The Gifts of the Magi in the Tabernacle

God’s Presence; Our Greatest Need

1. Our greatest need is God’s presence.

a. From the very beginning, God intended to be present with His creation. After creating Adam and Eve, God walked with them in the Garden of Eden.

b. When Adam sinned, he drove a wedge between God and humanity.

c. The rest of the Bible is the story of what God had to do to in order to reconnect with us.

d. That’s why we all love the Christmas story. It is the chapter in the grand story that reunites God and man. In fact, it does this by uniting God with man: God became man.

2. God with us.

a. God becoming man is hinted at in the Old Testament. Satan tempted Eve with the possibility of man becoming god, but it would work the other way.

b. Isaiah prophesied, The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (7:14, ESV).

c. Immanuel, Matthew explains, means God with us.

d. In the OT, the closest we got to God with us is the tabernacle/Temple. The tabernacle is where God established His presence in the cloud of glory, particularly above the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.

3. Significance of the Tabernacle to Matthew 2:11

a. The tabernacle is a picture of Jesus, and so it is no surprise that there is a connection between the gifts the wise men gave to Jesus and the tabernacle.

b. In this sermon, I want to show you how the gifts of the Magi are tied to the OT Tabernacle in the wilderness.

Gold: Jesus is the Worthy Son of God.

1. The first gift Matthew mentions is gold. There are several practical reasons the wise men would have brought gold.

a. Gold was a gift worthy of a king.

b. God was meeting their temporary needs, knowing they had little money and would soon be traveling to and staying in Egypt for some time.

2. But gold also is mentioned in our OT chapter, Exodus 30.

a. God commanded Moses to build the altar of incense and overlay it with pure gold (30:3), just like the Ark of the Covenant (25:11). This gold was pure, with no extraneous elements. This gold was not watered down.

b. And when you stop to consider it, this is a good picture for Jesus.

i. Jesus is pure. That is, He is holy even as His Father is holy. He is without sin, the spotless Lamb of God.

ii. Jesus also is worthy of gold because He is the most valuable Person in the universe. No one holds more value or is more worthy than the Son of Mary.

3. Illustration: Tofu, imitation meat

4. Jesus is no imitation. He is the pure, sinless revelation of God.

Frankincense: Jesus Our Intercessor.

1. After gold, the wise men brought frankincense, also mentioned in Exodus 30. In Exodus 30, frankincense is called simply incense.

2. Frankincense was used by ancient peoples, including God’s people, to illustrate worship.

3. Originally used in the presence of kings to mask the odors associated with living in an agrarian society.

4. Aaron and his sons were commanded to burn incense at the altar of incense every morning and evening. This altar stood just in front of the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant stayed. The fire used to burn the incense must have been taken from the Altar of Burnt Offering outside the sanctuary.

5. Zechariah, John Baptist’s father, was offering incense when Gabriel appeared to him.

6. Frankincense and Myrrh were both in great demand and, therefore, expensive.

7. Incense also is associated with prayer throughout Scripture.

a. Psalm 141:2, May my prayer be set before you like incense.

b. Revelation 5:8, And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

b. Luke 1:10, And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

8. Prayer is, essentially, an instrument of mediation. A medium, like radio waves. Under the Old Covenant, God appointed priests who stood between men and God by offering sacrifices and, yes, praying on their behalf.

9. Do you know how the NT describes Jesus?

a. Mediator: There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5, ESV).

b. Intercessor: Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25).

10. Jesus is our Mediator, the One Who intercedes on our behalf. Jesus is the living embodiment of prayer. He intercedes for us, of course, on a daily basis, pleading His blood in our defense when we sin against our Holy Father. But His first act of intercession, when He hung between Heaven and Earth and died for our sins, was His greatest Mediation.

11. Jesus hung on the cross between heaven and earth, just as the smoke of the frankincense hung in the air when Aaron offered it 1500 years before. Jesus, a sweet aroma

Myrrh: Jesus is the Anointed One.

1. In Exodus 30, God commanded Moses to use Myrrh. Moses used the Myrrh to anoint the tabernacle and every article in it.

2. To anoint something, like an altar, was to consecrate it for a purpose.

3. Illustrate: baby christening

4. The word “anoint” or “anointed one” in Hebrew is Messiah.

5. Jesus is THE ANOINTED ONE.

a. Anointed by God.

b. Consecrated for a unique purpose.

c. Given God’s authority.

6. Just as Moses anointed the sanctuary for a unique purpose, the Father anointed the Son for a unique purpose.

7. And this truth was captured beautifully when the Wise Men brought Jesus…Myrrh.

Jesus as Tabernacle

1. God foreshadowed His presence with the Tabernacle.

2. John 1:14, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

3. Dwelt comes from the same word as tabernacle. Jesus was a living embodiment of the tabernacle.

4. This truth is wonderfully illustrated by the gifts of the Magi: Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh.

Conclusion: God Tabernacles with Men.

1. He promised His presence.

2. He fulfilled His promise to be present.

3. Does Jesus dwell with You?