passages that form the basis of the yet future Messianic hope of the Jewish people are well known. But there is one passage in Isaiah which speaks of that coming in glory which must be brought into contrast with the visit of the wise men and their offering of myrrh at the feet of the Child Christ. Every one who knew the Old Testament should have seen the significance of this gift of myrrh as soon as it was brought to the Lord. In the sixtieth chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah there is a great reference to the future coming of the Messiah of the Jews at the time when we who know Him now as Saviour will see Him re turn for both His own among the Jews and the believers whom He has called out from among the Gentiles. We read, “ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isa. 60:1-3). This is a prophecy of the future glory of Jeru salem at the time of the return of the Lord, the coming of Christ as the Mes siah of Israel. By no stretch of the imagination can any literal fulfillment be claimed for this passage at present. But when Christ comes again, all these blessings shall come upon the Jews. The prophecy continues, “ . . . the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee . . . they shall bring gold and frankin cense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord” (Isa. 60:5, 6). Do you catch the significance of the prophecy ? When Christ comes again, God’s Word tells us that there shall be gifts brought to Him. What gifts? Gold and frankincense. When He came the first time, what did the wise men bring Him? Gold, frankincense and myrrh. Why did they bring Him myrrh ? They brought Him myrrh because He had come into the earth to die, and myrrh was the sign of death. But when He comes again, though they bring Him gold and frankincense, there will be no myrrh. That, thank God, has been fin ished forever. If we turn to our Bibles and look at the varied uses of myrrh we shall find some most significant statements. It is easy to understand, of course, why there should have been myrrh mingled with the oil of anointing that was to set apart the High Priest of Israel. Was not the High Priest the one who offered the blood sacrifice of the lamb? On the great day of atonement it was he who took the blood within the veil and placed it upon the mercy seat. Yes, there must be myrrh in the oil that set him apart for his task of death. Then, in the book of Proverbs, there is a startling use of myrrh. It is in thé Page Eight
chapter that warns young men against the way of the prostitute. She speaks and invites the young man to accom pany her. “ I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry . . . I have per fumed my bed with myrrh . . .” (Prov. 7:17.) What do we find here? Myrrh, the perfume of a prostitute’s bed. I do not think we shall ever realize all that it cost the Lord Jesus to take upon Himself the load of our sin and to be bom into this world. There is that which though a perfume in the nostrils of the world is death in the thought of God. When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He took not only the polite sins of a cultured civilization, but He took the horrors, the curse, the unspeak able vileness of men’s souls. He bore it all. He “ emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:7,8 R.V.) That is why the wise men brought myrrh to Bethlehem. There was one use of myrrh in ancient times which the Lord refused. In those days when ether and chloroform were unknown, those who suffered wanted something to numb their pain. Myrrh was a poor substitute, but it did stupefy the senses and deaden pain to a certain degree. So we read that when He came to be crucified, “ And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not” (Mark 15:23). Why did He refuse the myrrh in this manner? It was because He was going to take all that suffering and death could pos sibly bring to man. He was the Saviour. He was made sin for us, He “who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). It was not that He was not thirsty. Can we ever forget that cry, “ I thirst” ? When that cry was given, they did bring Him something to drink. This time He partook of it. Why? It was vinegar. It would heighten His thirst, make it more terrible than it had been before. But happily when this had occurred, His work was done. Then it was He cried, “ It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30). Now the work which He came to do was done. They had brought myrrh to Him in Bethlehem and now they brought myrrh to Him in the garden tomb. He had dismissed His spirit. Those who had been His followers did not realize all that He was doing in His death. He had cried, “ I lay down my life . . . No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:17, 18). But though He had told them, they understood it not. They had not under stood that it was written, “ For thou ■yyilt not leave my soul in hell [hades]; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Psa. 16:10). And because they did not realize that His body was to be kept supematurally,
they brought a hundred pounds of spices to embalm it. Here was myrrh. Care fully they prepared the linens. They wound them around His body, packing in the myrrh between the folds. And when their work was done, they had left the body wound like a mummy, bound in myrrh. When next the disciples saw that linen, it was lying like the discarded chrysalis of a butterfly. In His resurrection He had passed right through the linen and the myrrh and left the hollow shell of death empty forever. “ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Is it any wonder that we read of the impression this sight made on the keen spiritual mind of John? When Peter dashed into the open tomb, the more reverent John fol lowed hesitantly. We read that “ Peter . . . went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin that was about his head . . . Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed” (John 20:6-8). John, the beloved disciple, believed in the resurrection, believed in all that was compassed in our Lord’s incarnation when he saw the linen redolent with myrrh. Can you not see and believe today? The myrrh that was brought to His feet by the wise men was the sym bol of death. You who were dead in trespasses and sins may now look to the cross of Christ with confidence. This was the purpose of the incarnation. This is the real meaning of Christmas. There is no other meaning to Christmas. Any attempt to get any other meaning out of Christmas is to play fast and loose with the Word of God. “ For unto you is bom this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). DR. BARNHOUSE RESIGNS We are glad to publish, at the request of Dr. Barnhouse, the following explana tion in regard to his recent resignation from Revelation: Dr. Barnhouse, who for nineteen years edited Revelation magazine, has resigned, along with all regular contributors and most of the occasional contributors, be cause they would not condone a divorce and remarriage of one of the Board of Directors of the magazine. The Sunday School Times published an explanatory announcement of Dr. Barnhouse’s resig nation and almost all of the fundamen tal forces in Philadelphia have approved his stand. Dr. Barnhouse stepped out without the mailing list, and all sub scribers who wish to follow Dr. Barn house in his stand may write to him per sonally at Box 2000, Philadelphia 3, Pa. His new magazine, ETERNITY, will be gin publication in March. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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