Gold, Frankenstein and Mud
“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.”
Matthew 2:11–12
As Luke ends his Advent and Christmas telling with shepherds, Matthew chooses wise men. We have dressed up the story of Jesus’s birth. Whenever the nativity story is shown in celluloid, we see a gathering of all the players in the story, including the “Three Wise Men,” but a careful reading of scripture clarifies our sanitation. We are never told there were three and, perhaps more importantly, we see here that Mary is no longer tending to a baby in a manger. Thank God she has found a house and it is here that the wise men show up to pay homage with their gifts.
Somewhere in our history, the architects of Church history gave the wise men names — Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchior. The gifts, however, are detailed in Scripture and they represent the threefold ministry of Jesus. Gold was given to a king. Frankincense was an aromatic gum resin used in incense and offered during worship by a priest. Myrrh was also an aromatic plant resin, but typically used to anoint a body in preparation for burial. Thus, we see from early on the foreshadowing of the life of the baby Jesus — king, priest and sacrifice.
There is little rest for the poor Holy family in the scene that follows. In order to escape Herod’s murderous tirade, they had to divert to Egypt for a season. It all speaks to the kind of roller coaster life that was part of who Jesus came to be from day one. It also tells us of a God, not far away, removed or on a throne somewhere in a heavenly realm, but one who was willing to come down and live among us. It speaks of a God who literally poured out his life so that each of us could find life by pouring out ourselves to Him. Here we see the literal translation of Emmanuel, “God with us” — a word so often associated with this season through which we are traveling.
Some years ago, a clergy friend of mine found himself behind the eight ball in preparing his Christmas Eve sermon. He came home late one evening, frustrated by the days’ activities and pressed to get the work done. Failing to greet his family, he entered his study, closed the door, and sat at his desk.
Moments later, one of his children knocked at the door with a quiet whisper. At first, he was irritated and spun around in his chair ready to bark out an order to leave him be. Yet, something inside got hold of him and he welcomed his daughter into his presence.
“Daddy, we want to show you our Christmas play,” the young girl said with excitement. It was an in-home production and his four children put together the little play all afternoon. Then, taking her father’s hand, she pulled him into the living room where a small card table was set up, covered with a sheet.
Since there were only four children, there was some exchanging of roles, but as they got to the end, his young daughter welcomed her three brothers, each carrying a gift. She said, “And here are the wise men, and they are carrying their gifts. Gold, Frankenstein, and Mud.”
My friend did as any loving father would and should have done. He did not say a word about semantics but clapped and hugged each of his children before getting back to work. He returned to his study and began to think on the play. He thought of the gifts his children presented, and determined they were not as off center as some might think.
For instance, he knew gold was appropriate, not just for a king, but also because it represented so much of what Jesus taught. Jesus was friend to all. He was friend of the rich, of the poor and everyone in between. And he spent a good deal of his ministry addressing issues around money and possessions. He was not necessarily a fan of wealth but was no enemy either. Jesus primarily spoke against indulgence, waste and greed. Gifts given were to be shared. It is about as simple as that. Yes, gold would play an important role in Jesus’s ministry.
“Frankenstein” was not too far off either. Jesus knew something about how humans could behave like monsters. Through sin and selfishness, the good people God wanted humans to be were often twisted into creatures God would hardly recognize. Covered with scars of anger, gossip, hatred, racism, self-indulgence, violence, and so on, humankind became “Franken-kind.” Jesus spent much of his ministry trying to transform those monsters back into the image of God.
“Mud” represented the dirt of humanity. Jesus knew a good bit about traveling through the filth of the Earth. The horror of the Frankensteins He encountered was the living expression of sin which, left unattended, ended in death. Death would have been no stranger to Jesus by the time He reached His young adult years. Jesus also was acquainted with disease, illness and death. Isaiah prophesied about Jesus:
“... He was despised and rejected by others;
a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity …:
Isaiah 53:3
Jesus spent much of His life healing the physical wounds of the humans He encountered. When it was time to heal their spiritual wounds, death was the chosen path, thus ending His earthly journey and the placement of His body into a rock-hewn tomb. Yet, once He traveled through death, He also chose to defeat it, by rising from it and giving hope to all who might follow Him.
You can imagine what my friend did. God gave him his Christmas sermon through the innocence of child-inspired wisdom. “Gold, Frankenstein, and Mud.” Jesus knew about all three and He knows the struggles you may have with them.
Too often, our own struggles with wealth, monsters and filth take us far from the home God wants for us. He promises that He will not leave us or abandon us if we are but willing to take His hand. And when we do, perhaps like the wise men, when our journey has ended, we will return to our “own country by another road.” Well?
A Question to Ponder as you Prepare Room for the Christ Child
Can you name the struggles you have with your own encounters with gold, Frankenstein and mud? How can holding Jesus’s hand help you through and in those struggles? How can giving your life to Him enable you to return to your “own country”?
A Prayer
We three kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, Moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain,
gold I bring to crown him again,
King for ever, Ceasing never,
over us all to reign
Frankincense to offer have I:
incense owns a Deity nigh;
prayer and praising, gladly raising,
worship him, God Most High.
Myrrh is mine; its bitter perfume
breathes a life of gathering gloom;
sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
sealed in the stone-cold tomb.
Glorious now behold him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice;
heaven sings alleluia;
Alleluia, the earth replies.
O star of wonder, star of night,
star with royal beauty bright;
westward leading, still proceeding,
guide us to thy perfect light!
John Henry Hopkins, d. 1891
From “We Three Kings”[1]
[1] The Church Hymnal, 128.
