giving
December 15, 2007
By j. Snodgrass, December 2007, for Marble Collegiate Church in NYC
In the spirit of Advent I thought do a little research on the topic of giving, beginning with a familiar scene – three wise men, guided by a star, coming to give gifts to the newborn Jesus in a manger. Except that the three wise-men are in the Gospel of Matthew and the manger is in Luke. Matthew’s Jesus was born in a house.
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
So in the spirit of giving, I decided this year I would “give-a-damn” about these treasures of the magi. I mean, Gold… Gold… The word “gold” appears in the Bible four hundred and thirty times. But I don’t think we need Biblical passages to tell us what makes gold so special. Suffice to say, Religion and Gold have had a long love-hate relationship, going back as far as anyone can remember.
But what about Frankincense and Myrrh? Nowhere does the Gospel say “they gave him gold…etcetera…” or “gold…and various other substances.” No, we’ve got to assume that first century Christians knew exactly what was meant by Frankincense and Myrrh, probably from the Torah. And there they are in the book of Exodus.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil… Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.’ Exodus 30:22-25;30-31
So Myrrh, it turns out, was the active ingredient in YHWH’s own secret sauce. And amazingly, the recipe can be found right there in Exodus, although most modern conversion charts do not list shekels and a hin.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices…and pure frankincense… and make a fragrant blend of incense…It shall be most holy to you. Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. Exodus 30:34,35,37
So Frankincense and Myrrh were both ingredients of sacred incense. Myrrh was used to consecrate priests, and Frankincense to bless sacred spaces, which makes a lot of sense to have around when a righteous child is born (especially when that child is born in a barn).