June 3

Matthew 2:11
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasure, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh”— Matthew 2:1111And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:11).
THE coming of God the Son into the world as a little Babe tells of His infinite love and condescension. No one is afraid of a baby as such. Yet Herod and all Jerusalem were troubled at His coming. This tells out the bitter enmity of man’s heart toward God. The Incarnation was the expression of His infinite love and concern for sinners. He came not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:1717For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:17)). But His love was met by coldness and suspicion. He was rejected by those whose blessing He sought. It is all-important that we challenge our own hearts as to whether we are still numbered among those who spurn His grace, or among those who have bowed in repentance at His feet and who bring Him the gold, frankincense, and myrrh of our heart’s truest adoration.
“O’er vale and hill the Wise Men sped
Upon their holy quest.
Their guide a flaming star that led
To Bethlehem’s lowly manger-bed,
And to the Christ so blest.
They knelt before Him offering
To Him their gift of gold,
The royal tribute they would bring
To One they hailed as newborn King,
Rejoiced now to behold.
They gave Him frankincense so rare,
And laid it at His feet.
‘Tis incense speaks of praise and prayer;
For One divine they worshiped there,
The Babe they came to greet.
And myrrh they brought to Him as well,
Foreseeing pain and loss;
The myrrh of suffering to tell,
A shadow o’er His head that fell
E’en then of Calvary’s cross.”