To Consider: The Gift of Frankincense
Today we look at the second gift mentioned from the Wise Men – frankincense. It was common for people to bring spices to a king, and we see this in the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon in 1 Kings 10. But frankincense had a special function in the life of God’s people that must be illuminated here. Frankincense is a powerful fragrance that was used in the temple, part of the anointing oil for priests, part of a blend for incense burning in the temple, and added to sacrifices such as the grain offering. It is a gift that reminds us of the priestly office of Jesus Christ. He is certainly a king, but he’s also our great high priest, the one who makes intercession on behalf of God’s people before God himself.
Perhaps the best book of the Bible to turn to when considering Jesus as priest is the book of Hebrews. This is what it says in Hebrews 7:23-27:
23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
This text tells us that Jesus is a priest forever, continually standing at the go-between man and God. We know that when Jesus died that curtain in the temple standing between God and man was destroyed – showing we could have access to the Lord, because the gap had been erased by the sacrifice of Jesus. But he will always make intercession for us, he will always be our advocate, the one with the perfect record – so that our union with him gives us that same righteous standing before the Lord.
Notice that Jesus is both the priest – the only one holy enough to stand before a perfect and holy God – and he’s also the sacrifice offered up to the Lord to make atonement for sin. Jesus is the lamb who was slain and the one who brought himself to that altar – the priest and the sacrifice for us! The gift of frankincense would not have meant much to the visitors at the time of the birth of Jesus, but upon reflection on the whole story – we see that every part of the life of Jesus and the offices of Jesus are in view right from the beginning – he would live to be our eternal king and our eternal priest!
Song to Sing: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
While not necessarily a Christmas song, it’s a great one to think of the great gift we have in the baby Jesus! ‘Jesus sought me when a stranger’ – it’s love that pursues us – give him praise!
Prayer: Jesus, we thank you for standing in our place, both as the lamb who was slain and also the priest who stands to advocate for us before the Father. Because we are connected to you, we will always be righteous in the sight of the Lord. We praise you for that Jesus, and thank you for looking upon us with love. We will praise your name this Christmas. Amen.
Echoes of Eden: “What a Wonderful World,” by Louis Armstrong. There is just something about this song – it oozes with hopefulness and humility, giving praise to the generations that will come after – it truly is a wonderful world!