Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Day Twenty: the second Wise Man: Myrrh

The second Wise Man, kneeling in front of Jesus, offers myrrh, a highly fragrant ointment, often used in healing and in anointing the dead.

Jan Brueghel’s Magi are very clearly “borrowed” from his father’s depiction of the scene (detail below - also on show in the National Gallery).


They wear the same colours, and carry almost identical gifts, for example, this second Magus, with his ermine trimmed gown, and his black cap and sceptre laid on the ground, bearing his myrrh in a cup with a cover identical to that in Pieter Bruegel’s painting.


Matthew doesn’t spell out the significance of each gift, but Christians assigned meanings to each of them at least as early as the second century; gold for kingship, frankincense for divinity, and myrrh, foretelling Jesus’ death.

 

In John’s Gospel, it is Nicodemus, a Pharisee and important religious leader, who provides myrrh to anoint Jesus’ body after his crucifixion. We first meet Nicodemus in John chapter 3, when he is clearly interested in Jesus’ message, but unwilling to commit himself. He eventually seems to finds what he needs, but only after Jesus’ death.

 For Reflection

Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came [to the tomb], bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. John 19.39

 What needs healing in your life, and in the life of the world today? Bring it to God in prayer?

The whole picture:

 

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