They worshipped him

They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshipped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him. (verse 11)

Read Matthew 2:1-12

The word ‘worship’ suggests recognising someone’s ‘worth’. These men from the east recognised the worth of this child and presented him with unusual gifts. These gifts reflected their faith that Jesus was the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. They recognised him as their prophet, priest and king, as foretold long ago by the prophets whose writing formed the holy scriptures.

Gold is the gift for a king. While Jesus taught that his kingdom was not of this world, he also claimed that he was a king and that the kingdom of heaven belonged to him. To honour Jesus as king means to surrender our lives to him.

Frankincense is the gift for a priest. In the temple, incense was offered up by the priest as the prayers were said. A priest was a person who brought people to God and brought the love of God to people. In this sense Jesus was the perfect priest.

Myrrh is the gift for someone who is to die. It was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. Jesus came into the world to die for the sins of the world and to offer his life as a perfect sacrifice on behalf of the people.

Jesus’ divine majesty as your king, and his great love for you, is the perfect reason for you to bow down before him and worship him, now and every day.

Dear Jesus, I worship and adore you, because you are worthy of it, far more than I am capable of giving. Please accept my humble offering because of your great love. Amen.

By Kevin Schmidt, in “God’s peace for each day” (LCA, Openbook Publishers (2005)

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