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 treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.  - Matthew 2:11

On last year's Christmas Eve blog post, I wrote about Mission Drift and staying on purpose, just as Jesus did. In the post, I only spoke of Jesus as the suffering Savior who came to the earth to die for the sins of all mankind. The Magi's gift of myrrh was symbolic of His obedient suffering that would lead to death on the cross.

I made no mention of the gold and frankincense, which both carry deeper meanings beyond the grave. All three gifts have implications for us today.

The Magi gave gold which is symbolic of His kingship. The frankincense meant that He would one day be appointed as our High Priest. Jesus would be King and High Priest? According to the scriptures, kings would come from the lineage of Judah and priests from the lineage of Levi. These offices were never to merge into one executive office because men were too depraved to be able to handle so much power. Priests represented God. Kings represented men. The intermingling of the two offices generally led to disaster. God was the first to develop a system of checks and balances and to separate church from state.

The magi received insight as to what gifts to present the baby Jesus. They may have been scratching their heads and thinking that these are strange shower gifts or they may have understood the messianic prophesies of the Old Testament. Here is one such passage by the prophet Zechariah.

Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. Zechariah 6:13

After Jesus's death and resurrection there was a coronation in heaven to crown Him King of kings. The writer of Hebrews makes us privy to an intimate conversation between Father and Son:

Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
   "You are my Son;
      today I have become your Father^{," (see Psalm 2, speaks of kingship)} And he says in another place,
   "You are a priest forever,
      in the order of Melchizedek." (see Psalm 110)

Jesus was from the earthly lineage of Judah, therefore He is rightfully crowned King, but what about High Priest? God did away with the weak levitical priesthood and appointed Jesus a High Priest forever.

Jesus is our compassionate King and faithful High Priest. He was qualified because of His sinless suffering and for His compassion. He has been granted all authority and full access to the throne of God which is now called the throne of grace. He is forever making intercession on our behalf. He represents God and man. There is peace and harmony between these two offices of priest and king.

I told you that there are implications for us, but you will have to wait until the next post to find out what they are. In the meantime, what should you do?  Bow down and worship Him for truly He is worthy!