Gifts of Christmas2. Frankincense: The Gift of Understanding Dan Bidwell, Senior PastorIsaiah 40:3-5; Mark 1:1-8, 14-15 Sunday 11 December, 2022

In a small Southern town, the children in Sunday school were drawing pictures of the nativity. As the teacher went around, she complimented the children on their pictures of Mary, and Joseph and the baby Jesus. As she got to little Timmy, she noticed something unusual about his picture. The wise men were wearing firemens helmets.

She said to Timmy: Timmy, I love your picture. But why are the wisemen wearing firemens helmets?

Little Timmy says: Because, Miss, you told us that the wise men came from afar!

~

Well we are continuing today in our sermon series called Gifts of Christmas. Last week we began with the gift of preparation. And today we jump into the gifts that the Wise Men brought to Jesus, and from now until Christmas well look at one of those gifts each week.

Gold, frankincense and myrrh.

These were incredibly valuable gifts, but also very practical. Gold is money, and frankincense and myrrh had many uses in the ancient world.

But these gifts were not just valuable and practical. Each gift actually foreshadows something of what Jesus would become, some of the aspects of Jesus character that would be revealed as he grew into the savior of the world.

So those are the gifts were looking into over the next few weeks. Why dont we pray that God would reveal those insights to us now as we open the Scriptures?

Heavenly Father, we thank you for Christmas and the gift of a little baby who would bring forgiveness and life to the world. Will you reveal to us the gift that it is to have Jesus in our life. We pray in his name, Amen.

So I have a couple of little facts about the wise men before we continue. We often call them the three wise men, because of the three gifts they brought to Jesus (gold, frankincense, and wait theres myrrh). But actually the Bible doesnt say how many wise men there were it just says in Matthew 2 (on your handouts)

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. (Matthew 2:1-2)

We actually dont know much about the magi. The word magi has the same root as our word magic, so it could refer to magicians or sorcerers. However in this case, it probably refers to those wise in interpreting the stars. Modern academic consensus is that the magi were astrologers from Persia (modern-day Iran).

Early Christian tradition said that they were kings (carol: We three kings from orient are bearing gifts weve traveled so far) They were given names Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. It was speculated that they might have been the kings of Persia, and then later that they were kings representing Europe, Asia and Africa.

But that is all speculation. We just have what is recorded for us here in Matthew 2, and so we have to live with the mystery. I read somewhere that wise men and women are still seeking Jesus. I like that.

So, onto our gift for today. Frankincense.

What is frankincense?

Frankincense is the resin from a species of tree that grows on the Arabian Peninsula, and the Horn of Africa. The sap dries out into a resin, and the resin is very fragrant, very aromatic. The resin was added to essential oils, and became a very expensive perfume. The ancient Egyptians used frankincense as one of the embalming ingredients when a person died. It was used in the preparation of mummies. It also had many other uses. Here are some other uses I read online:

Antiseptic; astringent; carminative; diuretic; digestive; sedative; and vulnerary therapeutic properties.

In some parts of the world frankincense is still used to treat diabetes, and asthma, and blood disorders. A very useful product.

But there's a second use for frankincense and I think this is what points to Jesus.

In God's temple, the priests would burn frankincense or incense or as part of the priests duties. They would burn incense and the smoke would rise, and as it rose it represents the prayers of the people going up to God as a fragrant offering that he would accept that their prayers in faith. So frankincense is a kind of representative idea. The gift of frankincense foreshadows the fact that Jesus would be the high priest over all of God's people.

1. The Gift of a High Priest

So why do we need a High Priest?

This comes back to the Old Testament. We need to understand priests and what they did.

In the Old Testament the priest had two functions and basically what they did is they represented the people to God. They did that by presenting sacrifices to God on the behalf of the people, so that God would forgive them. And they prayed on behalf of the people, interceding for them, raising prayers for the people so that God would accept them. The priest was an intermediary between the people and God.

Now why do we need a priest?

The reason is that sinful people can't approach a holy God and hope to survive. God in His Holiness, God in his purity, God in his goodness, God in all of the radiance of his pure holiness can't stand anything to come into his presence that is impure or unclean or sinful. And so sinful people can't approach God on their own. If we did we would die.

