Matthew relates the journey of the three wise men from the East. The magi brought the infant Jesus precious gifts. Gold was for his kingship, frankincense for his holiness and myrrh for the suffering he must endure on earth.
Myrrh is the gum resin of a large bush or small tree. The large trunk carries numerous knotted branches and has a thin, papery outer bark. Small leaves grow in clusters on the plant. When the bark is pierced, the thick gum appears and is white in color. As it hardens, it turns red due to exposure to air. This aromatic gum is gathered and sold at market as a spice or medicine since earliest times. Myrrh was an ingredient for the holy anointing oil in the Tabernacle. It was a salve for purification of the dead. In Bible times the tree could be found growing along the coastline of the Red Sea in the southern area of Arabia. The resin was brought from the East by traders on camels. On the night of Christ's crucifixion Nicodemus came "and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. " John 19:39, 40
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Matthew 2:11
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