That image brings this question to my mind: I wonder what Mary and Joseph did with the gold, frankensense and myrrh? Use it to pay for the trip? Buy carpentry tools? Hmmm.
BeckyDecember 28, 2005 - 11:56 am
Ah, Teresa, that reminds me of a story contest I witnessed about ten years ago, on exactly that topic! The winner was one Michael Moore (no, not that Michael Moore…), and here’s the Reader’s Digest version as I remember it:
Mary and Joseph, having to leave town in a hurry, left the gifts in the care of their rich friend Joseph of Arimathea. Right after they left, Herod killed all the babies in Bethlehem, and there weren’t enough spices to anoint them all for burial, so J. of A. thought Mary and Joseph would agree that this was a right and proper use for the myrrh. So he donated it, and there was just enough to bury all the slaughtered innocents – with enough left over for the body of one grown man.
Mary & Joseph came back, still didn’t feel comfortable having such rich gifts in the house, so they left them with cousin Zachariah & Elizabeth. Many years pass, Zachariah is serving in the Temple, the Romans have defiled it and he needs incense to re-sanctify it, so he uses the Wise Men’s frankincense – as he hears the sound of Jesus cleansing the Temple outside.
The third gift, the gold, was stolen from Z & E by a Roman soldier who had gambled away all his income, and he gambled this away too – all except for thirty pieces of silver, which was used to pay Judas to betray Christ.
Michael tells it much better, of course, but it was powerful enough to stick in my memory!
MaureenDecember 28, 2005 - 12:26 pm
This site has medieval recipes for wafers, and reminds us that waffles are also a form of wafer. Not to mention pizzelle.
It also points out that, even today, wafers are used for certain German cookies as a sort of edible parchment paper (to prevent burning). So my educated guess is that that’s what the commenter above was talking about.
Oblaten cookies, available today, are supposed to be almost exactly like communion wafers. Wafer irons are also supposed to be available today from Scandinavian sources as krumkake or krumkakka irons.
I was taught that Jesus is priest, prophet and king and the three gifts, also useful for the flight to Egypt, signify his three characters:
incense for priest, myrrh for prophet and gold for the king.
What a wonderful story! I had always heard the same symbolism as Ruth Ann, and also that the myhr was indicitive of his burial, as well.
BeckyDecember 29, 2005 - 2:48 pm
Glad folks liked Michael’s story. That might be a fun Epiphany activity, though, for family or youth group or some such – have a storytelling contest to tell what you think happened to the Magi’s gifts! You’d just need a little lead time to give people time to think up their stories…
12 comments
Now THAT’S funny.
😉
LOL
That image brings this question to my mind: I wonder what Mary and Joseph did with the gold, frankensense and myrrh? Use it to pay for the trip? Buy carpentry tools? Hmmm.
Ah, Teresa, that reminds me of a story contest I witnessed about ten years ago, on exactly that topic! The winner was one Michael Moore (no, not that Michael Moore…), and here’s the Reader’s Digest version as I remember it:
Mary and Joseph, having to leave town in a hurry, left the gifts in the care of their rich friend Joseph of Arimathea. Right after they left, Herod killed all the babies in Bethlehem, and there weren’t enough spices to anoint them all for burial, so J. of A. thought Mary and Joseph would agree that this was a right and proper use for the myrrh. So he donated it, and there was just enough to bury all the slaughtered innocents – with enough left over for the body of one grown man.
Mary & Joseph came back, still didn’t feel comfortable having such rich gifts in the house, so they left them with cousin Zachariah & Elizabeth. Many years pass, Zachariah is serving in the Temple, the Romans have defiled it and he needs incense to re-sanctify it, so he uses the Wise Men’s frankincense – as he hears the sound of Jesus cleansing the Temple outside.
The third gift, the gold, was stolen from Z & E by a Roman soldier who had gambled away all his income, and he gambled this away too – all except for thirty pieces of silver, which was used to pay Judas to betray Christ.
Michael tells it much better, of course, but it was powerful enough to stick in my memory!
This site has medieval recipes for wafers, and reminds us that waffles are also a form of wafer. Not to mention pizzelle.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BREADS/wafers-msg.html
It also points out that, even today, wafers are used for certain German cookies as a sort of edible parchment paper (to prevent burning). So my educated guess is that that’s what the commenter above was talking about.
Oblaten cookies, available today, are supposed to be almost exactly like communion wafers. Wafer irons are also supposed to be available today from Scandinavian sources as krumkake or krumkakka irons.
I was taught that Jesus is priest, prophet and king and the three gifts, also useful for the flight to Egypt, signify his three characters:
incense for priest, myrrh for prophet and gold for the king.
mmmm…waffles
Ooh! I like Becky’s story and Ruth Anne’s symbolism. Thank you both!
HA! That’s great!
Becky,
What a wonderful story! I had always heard the same symbolism as Ruth Ann, and also that the myhr was indicitive of his burial, as well.
Glad folks liked Michael’s story. That might be a fun Epiphany activity, though, for family or youth group or some such – have a storytelling contest to tell what you think happened to the Magi’s gifts! You’d just need a little lead time to give people time to think up their stories…
“This site has medieval recipes for wafers, and reminds us that waffles are also a form of wafer.”
I heard the same explanation on “Good Eats” last night.
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