The Strangest Christmas Gift Ever

What’s the strangest or most unusual Christmas gift you ever received? Most presents we get are welcomed, sometimes surprises we hadn’t even thought to request. But once in a while we open a gift that’s either inappropriate, embarrassing, or something we’d never buy for ourselves.

 

I can’t remember receiving a lot of these over the years, but did have an aunt who seemed to think, “I know he’ll never expect this!” And she was right. One year when I was a teenager, she sent three pairs of thin, stretchy socks – white, yellow and red. At that stage in my life, I wore socks of one color only – black. So, the Christmas socks she sent were as useful as a screen door in a submarine.

 

Michelangelo's "Pieta" on display
at St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican.

Reading the Christmas story in the Bible, we find Mary and Joseph welcoming a very unexpected cadre of guests – wise men, or Magi, from the East. (That didn’t mean Boston or New York City or Pittsburgh.) They were mystics likely from either the Persian or Babylonian empires who had pondered the ancient prophecies of a coming Messiah. Their calculations had told them when and where this promised king would be born, so they set out to find him and worship him.

Tradition says there were three of them. But there might have been more, along with a sizable entourage to accompany them on their long, arduous journey. Whether it was “We Three Kings,” as the familiar carol claims, or not is inconsequential. What does matter is the gifts – three in all – they brought for the youngster who fulfilled the revered prophecies. Matthew 2:11 informs us, “On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”

 

The first two gifts made sense: Gold, signified royalty, which the new king was without a doubt. And frankincense, since the Messiah would be serving in a high priestly role. Frankincense was an aromatic resin used in incense and perfume, along with having medicinal uses. During ritual sacrifices, fragrant incense was often part of the ceremony.

 

So, both the gold and frankincense would surely have been welcomed by the young parents of Jesus. The third gift, however, must have caught them off-guard to say the least.

 

Imagine you’re expecting a baby and someone hosts a shower for you. Friends come with a variety of gifts – blankets, clothes, disposable diapers, infant toys, a mobile, sippy cups, stuffed animals. Everyone’s smiling at the cute gifts. Then you open a gift that turns those smiles upside-down. Inside the shiny, colorfully wrapped package is…embalming fluid. How would you react? Confused? Angry? Horrified?

 

This is exactly what myrrh was – a product used in the embalming process. Specifically, it was a gummy resin from a small, thorny tree in the Middle East. Since myrrh had a strong smell, it was used in perfume. But most commonly, some societies also used it as an embalming substance.

 

What kind of present is that for a young child, two years old or younger? To our way of thinking, such a gift would be strange, a real head-scratcher. We’re celebrating a new life, not a death. But remember, the Magi were acting according to prophecies of old, some of which spoke of a suffering Messiah. To them, myrrh would be very fitting.

 

We don’t know how well the wise men grasped the significance of the myrrh. But 2,000 years later, the reason is clear. Because Jesus Christ came not only to teach and provide an example of how to live a righteous life but also to die – serving as the once-and-for-all-time payment to cover the penalty of our sins. 

 

Hebrews 9:12 tells us Christ’s death on the cross ended the need for animal sacrifices the Israelites had practiced for many centuries to atone for people’s sins: “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”

 

One day we all will die. But unlike the rest of us, Jesus’ primary mission as God in the flesh was to die. To be our Savior. He paid a price we could not pay to satisfy the debt He did not owe – our debt – making it possible for us to gain a right relationship with the Lord and offer us life eternal.

 

This time of year, Nativity sets and Christmas stories present peaceful, sentimental images of the baby Jesus with His earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, surrounded by docile farm animals, curious shepherds, glowing angels, and the Magi. Happy, heart-warming scenes. However, from the moment of His birth, a grim shadow was cast, that of a wooden cross upon which the Lord Jesus one day would be crucified.

 

That day the gold and frankincense were of no value. What was needed was myrrh, for anointing His broken, bleeding body. We’re told after Jesus’ death was confirmed, Pontius Pilate allowed Joseph of Arimathea to take the body for burial. Accompanying him was Nicodemus, a high-ranking Pharisee and secret Christ follower who “brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs” (John 19:39-40).

 

At that moment, Jesus’ death might have seemed like the greatest tragedy in the history of the world. But we know the Good News: Three days later He was resurrected, conquering death and the power of sin. In The New Living Translation, Romans 6:10 declares, “When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God.” Because of that, we too can live for God’s glory. 

