In O. Henry’s short story “The Gift of the Magi,” Jim and Della Young, a poor young couple, each sells something they treasure so they can purchase a Christmas gift for the other. The story’s title comes from O. Henry’s assertion that the magi, who brought gifts to Jesus, “invented the art of giving Christmas presents.”

John chapter 3 reveals that the first Christmas gift did not come from the magi but from God. When Jesus was speaking with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council, He said that God “gave his one and only Son” (v. 16). Jesus, of course, was talking about Himself. He was the first Christmas gift!

What motivated God to send His Son into the world to die? Jesus reveals both the motive and the purpose. God was motivated by love, and His aim in sending Christ was so that “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (v. 16). God sent Jesus to save, not to condemn (v. 17). The one who does not believe in Jesus as their Savior “stands condemned already” (v. 18). Jesus is the world’s most precious gift because He is “one and only Son” (vv. 16, 18).

There is an important difference between God’s gift and the gifts described in O. Henry’s lovely tale. Jim and Della gave what they could not afford to obtain something which, in the end, they no longer needed. God gave what He alone could, so we might receive what we need most. Verse 14 makes it clear that God showed His love not merely by sending His Son but also allowing Him to die on the cross on our behalf. This is God’s greatest gift. Jesus was raised on the cross like Moses “lifted up the snake in the wilderness.” Everyone who looks to Him in genuine faith is saved from sin.

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