Matthew 2:1-12 Why Do We Need Jesus at Christmas? Dec 10, 2006
I have some wonderful Christmas memories from my childhood and teen years. I remember one year, my best friend and I each received mopeds for Christmas. We had actually helped earn some money to buy these bikes. We rode those bikes all over the area. At one point, three of us were riding bikes from Spartanburg to the NC Mountains where we would camp. That moped was probably the biggest Christmas present I ever received but what made it so great was that my two friends also had bikes. My great memories are no so much about the bike. My memories are about the great times I had with my friends on those bikes.
How about you? What are your great Christmas memories from the past and what memories are you building right now? I hope you have learned enough in life to realize that the best parts of Christmas and of life are not about the presents but about the people. The relationships are the treasure. The Wise Men who came to Jesus were also looking for a relationship.
Last week, we started looking at the Wise Men who came to find Jesus on that first Christmas and we asked the question of “Why Christmas?” What is it really all about after so many years? The three gifts brought by the Wise Men give us some clues. The first gift was gold. It was symbolic that Jesus was the King which they were seeking. Today, I want to look at the second gift. It was Frankincense. Can anyone even tell me what Frankincense is? It is incense. It is also known as olibanum, which is derived from the Arabic word al-lubán ("the milk") due to its color and appearance. In Exodus 30 : 34, it is named levonah, meaning "white" in Hebrew. Today it is used in perfumes and in aromatherapy. But in ancient times, it was used as an incense in the temple and this has to do with a relationship. You see, when people entered the temple to pray to God, they would burn this incense. When they came to seek God in prayer about their deepest hurts, needs, hungers, Frankincense was part of the ritual. The Wise Men brought gold as a symbol of Jesus the king. But Frankincense was brought as a symbol of prayer, our reaching out to God, our seeking a relationship with God. You see, the Wise Men did not come only seeking a king that would be high and mighty over the world. They came also seeking a relationship with a very close and personal God whom they could speak to about their deepest needs and hungers. In fact, in this baby Jesus, God was showing himself to be just this very close and personal God with whom we could have a relationship.
Relationships are exciting. New relationships are often a special source of excitement in life. But is this relationship to God really so important? The Wise Men thought so and they traveled so far to find this baby. They believed that this relationship was something vital that they needed in their life. But why? Why do we need a relationship with Jesus? You and I were created to live in relationship. We are not made to be alone. Our first and most vital relationship is with God. Until we find that relationship, there is always something missing in our lives. There must hundreds of songs—rock, country, jazz, blues—that sing of the hole in our hearts. That emptiness deep inside. Saint Augustine wrote about it over 1600 years ago. “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in God.” Oh, people try to fill this emptiness with many things, but nothing will fit the bill. Aristotle Onassis, one of the richest men in the world, married to Jackie Kennedy, said, “Millions of dollars do not always add up to what a man needs out of life.” Only our relationship to God fills this deep hunger in our hearts.
We are hungry people. It seems the more we have, the more we want. One of the finest gifts you can give your children is the gift of satisfaction, of contentment with what they have in life. And the most significant satisfaction comes when we fill our hunger in relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life.” He is the one who can satisfy our deepest hunger and bring us to relationship with God. He does that in two ways.
First, Jesus satisfies our hunger for meaning and purpose in life right now. Everyone wants to know at some point, “what is my life about? What am I supposed to do?” But without the one who has made us, we can never fully grasp our place in this life. These Wise Men must have been wealthy men or they could not have afforded such gifts. They must have been successful men to be known as being so intelligent. They were powerful, influential men and are sometimes thought of as three Kings. Yet, they left behind all they had and knew to undertake a long, difficult, dangerous journey to find this baby. They had so much in life, but they were hungry to find the real bread of life. A relationship with Jesus satisfies our hunger for meaning in this life right now today.
Secondly, Jesus satisfies our hunger for life beyond this life. Most of us do not like to think of death. We know we will die someday and yet we long for something more. God has placed that longing in our hearts. Ecclesiasties 3:11 says, “God has set eternity in the hearts of people.” Deep within us there is a hunger to live and love and laugh and rejoice forever. In relationship with Jesus, our hunger for eternity is filled. Other loves may fade, but God’s love is forever. Other relationships may break up, but a relationship with God is eternal.
In this season of Advent and Christmas, we will find ourselves surrounded by people and relations of all sorts. But the most significant relationship we can find this Christmas is a relationship with God through this one named Jesus. The Wise Men brought Frankincense which was used in temple ritual to seek God in prayer. But Jesus is now the way to seek God. In many ways, Jesus is now the incense, the temple, and the prayer. God has come down to earth at Christmas so that we might know Him in a close loving relationship. To know what life means right now. And to have life eternal with God. Amen.