 

It’s good to reflect on the three gifts of the Magi: gold for the King eternal; frankincense for our great High Priest; and the strangest Christmas gift of all, myrrh for the Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sins, rose from the dead, and now offers life everlasting for all who place their faith in Him. 

A Notable Time When Politics and Faith Intersected

This being another Presidential election year, it seems appropriate to consider something that happened nearly 50 years ago. A new term burst upon the American psyche: “born again.” This came about during the 1976 Presidential campaign when surprise candidate Jimmy Carter declared during numerous interviews that he was a “born-again Christian.”

 

That comment, among others, ignited a media frenzy as political reporters and commentators scrambled for a better handle on the then-Georgia governor seeking the nation’s highest office. Other Presidents and candidates had been known for their religious affiliations, but perhaps never as publicly and boldly as Carter. Meanwhile, the term “born again” soon took on a life of its own.

 

Many people lacked understanding of the phrase or where it had originated, but that didn’t stop marketers from latching onto it for promoting their products, using it as a label for anything innovative. Suddenly we were hearing and reading about ‘born-again cars,’ ‘born-again businesses,’ ‘born-again strategies,’ even ‘born-again churches.’ A vital biblical term turned into an overused cliché devoid of its essential meaning. 

 

Thankfully, hucksterism hasn’t diminished even slightly the spiritual significance of being born again. We first encounter it in the Scriptures when Jesus Christ was approached by a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a prominent member of the Jewish ruling council. Nicodemus desired to get acquainted with this individual he’d heard so much about but wasn’t inclined to do so openly. So, he had requested a private meeting at night.

 

In the biblical account, Nicodemus quickly got to his purpose for meeting Jesus. “Rabbi, we know you as a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2). Seems like a reasonable question, right?

 

As was so often the case, Jesus did a sort of “end-around” in responding. “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’” (John 3:3). There’s the term – “born again” – and perhaps like the reporters interviewing Jimmy Carter, a confused look must have appeared on Nicodemus's face.

 

He asked, “‘How can a man be born again when he is old?... Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’” Jesus gave a straight-forward answer: ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at My saying, “You must be born again’…” (John 3:4-7).

 

Being a true follower of Christ means to be twice-born – born physically, and born again spiritually. This is why the apostle Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Committing one’s life to Jesus doesn’t mean adopting a new philosophy or ideology; it means receiving a new life. The life of Christ living in us by His Spirit.

 

References to being born again don’t end with the gospel of John. In 1 Peter 1:3 the apostle once known as Simon writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” If anyone understood what it meant to be born again, it was the one-time fisherman Simon/Peter.

 

He addresses this once more in the same chapter: “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).

 

This does seem to raise a different question, however. Is there a difference between being a Christian and a born-again Christian as President Carter phrased it? Can one be a Christian without being born again? I would contend – as would many others – that the Bible teaches they are one and the same. To use both terms together is redundant. It’s like talking about a canine dog, a feline cat, or a time-keeping clock. 

 

The late Rev. Billy Graham wrote about this, asserting, “Just as surely as God implants the life cell in the tiny seed that produces the mighty oak, and as surely as He instills the heartbeat in the life of the tiny infant yet unborn; as surely as He puts motion into the planets, stars, and heavenly bodies, He implants His divine life in people’s hearts who earnestly seek Him through Christ. This is not conjecture; it is a fact. Has this happened to you? Have you been twice born? You see, the Bible says that unless we have this new birth, we are unfit for the Kingdom of God.”

 

One of the strongest biblical statements about this is Romans 6:4, in which Paul explains, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” It is this new life that empowers us to live as the Lord commands.

Truly, Truly I Say to You: The Bible Is True

If you’re a parent, you probably know the drill. You ask your child to do something, but he or she pays no heed. They seem to have become hard of hearing. Or your child is engaged in unacceptable behavior, and you want their attention immediately. What do you typically do? 

You might figuratively pull out their birth certificate and with a loud voice, recite their complete given name: “Joseph Thomas Smith!” or “Heather Elizabeth Williams!” During non-stressful moments they answer to “Joe” or “Beth,” but when they hear their full name, ears perk up because they know you’re saying, “Hey, listen up. Right now!”

