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Worship Jesus for What He’s Doing—Our God, Priest, and Healer 

Less than 1 minute Reading Time: Mins

We all know the story of the wise men that brought Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I never truly understood the meaning behind each of these gifts. This devotional really helped me to understand why they chose these specific things to give Jesus and the significance behind each one. I hope it helps you understand too.

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Day 3

The next gift the wise men brought Jesus is frankincense. Sap. 

Yes, frankincense is dried sap from trees. Specifically trees that grow in and around the southern end of the Arabian peninsula. 

First, a special knife pierces a wound in the Boswellia sacra tree where the sap begins to seep out. This first sap is not collected, it simply cleanses impurities. 

Later, more cuts are made to release a refined liquid. As the sap dries, it creates what’s referred to in the industry as a “tear.” These tears are then collected off the tree, crushed into pieces, and sold as frankincense. 

The frankincense delivered to Jesus would have traveled (likely by camel) across the Arabian desert as foreshadowed in Isaiah 60:6. At the time, it would have been worth more than its weight in gold. But it’s in the purpose and function of this gift that we can really start to see its value. Frankincense was most often burned as a type of incense. Actually, the history of the word itself points to something like pure or high-quality incense. 

Throughout Old Testament history, this pure incense was used by priests in the temple as part of ritual worship and sacrifice made to God to cover sins. It was also used regularly across the ancient world as a healing agent. 

Recent scientific research suggests frankincense still has healing powers, especially against certain cancers. When interviewed by the BBC, immunologist Mahmoud Suhail explained, “Cancer starts when the DNA code within the cell’s nucleus becomes corrupted. It seems frankincense has a reset function. It can tell the cell what the right DNA code should be.”

Why did the wisemen bring the gift of frankincense to young Jesus? Whether they knew it or not, they brought perhaps the only substance that could tell the story of Jesus foretold in Isaiah 53:5 NIV: 

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Jesus did this, and Jesus does this. Just like part of the Boswellia sacra tree is crushed to create frankincense, Jesus was crushed so that He could become our healing agent—the ultimate priest who offered His life as the final and perfect sacrifice for our sin and who still goes to God on our behalf. He is the reset function that makes everything right. He is our peace. 

Pray: Jesus, thank You for being the reset that makes us right with God. Thank You for continuing to intercede for us and for all the ways you heal us, restore us, bring us peace, and show You’re with us. Amen. 

Practice: How will you worship Him for what He did and still does today? How can you rely on Him as your priest and healer? 

 

Accompanying bible verse

AMP Version

Matthew 2:10-11

10| When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 

11| And after entering the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, after opening their treasure chests, they presented to Him gifts [fit for a king, gifts] of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Isaiah 60:6

6| A multitude of camels [from the eastern trading tribes] will cover you [Jerusalem],
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba [who once came to trade] will come
Bringing gold and frankincense
And proclaiming the praises of the Lord.
 

Isaiah 53:3-12

3| He was despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief;
And like One from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him.
 
4|But [in fact] He has borne our griefs,
And He has carried our sorrows and pains;
Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken,
Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him].
 
5| But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing];
The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him,
And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.
 
6|All of us like sheep have gone astray,
We have turned, each one, to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]
To fall on Him [instead of us].
 
7|He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth [to complain or defend Himself];
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before her shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
 
8|After oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation [His contemporaries], who [among them] concerned himself with the fact
That He was cut off from the land of the living [by His death]
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke [of death] was due?
 
9|His grave was assigned with the wicked,
But He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
 
10|Yet the Lord was willing
To crush Him, causing Him to suffer;
If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an atonement for sin],
He shall see His [spiritual] offspring,
He shall prolong His days,
And the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper in His hand.
 
11|As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He shall see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge [of what He has accomplished] the Righteous One,
My Servant, shall justify the many [making them righteous—upright before God, in right standing with Him],
For He shall bear [the responsibility for] their sins.
 
12|Therefore, I will divide and give Him a portion with the great [kings and rulers],
And He shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
Because He [willingly] poured out His life to death,
And was counted among the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore and took away the sin of many,
And interceded [with the Father] for the transgressors.
 

Hebrews 4:14-16

14| Inasmuch then as we [believers] have a great High Priest who has [already ascended and] passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith and cling tenaciously to our absolute trust in Him as Savior]. 
15| For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin. 
16| Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].
 

Hebrews 5:1-10

1| For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed [to act] on behalf of men in things relating to God, so that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 
2| He is able to deal gently with the spiritually ignorant and misguided, since he is also subject to human weakness; 
3| and because of this [human weakness] he is required to offer sacrifices for sins, for himself as well as for the people. 
4| And besides, one does not appropriate for himself the honor [of being high priest], but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
5| So too Christ did not glorify Himself so as to be made a high priest, but He [was exalted and appointed by the One] who said to Him,
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten (fathered) You [declared Your authority and rule over the nations]”;
6| just as He also says in another place,
“You are a priest [appointed] forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
7| In the days of His earthly life, Jesus offered up both [specific] petitions and [urgent] supplications [for that which He needed] with fervent crying and tears to the One who was [always] able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission toward God [His sinlessness and His unfailing determination to do the Father’s will]. 
8| Although He was a Son [who had never been disobedient to the Father], He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered. 
9| And having been made perfect [uniquely equipped and prepared as Savior and retaining His integrity amid opposition], He became the source of eternal salvation [an eternal inheritance] to all those who obey Him, 
10| being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
 

Ephesians 2:14

4| For He Himself is our peace and our bond of unity. He who made both groups—[Jews and Gentiles]—into one body and broke down the barrier, the dividing wall [of spiritual antagonism between us],

Romans 8:34

34| Who is the one who condemns us? Christ Jesus is the One who died [to pay our penalty], and more than that, who was raised [from the dead], and who is at the right hand of God interceding [with the Father] for us.

The gift devotional Day 3

 

Read day 2 of the devotional here

Read day 4 of the devotional here

Read or listen to the full 5 day devotional in the YouVersion

 

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