December 22: The Gift – Showered with Gifts?

This devotional is part of the 2020 Christmas Devotional Book, “The Gift.”  Access the entire devotional and download your free copy by clicking here.

December 22

Showered with gifts? (Matthew 2:1-12)

Guys don’t really like showers.  By that, I don’t mean that guys don’t like to be clean (though some may anecdotally argue my point here).  I mean that guys don’t like parties called showers . . . you know:  baby showers, wedding showers, etc.  Most speculate that guys don’t like showers.  The theory goes that guys don’t like to theme decorate or shop, two things that the average “shower” drenches all comers with.  I don’t buy this line of reasoning though.  I think that guys like stuff, so the desire for stuff probably trumps guys reticence to shower.  I think the metaphor of the shower-less guy stinks.  Someone came up with this notion several years ago, and have figured out how to deduct man-card points for anyone who ever thinks of attending a party where gifts are exchanged.

I have been the recipient of a few showers in my life.  When my wife and I got married, several family friends threw showers for us.  When our son was born, I attended a baby shower in his honor.  They were all great parties, and ended up blessing our family in huge ways.  We eat dinner each night on plates we got at wedding showers years ago.  Being showered with gifts by friends is a real blessing.

Now, knowing my experience with showers, it comes quite shocking that the birth of the Savior of the world brought only one baby shower . . . a personal delivery of three gifts by the Magi from the East.  These three gifts are the most famous gifts to Jesus at His birth not because they are the most valuable, but because they are the ONLY ONES MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURE.  Have you ever thought of that?  We are so familiar with the story of Jesus birth that we sometimes fail to realize that though this event would become famous AFTER the resurrection of Christ, it was mostly obscure during the season in which Christ was born.  He was born in a stable, not in a palace.  He was born in front of His parents, not on Satellite television.  His birth was honored by throngs of angels . . . but not people.  The first Christmas was incredibly important, but mostly obscure.  If anyone deserved to be showered with gifts at their birth, it was Jesus Christ, yet only three gifts arrived.

Knowing this, it helps us to understand more the prophecy concerning Jesus from Isaiah 53:2-3 which says, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.  He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief and as One from whom men hide their faces.  He was despised and we esteemed Him not.”  Of course this passage is ultimately referring to the crucifixion of Christ, but it is also helpful for us to understand just how much praise Jesus did NOT get during His earthly life.  He lived 30 years in virtual obscurity . . . even locally.  The humility and patience of Jesus are powerful when viewed through this lens.

Jesus could have shown His glory fully at every point in His life, but He chose to live the simple life of a carpenter instead.  He could have been incarnate only as an adult (i.e. arrive in Bethlehem as an adult instead of an infant), but He instead chose to fully identify with the human experience.  He could have demanded being showered with praise and presents during His life, but He chose not to, inviting people to chose for themselves if they would trust in Him.

Think about that the next time you feel slighted, marginalized, irrelevant, or unimportant.  Whether you are a man or a woman, you don’t have to be showered with praise, presents, or power in order to be loved by Him.  Also, knowing what you know about Jesus now, will you shower Him with praise today for who He is and all that He means to you?

Suggested song for today:  “We Three Kings”

In this Christmas devotional, there is a song referenced for each day.  All these songs, are included in a playlist found on Apple Music and Spotify at the following links:

• Apple Music Playlist:  Wildwood Community Church Christmas 2020
• Spotify Playlist:  Wildwood Community Church Christmas 2020