 

In especially teachable moments, Jesus Christ utilized a similar strategy. Except His go-to phrase was, “Truly, truly I say to you….” If you’re most accustomed to the original King James Version wording, it reads, “Verily, verily….” Some modern translations put it this way: “I tell you the truth….” Whichever way you prefer, Jesus was emphasizing the veracity of what He was about to say.

 

Not to suggest that He wasn’t speaking truthfully at other times, because the One who declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6) always spoke the truth. But there were times when Jesus wanted to be certain His hearers were paying close attention, that they knew what He was preparing to say was crucial.

 

This particularly occurs in the gospel of John. One example concerns when Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to Jesus at night to ask some very pressing questions. Pastor J.D. Greear refers to this visitation as “Nic at Nite.” Jesus had the religious leader’s full attention right away when He said, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3).

 

We can imagine Nicodemus’s jaw dropping before he responded, “How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” To which Jesus replied, again with emphasis, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:4-5).

 

Several other times during the evening conversation, Jesus began His statements with “Truly, truly” to assure the inquiring Pharisee that He was speaking in utmost seriousness, making assertions that were certain to shake him to his ecclesiastical core.

 

However, it wasn’t with Nicodemus only that the Lord found it necessary to be so emphatic. Earlier, the first time He encountered Nathanael, who would become one of His followers, the skeptic-turned-believer had said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” To which Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that. Truly, truly (I tell you the truth), you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:49-51). As if to say to Nathanael, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

 

In the gospel’s fifth chapter, Jesus again was interacting with religious leaders who challenged His credentials to say what He was saying and to perform the miracles He was doing. Jesus’ response was, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; He can do only what He sees His father doing…whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned” (John 5:19,24). 

 

Jesus Christ used this phrase repeatedly, His way of putting a stamp of authenticity on His declarations, many of which astounded His hearers. To those who, like Pontius Pilate, would ask, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), Jesus stalwartly stood, stared straight at them and declared, “I am Truth.”

 

These days, everyone seems eager to espouse “my truth,” but few are actively and openly seeking The Truth. The greatest source for this, I’m convinced, is the Bible. As it asserts in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 

 

And to those who would argue the Scriptures are at best archaic and irrelevant for today, we have this rebuttal from Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and matter; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

 

I think Jesus would plainly state to us today, “Truly, truly, I say to you – the Bible is true!”

Vantage Points: Always Important to Consider

Promotional poster for
"Vantage Point"

Back in 2008, a film called “Vantage Point” was produced, a political action thriller about an assassination attempt on a public figure, viewed through the eyes of a collection of characters. The film, according to Wikipedia, “recounts a series of events which are re-enacted from several different perspectives and viewpoints to reveal a truthful account of what happened.”

It’s been years since I viewed “Vantage Point,” but I do recall seeing the initial viewpoint presented and arriving at one conclusion. My judgment changed with each successive perspective that was shown. It’s often said that seeing is believing, but evidently, seeing isn’t always perceiving correctly.

 

This is evident these days with the cyber-flood of smartphone videos capturing countless events and incidents: Shoppers clashing over use of virus-protective facemasks in stores and public places. Natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes, or huge explosions. Tighten-your-seatbelts car chases. It seems every time an act of suspected law enforcement misconduct takes place, someone’s recording it. One angle doesn't always tell the whole story.

 

In other ways, we’ve all seen evidence of how vantage points can affect judgment. In football games, players are sometimes assessed illegal roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties because an official didn’t see how an opposing player instigated the response. Four people could stand at different corners of a busy intersection, witness an accident, and come up with seemingly conflicting details. Or maybe we’ve taken the side of a friend or family member in an angry dispute, until we learned about the other side of the story.

 

But there’s another vantage points advantage. They can give us a fuller, more comprehensive account, even when the facts presented are in agreement.

 

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of hearing – and even writing – the testimonies of hundreds of men and women, stories about how God invaded their lives and transformed them forever. In many cases, specifics were very different from how the Lord has worked in my life. However, it was clear they were talking about the same God that I worship and serve; the result was to broaden my own understanding and appreciation for the many ways He can touch lives and alter them for eternity.

 

The Bible itself is a prime example of how different vantage points can provide a more complete picture. Comprised of 66 books, written by about 40 different authors over a span of thousands of years, it gives amazing depth and breadth for learning about the relationship between the Lord and His people. Unique vantage points about the same God. 