(Do you remember that image in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah sees God on his throne, in all his holiness, and Isaiah falls down on his knees and says: I am ruined, Im a man of unclean lips and Im a sinful man, and my eyes have seen the King Isaiah was in the presence of the Holy God and he thought he would die until God sends the angel to cleanse him by touching a burning coal to his mouth)

You see, sinful people cant come into the presence of God, otherwise we would die. And this is a difficult concept for the world to understand. Because we think of sin as something trivial, something a bit old fashioned, just an idea to scare kids into behaving.

A bit like Santa Claus making a list and checking it twice. Sin is just there to find out if were naughty or nice.

Speaking of which, have you heard about Elf on a Shelf? (Check if there are kids in the room) We didnt have this when my kids were growing up, perhaps its something that Santa launched more recently. But basically the Elf on a Shelf is there to keep an eye on the kids behavior and sends a daily report to the North Pole. The elves move around each night as well, and sometimes play tricks on the kids

So we often see sin as something trivial.

But when we look at the Old Testament temple, we see that sin is anything but trivial. Sin is so serious that it required the sacrifice of an animal. It required the shedding of blood in order for sinful people to be able to approach the holy God. It required death as an atonement for sin. An innocent animal would die in place of the guilty person.

It worked like this. A person would bring an animal to the temple, which was kind of a representative of themselves. They would pay for the animal, they would bring it to the priest and the priest would slaughter the animal, and he would sprinkle the blood around. There was something in the temple called the mercy seat. And the priest would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat and it represented God accepting the sacrifice of the animals blood, the sacrifice on the persons behalf so that they could receive mercy and forgiveness. And then the priest would light the frankincense and pray for the people. And those prayers would go up in faith and trust that God would offer his forgiveness.

Thats how the Old Testament sacrificial system worked. And it reminds us that sin is anything but trivial. Sin requires death. God is so holy and sin is so bad, that God requires death in order for sin to be atoned for.

You might be asking where is the gift in all of this gore?

Well the gift is that God doesn't want us to die. God didn't create us so that he could punish us. He didnt create us so that he could kill us. He didnt create us in order to say well you've been terrible, you're bad. That's not it at all. God created us, and he loves us, and he wants us to be able to approach him and be confident and know that were loved. Thats what the whole story of the Bible is about God overcoming our sin problem so that we can return to him.

Have a look at the Hebrews 10 reading:

10 For Gods will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time. (Hebrews 10:10)

So God actually wants us to be holy, and he will be the one who provides the sacrifice in Jesus Christ. Jesus body will be the sacrifice for us and it's not a sacrifice that has to happen again and again. It is once for all, once for all time.

And this also marks a change to the old covenant. Under the Old Covenant, in Old Testament times, people had to keep coming back to the temple and they had to keep buying animals and to keep bringing sacrifices and to keep the to keep killing things. It's kind of an abhorrent idea, isn't it? I mean it's very bloody, they splashed the blood around, and it's a very vivid illustration of the punishment for sin. But that was the old covenant and so read on.

BTW Ive chosen the New Living Translation for this reading today because it really helps to bring the idea through clearly. Other translations wont say under the old covenant but it gives the context for v11.

11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. (Hebrews 10:11)

In the Old Testament the sacrifices were never finished. You had to keep coming back year after year, sacrificing animal after animal. Because it says there that old system could never take away sins. Elsewhere in Hebrews it says the blood of bulls and goats can never atone for human sin. But look at v12:

12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time.

Jesus doesnt offer the blood of an animal. He offers his own blood. And that one sacrifice is good for all time. It is enough. His blood alone can pay for our sin. Jesus alone can make us right with God.

And that is our first gift for today the gift of Jesus as High Priest, who lays down his life for us.

2. The Gift of Understanding

British statesman and financier Cecil Rhodes was famous for endowing the Rhodes Scholarship, a prestigious scholarship to the University of Oxford. He was also renowned as a stickler for correct dress.

One night a young man was invited to dine with Rhodes, and he arrived by train and had to go directly to Rhodes's home in his travel-stained clothes. Once he arrived he was embarrassed to find the other guests already assembled, wearing full evening dress. After what seemed a long time Rhodes appeared, in a shabby old blue suit. Later the young man learned that his host had been dressed in evening clothes, but put on the old suit when he heard of his young guest's dilemma.

Cecil Rhodes had empathy, didnt he? He had empathy for the young mans situation. He didnt want him to be exposed and publicly shamed.

