20th December. A Bag of Gold Coins
The Magi have arrived in Bethlehem and they want to worship and honour Jesus. There is a long tradition of giving babies presents when they are born and so the three wise men bring gifts: “Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts.” (Matthew 2:11 MSG). They bring baby Jesus gifts that were traditionally given to royal babies, to Jesus even though he was born in a room where animals were kept! The first of these royal gifts was gold, which is our picture for today.