Home Featured Specials Gift someone this Christmas

Gift someone this Christmas

666
0
SHARE

QUESTION: Pastor praise God. It is Christmas season and I would like to know why I should give anyone a gift, and are there people who gave gifts for this occasion? Clare.

Response: December is the birth month of Jesus Christ, a month to bless each other with presents.

The Bible has a justification for that tradition and it is evident that the gifting Christmas tradition was first exhibited by the wise men who came to visit Jesus Christ when He was born (Matthew 2:1-12).

Gifting, therefore, is a Christian tradition introduced by the Wise Men in the Bible. It is not something we invented, but a gesture recorded in the sacred book.

Packs of Christmas gifts. (Photo/Motley)

Gifting with meaning
The Bible says in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

God was the first to give to the world a gift, and that was His only son. This gift was meaningful, for it was the gift of eternal life.

God, through Jesus Christ, gifted us with forgiveness (John 21:15-17), and spiritual gifts (1Corinthians 12).

After, He gave everything to us when He gave Himself up and died for us. (Mark 15:25; John 17:22, 19:30).
Different cultures give different gifts, and these are always symbolic.

They do not just give gifts, but rather make communications through them, and each gift carries a very important message.

The tradition of gifting, therefore, was and still ought to be a gesture of communication, and we must be very intentional as we choose what to give.

As we give presents to our friends and loved ones, we must be aware of the ‘spirit of consumerism’, where individual focus on who gets what and why.

The gist of giving presents in this festive season has everything to do with why Jesus was born. It is not always about us as we tend to put it in most cases of our celebration.

The message we pass on to others through particular presents, is about our Lord and Savior who was born this season for the people we gift.

Gifting should to be a gesture of communication, and intentional. (Source/The Spruce)

The wise Men’s gift
When the Wise Men visited the Lord Jesus at His birthplace, they came bearing gifts of three categories (Matthew 2:1-12).

They gave gold, then frankincense and myrrh. These were beautiful, useful and symbolic gifts. Each of these gifts had a rightful meaning, in relation to the newly born child.

Gold
The gold they gave represents authenticity and originality, and by this, they communicated that He who was born then was the legit child of all those who have ever been and will ever be born.

As gold is portrayed as the most legitimate solution to the world’s economic problem.The baby who was born was, the legitimate solution to our universal absolute problem.

Again, gold is associated with kings, and Christians believe that Jesus is the King of Kings. So, gold signified Jesus’ kingship.

Frankincense
A regular reader of the Old Testament understands that incense is for priestly works.

For the wise men to gift the newly born with frankincense, was an inauguration of the highest priest lying in the manger. Jesus Christ is the incense of all our prayers ascending to God’s Throne.

Offering frankincense was an act of worship and, therefore, they demonstrated that He who was born was the ultimate object of all worship.

Any worship that is not directed to Jesus Christ this season and beyond is idolatry.

The three Wise Men from the East brought to baby Jesus gifts worthy for a King.
(Source/R.A)

Myrrh
It is interesting that among the gifts carried by the wise men, was fumes and oils used in times of death.

Imagine having a new born baby and those coming to see him come with a coffin or actually drive a funeral service van to your home.

Myrrh was a perfume that was used to smear dead bodies in order to avoid bad smell. Ironically, it was part of the gifts that the Wise Men took for baby Jesus.

The message of this particular present was that the baby who was born then was to be sacrificed.

He was born to die, not for His sake or as every other person, but He was to die a vicarious death. This present showed that Jesus would suffer and die for all of us.

Answered by Pr Isaiah White.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Subscribe to our website and be the first to receive great Christian news, health information, pastoral guidance, environment, farming and many others. Also, Like and follow us on Facebook at Good News UG.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here