 

Take the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, for example. Each gives an account of the life of Jesus Christ and His followers, basically the same story from very distinctive vantage points. We find the Beatitudes, part of Jesus’ “sermon on the mount,” in both Matthew (chapters 5-7) and Luke (chapter 6), but they are not included in the other two gospels. 

 

Only the gospel of John gives us the amazing account of Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, a leader of the Pharisees. This passage provides two of His most profound statements, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3), and the one even many non-believers have heard, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

 

Each of the gospels has an account of Peter denying Christ three times as He was undergoing a trial on trumped-up charges prior to His crucifixion. However, only Luke reports a small but extremely significant detail: “Immediately [after the third denial], while (Peter) was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:60-62).

 

The other three gospels don’t include a mention of Jesus looking directly at Peter at that moment, but it’s important because near the end of the gospel of John, we see a moving scene where Jesus dramatically restores Peter – in effect, erasing each of Peter’s three denials. 

 

Three times Jesus asks him, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” (John 21:15-17), and each time Peter replies, “Lord, You know that I love You.” Without saying the specific words, “Peter, I forgive you,” Jesus replies successively, “Feed My lambs…. Tend My sheep…. Feed My sheep.”

 

Why do we see variations from one gospel narrative to another? Because their purpose is not to supply verbatim repetition. Also because, while divinely inspired, God allowed the personalities, perspectives – and vantage points – of each gospel author to be represented.

 

The Lord could have given us much, much more. It’s inconceivable that all there is to know about Jesus Christ could be captured in just four gospels, or even the entirety of the Scriptures. As the last of the gospels closes, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen” (John 21:25). 

 

But the Scriptures provide us with many vantage points. And from these, we can discover all we need to know. 

The Original ‘Nick at Nite’

This was the "Nick@Nite" logo
used by the Nickelodeon Channel,
2002-2006.

Have you or your kids ever watched “Nick@Nite,” programs broadcast in the evening by the Nickelodeon cable channel? It features syndicated series, children’s-oriented films and some original programming. We rarely watch it, unless one of our grandkids is visiting, but did you know there was another “Nick at night” about 2,000 years ago?

This “Nick” was Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees, the Jewish ruling council, in the days of Jesus. In an amazing encounter recounted in the gospel of John (chapter 3:1-21), Nicodemus went to see Jesus at night, under the cover of darkness, presumably so he would not be observed by his peers and open to their ridicule. This evening interaction revealed a foundational spiritual truth.

Nicodemus kicked off the conversation by stating, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” As He so often did, Jesus responded in a very unexpected way, answering a question the Pharisee had not even asked: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 

The religious leader’s first inclination might have been to do a double-take, thinking something like, “Huh? What?” But then he asked, “How can a man be born when he is old?... Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus quickly explained He was not referring to physical birth, but rather spiritual renewal and transformation.

“I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8).

In 1976, in the days leading up to the Presidential election, then-candidate Jimmy Carter brought the term, “born again Christian,” into mainstream consciousness when he gave an interview in the most unlikely of places, Playboy magazine. Over the decades since then, “born again” has been used – and misused – countless times. But there’s no mistaking what Jesus meant during his interaction with Nicodemus.

He wasn’t referring to a simple change of thinking, attitude or philosophy. Neither was Jesus insisting upon the adoption of a new ideology or belief system. He was introducing “Nick” – and us – to a fundamental principle of the Christian faith. We can’t have a genuine, life-changing relationship with God without being born again spiritually. 

In Ephesians 2:1-25, we’re told, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient…. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ….” In another letter, the apostle Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Grasping this truth, this reality, has been transforming for me, as I suspect it was for Nicodemus, who later became one of Jesus’ devoted followers. Being a person who does checklists and enjoys crossing off my “to-do’s,” I had been trying “to do” the Christian life, with very little success – but much frustration. Sometimes I still forget, or get distracted and fall back into my old “I can do this myself” habits. Then the Lord reminds me of what He said elsewhere, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). 

I know I’ve written about this before, but I remember how long it took for this truth to really sink in. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). I can’t overstate how freeing it has been to “get it,” knowing that it’s not about what I can do for the Lord, but rather, what He wants to do in me and through me. Understanding this makes all the difference, every minute of every day!