#5. AURUM, OLIBANUM...et MURRAM??

This is the final post in our 5-part series looking for that Star of Wonder, following the previous post:
http://hotspuds.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/did-you-bring-gps.html

Here's a Christmas bonus for you:

What gifts have these strangers from the East brought for the young Child Jesus, the new King of the Jews?

GOLD can be beaten so thin that it can be seen through. Aircraft windscreens and spacesuit visors are coated with gold to protect against radiation. The atomic symbol for gold is Au from the Latin word for ‘shining dawn’: aurum. The Hebrew name for gold is zahab, because of its shimmer. (Joseph doesn't know yet that he is about to be given angelic orders to shift his little family to Egypt - an expensive move!)

FRANKINCENSE (olibanum) is a sweet spicy incense used in religious services. The bark of Boswellia serrata trees is cut to produce pale yellow tears of fragrant gum resin which is dissolved in alcohol then steamed. The Hebrew name for frankincense is lebonah, because of its whitish colour. The English name comes from the French: franc ences or ‘free incense’ ……except this stuff aint free - it's very expensive!

MYRRH (murram) is an embalming oil, also used in making sacred anointing oil. Pale yellow gum exudes from beneath the bark of the shrubs, Comniphora myrrha and Balsamodendron myrrha, which is then distilled to produce a bitter oil. The Hebrew name for myrrh is mor, meaning ‘bitter’- the meaning of the name Mary! 

So ladies, imagine you are Mary of Nazareth - possibly still a teenager – you are newly married  but your reputation is in tatters and you now have this Child miraculously conceived called Jesus, as ordered by an angel. You are also blessed with a man of integrity for a husband, Joseph, who always obeys divine orders precisely. You have been told that your Child is ‘Son of the Highest’ and will sit on king David’s throne forever, but......king David has been dead for nearly 1000 years and his throne has been gone for nearly 600 years!
Bethlehem is not your home town and now these strange visitors from the East have arrived on the doorstep to bow down in worshipping your Child, presenting Him with:               

GOLD!...shimmering like the shining dawn out there…                                      

FRANKINCENSE!...umm, sweet and very expensive...these Gentile visitors act like this is a coronation!…but whatever is in that last flask?

MYRRH?        O,oh!!  Embalming oil for my new Baby?? ...and that's what my name means!...bitter! 

How would you feel about that? Is that a bitter taste in your mouth?

Over 30 years later, Jesus refused to drink pain-deadening wine laced with myrrh, before being crucified as a criminal, but later that day Nicodemus the teacher of Israel, together with wealthy Joseph of Arimathaea, embalmed Jesus’ bloodied body with expensive myrrh and spices before burial in the brand new tomb. 
Why did God come to live with us like this? Why did Jesus die like the worst of criminals? Why did He rise from among the dead?                                            



He's risen!!

Photo credits:            
magi /pinterest.com                                                                                                                                                                                                       
spacesuit /flickr.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
censer / orthocath.wordpress.com                                                         
sepulchre / ferlans.wordpress.com