The Gift | Myrrh

Not only was myrrh used in biblical times for a perfume, it was also a painkiller. Remember in Mark 15:23 when Christ is hanging on the cross, the roman guards offer myrrh, and He didn’t take it. He wanted to take the punishment meant for us and he died feeling the full measure of our sin.

More significant, myrrh was used to prepare dead bodies for burial - it was known as the death spice. Later in John chapter 19, we see Joseph of Arimathea ask Pilate for Christ's body so that it could be wrapped and anointed for burial. It's a beautiful foreshadowing of Christ’s death on the cross as substitute for us, by bestowing Him with the death spice at His birth.