THE THREE GIFTS

“Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the baby who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
The star that they had seen in the east went before them until it stopped above the place where the child was. When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy. They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:1-2; 9-11)

The wise men (or Magi) gifts have traditionally, at least since Origen of Alexandria (185-253) early Christian scholar, had symbolic significance. Gold as symbolic of Christ the King, frankincense as worship in the Temple with Christ the High Priest and myrrh as a perfume to anoint dead bodies, it is symbolic of His death for the sake of truth, and therefore of Christ the Prophet.

Jesus Christ, our prophet, priest and king. Glory to the Lord God of all.

“Those are your words. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the Powerful One, and coming on clouds in the sky.” Jesus