Christmas, 2024
Havasu Christian Church
Matthew 2:11
December 15, 2024
“Franken what?”
Matthew 2:11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
INTRO: Last week, we looked at the gift of gold, given by the Magi; the wisemen. This week we will look at the gift of Frankincense.
- What is Frankincense?
Taken from the Lexham Bible Dictionary:
FRANKINCENSE is a gummy substance, taken from plants of the genus Boswellia, which are native to southern Arabia and northern Somaliland. This gummy residue, once exuded, hardens into a natural resin that is considered the finest burning incense in the world. The English word comes from the Old French phrase franc encens (“pure incense”).
The Boswellia sacra trees grow in very inhospitable places, dry desert regions, and it is often found growing on the sides of steep cliffs. It’s dangerous work to get Frankincense. People cut the bark of the tree and then leave. When they come back, the sap of the tree has oozed out and hardened on the bark. This dried sap is collected. This is Frankincense.
In the Old Testament Israel, frankincense was used primarily in worship. It was one of the ingredients for the incense in the tent of meeting Exodus 30:34Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.
This incense was holy and treated similarly to the anointing oil. Frankincense was used with the grain offerings and various other offerings as well. Leviticus 2:1–2 ‘Now when anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it. ‘He shall then bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil with all of its frankincense. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke as its memorial portion on the altar, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Frankincense, along with myrrh, is also associated with perfume in the Song of Solomon.
In the New Testament, frankincense is one of the three gifts the magi gave to Jesus (Matt 2:11).
Frankincense is also mentioned in Revelation as part of Roman trade. Revelation 18:13 and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives.
Frankincense was used throughout the ancient world. It was burned in religious ceremonies and with sacrifices. Pliny the Elder described how Nero burned a year’s worth of frankincense at his wife Poppaea’s funeral (Pliny, Natural History, 12.41). This was done to help conceal the smell from the cremation. Frankincense was also used in cosmetics, perfumes, and medicine. Celsus described the vast medicinal applications for frankincense, including to stop bleeding, cleanse wounds, cure hemlock poisoning, and others.
Today, Frankincense is still utilized in religious ceremonies, cosmetics, and medicine.
- Why was Frankincense important to God?
- Does God just love the smell of a good perfume?
- I don’t think that’s it!
- Does God NEED frankincense for some reason?
- I don’t think that’s it either.
- Like the gold last week, frankincense was and still is a very precious commodity.
- It was hard to obtain.
- Desert, sides of cliffs
- It was costly to buy.
- Some estimate that frankincense cost around $500 per pound in the first century.
- With modern harvesting and shipping, it still runs $27.00 - $50.00 a pound, for it’s raw form. In 2020, a liter of the best grade of Frankincense oil was running about $6000.00.
- God wanted His people to give their best to Him!
- There was no finer incense than frankincense.
- As we said last week, a gift that doesn’t cost you anything doesn’t mean much.
“White elephant” gifts last Sunday night. Fun, but no one gasped and said “What a gift!”
- You don’t give God your leftovers.
- You don’t give God your second best.
- What significance was there to the gift of Frankincense by the Magi to Jesus?
- There was a practical significance.
- When the gold ran out, the frankincense could be sold so Joseph’s little family would have money for living expenses.
- It was valuable all over the world.
- Everyone used frankincense.
- In worship
- In perfumes
- In medicine
- No matter where they went, it would be easily converted to cash!
- There was a symbolic significance.
- It was a gift, useful to a Priest.
- Jesus is our High Priest.
- From the tribe of Judah, not Levi.
- Jesus did not qualify to be a priest according to the Jewish rules.
- Jesus is a priest of a different order…
Hebrews 6:19–20 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
- The order of Melchizedek.
- Melchizedek is a “stand alone” Priest, found in the Old Testament.
- We have no family history for him.
- We don’t know what happened to him after his brief appearance in Genesis with Abraham.
- Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek!
- This was a gift, often given with a sacrifice.
- Several of the offerings, given in the temple, had Frankincense poured on them.
- Jesus is given a gift that associates Him with a sacrifice.
- Jesus is the only Priest who was ever worthy to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sins.
- Jesus became the “once and for all,” perfect sacrifice for our sins.
- No more animal sacrifices
- Just Jesus.
- Sins of the past, present, and future, all taken care of on the cross!
Conclusion: Frankincense…. A gift given as an offering to God…
Jesus IS God in a human body!
Frankincense….. a gift given, useful to a Priest.
Jesus IS our High Priest…. Only Jesus comes between us and the Father.
Frankincense…. A gift that was often used as a part of sacrifices to God.
Jesus was and is and always will be, the ultimate Sacrifice for our sins.
Animal sacrifice couldn’t get rid of sin.
No human was ever pure enough to be a sacrifice for sins…. That is, no human but Jesus!
When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom…. This was a reminder that because of Jesus’ death, we can be forgiven and go into God’s presence, forever!
DO WE TREAT JESUS AS ONE WORTHY OF FRANKINCENSE?
