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In this final post on the names of Jesus Christ, I have an impossible task: to describe what God’s Word itself calls Indescribable. But I know better than to try.  Jesus is the Gift that surpasses the descriptive power of words!

Since I’ve already done all I can to describe Jesus in the past twenty-four days, on this Christmas Day I’m reflecting on where the tradition of gift giving at Christmas came from. Scripture describes some Magi from the east who came to worship the one born to be king of the Jews. They came bearing gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh. Frankincense was a perfume used in Jewish worship, brought to One who deserves our worship. Gold a gift associated with kings, was given to One who would be the King of an eternal heavenly kingdom. Myrrh was a perfume put on dead bodies to prepare them for burial, given to the One who would die for our sins and be buried in a borrowed tomb, then raised for the dead.

Unlike most retellings of the Christmas story assume, this event did not occur immediately after the birth of the Holy Child. Mary, Joseph and the young Jesus were now living in a house. Jesus was probably close to two years old, since Matthew 2:16 says, “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.”

‭‭As you are giving gifts on this Christmas Day, remember the origin of this tradition. And more importantly, recognize and accept God’s indescribable gift, the gift of His Son.

Jesus is the Gift above all gifts!

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV