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…they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh (Mt. 2:11)



Epiphany celebrates the coming of the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant king born in Bethlehem. But is that the first time someone brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to Israel? By no means! 

We could recall an episode in 1 Kgs. 10 in which a certain queen of Sheba having heard of the wise king Solomon also brought gifts to him. The passage recalls that she brought gold and a large quantity of spices. In fact, in Isa. 60:6, there is a veiled reference to this episode when it mentions that gold and frankincense will be brought to Jerusalem from Sheba. Again, in 1 Kgs. 10:25, myrrh is mentioned as one of the gifts brought to Solomon.

So why gold, frankincense and myrrh? Gold is definitely a royal gift. Solomon was a King and a wealthy one too. Gold was an acknowledgement of his economic prowess and of his good fortune. Frankincense was also expressive of another reality. In 1 Kgs. 8, Solomon had just built a temple; one that had gained fame in the whole of the ancient world. It was right that the Queen of Sheba should bring him incense. 

I suggest, that these two gifts indicated two aspects of the life of Solomon. He had made it economically; he was rich. He had also made it spiritually, by building God a temple. He was spiritually inclined. 

But what about the myrrh? The significance of myrrh has often been described as referring to the humanity or mortality of a person. We know for instance that myrrh was used to embalm the body of Jesus (Jn. 19:39). It was also used as a kind of anaesthesia. The soldiers mixed myrrh with wine and gave it to Jesus to drink on the cross to lessen his pain (Mk. 15:23). Myrrh was thus the symbol of humanity. Solomon’s guests brought him this too.

We need to read the above in contrast to what we read about the visit of the Magi in Mt. 2. Like the Queen of Sheba, the Magi also arrived in Jerusalem. Instead of Solomon, they found Herod. They had gold but they did not give it to him. Herod, was a usurper; not the true King. They had incense, but they did not give it to him either, even though Herod had spent his whole life trying to rebuild the temple. But perhaps what was most damning is that they did not give him their myrrh. It was bad enough that Herod was neither the true king, nor a real priest. He did not even have “humanity”. He lacked a human heart. And the magi were right. Not long after they left, Herod sent and had all the infants in Bethlehem slaughtered. It is bad enough, not to have gold or incense, but no one should lack at least the myrrh of humanity, the ability to have compassion on another!

Blessed feast of Epiphany!

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