A(nother) Christmas Story
The three gifts brought to Jesus after his birth — the gold, frankincense, and myrrh — bring to remembrance the ancient Jewish temple and the promise of the return of the High Priest.
It is recorded that wise men from the east brought gifts of Gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus.
Frankincense and myrrh were the main ingredients of the two perfumes of the oil and incense used in the Holy of Holies in the first (original) Jewish temple. The High Priest was the only person that had access to this oil and incense, as well as the Holy of Holies — entering only once a year.
This blended incense was considered most holy. By such, anything touched by this incense and oil also became holy, consecrated. As this incense was used only in the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God was considered to symbolically dwell, this incense (and oil and perfume) were thus associated with the presence of God.
Frankincense and myrrh were associated with the presence of God.
Eden is considered a symbolic temple — where God’s presence was found and He himself was liked to walk in the “cool of the day” — and the Garden in it as the Holy of Holies. The Tree of Life at the center becomes the gateway to the presence of God as partaking of it brings us eternal life.
Adam was a high priest — and Eve the High Priestess — to the Garden of Eden, the only two allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.
Legends have it that when Adam left Eden, he wanted to take with him gold, frankincense, and myrrh but was denied. Tradition also holds that this perfumed oil was extracted from the tree of life and thus were symbolic of the temple.
Adam felt that he needed these perfumes, this incense, to be able to make an offering to God and for God to hear him. He believed that these specific perfumes “invoked the presence of God.”
In the pseudepigraphical book called Life of Adam and Eve, when Adam was dying, his wife Eve and his son Seth returned to the entrance of Eden and requested some of the oil. The Archangel Michael told them that the oil would not be given again until the last days when the high priest was restored. (The Life of Adam and Eve 36–42; Apocalypse of Moses 9:13)
Remember how we talked about how anything touched by this incense and oil became holy and consecrated? It seems Adam wanted to be consecrated and made holy before he left this world and before he entered the next; before he entered physical presence of God.
Old Testament Temple Rituals
“The high priest took the blended incense into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, and the smoke from the incense covered the Mercy seat about the ark. It was there, in the cloud of incense that the Lord appeared to the high priest. The perfume of the incense summoned the presence of the Lord, and presumably that is why it was not to be used for other purposes.”
Incense was also used to make atonement. In the temple this symbolized healing and restoration.
“When sin had damaged the great covenant bonds which held the creation in place, and danger threatened, the high priest had to make atonement and repair the damage, in order to protect the people from danger.” Margaret Barker
The high priest at the time would take incense and make “atonement” to repair covenants and protect people from the consequences of sin.
This brings us to the Gospel of Matthew, which is considered “the most Jewish of the gospels”. As such, Matthew would have a much different lens to view the scriptures, the prophecies of Christ, and history in general.
When Matthew told the story of the wisemen bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus, it is possible that he was referring to and bringing remembrance into the mind of his Jewish audience about those three symbolic elements: Adam, the original temple, and the true High Priest.
Matthew was demonstrating that these wise men from the east recognized that Jesus was the physical embodiment of the Holy of Holies, our access to the presence of God that the sacred frankincense and myrrh invoked.
These gifts from the wisemen symbolize the restoration of the Temple, of Eden, and of the true high priest, which Jesus Christ.
The coming of the Messiah into the world was the restoration of the High Priest.
Remembrance of prophecies and foreshadowing
Can we see how this is not only symbolic but also a foreshadowing of Christ and his atonement? He comes to repair the covenant and protect us from the consequences of sin as we repent. Along with the gold — which covered the Holy of Holies in the ancient temple to represent fire and light — frankincense and myrrh bring to the mind (of the Christian follower) of finally entering into the presence of God with the High Priest.
As Christ is considered THE High Priest, with and because of Him, we are now able to enter into the Holy of Holies, the presence of God, to live eternally with Him. And just as anything that the holy oil and perfume touched was made holy, we too are made holy by anything of Christ that touches us: his teachings, his spirit, his word, his example.
We can become consecrated.
Knowing the end from the beginning
Reviewing the birth of the savior cannot be done in a vacuum, that is, without recognizing and appreciating the end, the purpose. The symbolism of the gifts could not have been lost on any Jewish person of faith at that time, of anyone who had a knowledge of the original temple and understood the significance of the High Priest’s role as a representative for his people into the presence of God.
Christ is our High Priest. His presence as our God as been “invoked” into the world, and because of Him we are now able to enter into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God the Father and Mother.
You can read more about the divinity of women in my book, “We are Adam: the Partnership of Adam and Eve in the Garden and what it Means for You”, available at Amazon and Cedar Fort.
