What did Joseph and Mary do with the gifts the magi brought to Jesus? | GotQuestions.org

In today's video I'll answer your question, what did Joseph and Mary do with the gifts the

Magi brought to Jesus? Then afterward, as always, I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end.

Matthew 2 verses 1 -12 recounts how wise men from the east, called Magi, were guided by a star to the town of Bethlehem to visit the baby

Jesus. They entered the house and saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped

Him. Then they opened their treasure chest and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Matthew 2 verse 11. By the time the Magi arrived, Jesus was probably about two years old.

The family had moved from the stable into a more suitable house accommodation. The Magi bowed down and worshipped the child, presenting

Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Each of these gifts was extremely valuable.

Gold and costly spices like frankincense and myrrh were gifts reserved for high -ranking figures such as kings and queens.

Immediately following the visit of the Magi and presentation of their gifts, God spoke to Joseph in a dream, saying,

Get up, and take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.

Matthew 2 verse 13. That same night, the family departed for Egypt and stayed there until the death of Herod.

The Bible does not say what Mary and Joseph did with the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but many scholars have remarked that these gifts would have likely helped finance the family's material needs during their trip to Egypt and beyond.

Matthew does not specify the exact value or quantity of each gift, but the items were known to be treasured commodities in ancient times.

Gold, the most valuable of all precious metals, was the standard currency of the day. It was used in jewelry, in the priestly vestments, and extensively in the furnishings of the tabernacle and temple.

It is no stretch of the imagination to think that Joseph would have used the Magi's gift of gold to pay for the family's expenses.

Frankincense and myrrh, both aromatic resins, were used in worship because of their intensely fragrant properties.

God instructed the Israelites to use frankincense as one of the pure ingredients of the most holy blend of the incense reserved exclusively for ritual purposes.

No other incense mixture was permitted on the altar of the Lord. Pure frankincense was set near the bread of the

Presence and sprinkled in with the grain offerings. It was also used in perfumes. This spice was expensive and precious for a couple of reasons.

First, it had to be gathered from far -off regions of India, North Africa, and South Arabia, and transported long distances by camel caravan back to Israel.

The processing of frankincense was complex, taking months to harvest and distill. Myrrh was another valuable spice used by merchants for trading in Bible times.

It was considered a sacred anointing oil. Myrrh was also used to make perfumes, medicine, beauty treatments, and for anointing the dead.

Like frankincense, myrrh production was time -consuming to process, and the raw material had to be imported from distant lands.

Any of the gifts the magi brought to Jesus could have been sold or traded for supplies, accommodations, and living expenses.

Some traditions speculate that Mary saved the frankincense and myrrh to use as ointments to anoint

Jesus' body for burial, but the Bible doesn't mention this. Instead, John's Gospel states that Nicodemus bought about 75 pounds of a perfumed mixture of myrrh and aloes to anoint

Jesus' body for burial in John 19, verses 39 -40. Since the

Bible does not reveal what Joseph and Mary did with the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the best readers could do is hazard a guess.

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