The GiftSample

Worship Jesus for Who He Is—Our King

Have you ever struggled to find the perfect gift for someone you love? You want it to be meaningful to them so that they see how meaningful they are to you. 

The wise men gave gifts to Jesus that at face value seem a little odd, but that actually paint a beautiful picture of who Jesus is. They brought Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It’s easy to let those go by without paying attention to them, but these gifts had significance that can help center our hearts this Christmas.

Together, those gifts show us who Jesus is. A God who is sovereign but willing to suffer to save us. 

There are a lot of reasons the wise men could have chosen to bring gold as one of their gifts to Jesus. For one, gold is something you’d give to a king. But think about the faith they would have had to give gold to a child. Everyone was expecting God to send a king. In fact, people in Jesus’ day wanted someone to rule their country—not necessarily to rule their hearts. Instead, God sent a child who would grow up, teach us how to live, and die in our place for our sins. 

So a child wasn’t exactly what anyone was expecting. And yet the wise men still presented gold, showing that Jesus is our King and is worthy of praise, sacrifice, and honor. 

Gold was also significant in the Old Testament. In fact, in the book of 1 Kings, we see how Solomon used gold when he built the temple for God. There are very specific instructions he had for building this temple, because it was a place for the presence of God to reside. 

Inside the temple there were different areas, and the innermost area was known as the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies. In that place, the priest could encounter the presence of God and make a sacrifice on behalf of the people. The walls and altar within that holy place were made of gold.

So when the wise men gave Jesus gold, it foreshadowed that Jesus would make the ultimate sacrifice for us by dying on a cross and rising from the dead three days later so that we could choose to have a relationship with God. 

Now while the wise men gave Jesus gold, Jesus gave us a gift far more precious. The wise men weren’t buying their way to God. No human, no matter how seemingly important or well off, can afford that. Jesus Himself willingly paid the price we could never pay to pave the way for a personal relationship between us and God. The wise men gave Jesus gold—but Jesus gave us a connection to God. 

The only reasonable response for the wise men was to give what they had as an extravagant act of worship to Jesus. May we follow their sacrifice, and may we remember that Jesus is our King. In a season that can often be associated with hurry, let’s pause to remember how holy and awe-inspiring it is that God would send Jesus to be with us.

Pray: God, thank You for sending Jesus to be our ultimate sacrifice. Thank You for being the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Remind me of Your glory today. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Practice: As you pray today, find a place to kneel down to remember that Jesus is King.