“Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom;…”
The third gift. I understand the first two: gold and frankincense. Those are gifts fit for a King. But the third gift? Myrrh? A bitter perfume? How did that get in there?
Christmas is a time of joy and hope and peace. A time for celebrating the birth of a baby who would be the King of the whole world. A baby who could draw other “kings” on a journey from hundreds of miles away. Foreigners. Non-Jews. Not even kings really, but wise men, or magi, as they were called in their home country of Persia (Iran). Magi who saw a star that said, “Go and worship that newborn baby.”
But at least one of them saw something more in this baby’s birth: “a life of gathering gloom.” A life of “sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.” This baby, “born a King on Bethlehem’s plain,” came into a world filled with darkness, anger, hate, and violence.
As we remember that first Christmas, let us grieve the evil that is still very much with us. But may we also rejoice that the Baby of Bethlehem is the King who confronted evil in all its forms and who promises love and peace for our hurting world.
Prayer: Almighty and loving God, our hearts break over the outworkings of evil in our world. Help us to find our hope and comfort in the Baby who overcomes evil with love and who turns darkness into light. Amen.
Rev. Steve Simon