And thats the second gift we receive when Jesus is our high priest. Just like Cecil Rhodes had empathy for that young man, Jesus has empathy for us. And he doesnt want us to be exposed and publicly shamed.

Look at Hebrews chapter 4:13. Because it exposes a truth about sin and a truth about us that would potentially bring us to public shame:

13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. (Hebrews 4:13)

Its not the Elf on the Shelf that we need to worry about. Its God. Because he sees everything about us. And one day well be held to account for everything weve done. Every sin. Every unkind word. Every hurtful deed. The things weve done and failed to do. He sees them all.

And on the day of judgment, for those exposed in sin it will be far more uncomfortable than turning up to a party in the wrong clothes.

But heres the thing. Jesus doesnt want us to be left exposed. He doesnt want us to be publicly humiliated. He wont stand and point a finger in judgment, because he knows what it is like to be us.

Have a look at v15:

15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

In chapter 5 of Hebrews, it tells us about the High Priests back in the Old Testament temple. It says that the High Priest is able to treat us gently when we go astray, because he knows what it is to be subject to weakness. Hes human, just like us. I think thats why Im not a fire and brimstone preacher I couldnt imagine speaking words of judgment when I know that I deserve the very same judgment. Im subject to weakness, and I know how hard it is to live a life obedient to God.

And so does Jesus. Thats what it says there in Hebrews 4:15. Jesus knows what it is like to be human, to be tempted. He understands the pull of all those things that we know arent good for us. He understands us in our weakness.

With Jesus, we sometimes think of Jesus turning up on earth as the Son of God, completely impervious to all the temptations that we face. Like the Terminator, this robotic, unfeeling, unmoveable cyborg. But that wasnt Jesus at all. Jesus knows what its like to be us. He gets us. He gets you.

Whatever your go-to sin is, Jesus felt all the same inducements to sin. He felt all the same pressures, all the same triggers, all the same temptations.

And thats why he treats us gently. He doesnt stand back in his priestly robes shaking his finger. No, he has walked a mile in our shoes and he knows what its like to be us.

Jesus understands us. Jesus isnt surprised by our weakness. He embraced it, and he overcame it.

And thats why we dont need to fear God. We dont need to fear judgment, if Jesus is our High Priest. Read from v15 with me again:

15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

When Jesus is our High Priest, we can come to God boldly. We can approach his throne, not with trembling, but with confidence because of Gods grace. Do you see it there twice?

16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Just like Jesus understands us, God understands us. And he treats us gently. He offers grace, not judgment. Mercy, not condemnation, to all who are friends with Jesus.

And that leads us to our third gift when we have Jesus as our high priest. The third gift is a new understanding of our relationship with God.

3. The Gift of Grace

When I was in High School, the Deputy Principal was the school disciplinarian. If he called your name, you knew you were in trouble. And I found myself on the wrong side of his discipline once when I was in my first year or two at the school.

But as a senior, it was a great joy to see another side to that teacher. The gruff exterior disappeared completely when he took over our homeroom when our regular homeroom teacher fell ill. And it turned out this disciplinarian figure was actually very friendly, very kind, very humorous and he became a huge support to me in a difficult time of my life.

Sometimes we get the entirely wrong impression of a person, and it only changes when you get to know them personally that you find out the truth.

And thats what Jesus wants us to understand. God is not an angry judge. Hes a loving advocate. Hes not a disciplinarian, he is a grace-filled friend. And when we know God like that, our whole relationship changes. From fear to freedom. From terror to trust. From exposure to embrace.

And if you understand God like that, thats a true gift. A gift I hope youll unwrap this Christmas.

Shall we pray?

~

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of Jesus, the gift of a high priest who understands, the gift of a high priest who brings forgiveness. We pray that we would be able to approach you with confidence and boldness. We know that we have sinned and we confess the things that we've done that are unpleasing, and we plead for you to forgive us by the blood of Christ. We thank you for your promise that you will forgive. Help us to live that truth. Help us not to feel shame anymore, but to come to you with confidence, and more than that, Lord, help us to live a new life to the glory of Christ alone. Amen

Watch at: https://youtu.be/dGxpjokaLHI File Downloads: https://dq5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net/2023/01/07/08/05/08/f3532e35-c417-4eea-8d5a-7a5fc5a49759/12.11.22%20Sunday%20Srmon%20Transcript.pdf