The Symbolism of Myrrh: Christ's Suffering and Sacrifice

Devotional

Sermon Summary

Sermon Clips


Myrrh is an aromatic resin extracted from the sap of a small thorny tree native to Northeast Africa in the Arabian Peninsula. It's been prized since ancient times for its medicinal, aromatic, and ceremonial uses. Myrrh was used as an antiseptic and a painkiller, and most notably for embalming and preparing bodies for burial due to its preservative qualities. [01:10:21] (27 seconds)


In fact, when Jesus was on the cross, the Romans offered him myrrh mixed with sour wine to dull the pain. But Christ rejected that offering because he needed to feel the full weight, of our sin and our shame. Amen. Something that I found really fascinating, and I was figuring out how myrrh was harvested. [01:10:45] (25 seconds)


In a biblical context, myrrh carries deep symbolic significance. It foreshadows Christ's suffering in several ways. As mentioned before, it was the gift that the magi brought Christ as a toddler. Like I said, it was offered to him on the cross to dull his pain. And in the end, it was used to prepare his body for burial. [01:12:13] (25 seconds)


I think that we can get so caught up in the busyness of life, that Christianity, that Christ does not become the head, that he's not at the top of our priority list. And so I think when we read passages like this, we can read over them without realizing the magnitude or the weight. [01:19:47] (27 seconds)


The pain that he felt was not his pain because if the consequence of suffering, sin is death and Christ had no sin, then what killed him? It was our sin. It was our shame. It was our rebellion. And so that really laid on me really heavy this week as I was praying and preparing for this message. [01:20:43] (23 seconds)


We stray like foolish sheep, but Christ is our shepherd. Christ became the perfect lamb. He was the spotless sacrifice, willingly taking on the punishment for our sins. While we wander aimlessly, Christ was led intentionally, knowing that he was born to die. Man, that hits me so hard. [01:27:22] (24 seconds)


He did not deserve it. It was not fair, yet he willingly endured it. Amen? Isaiah 53, seven through nine. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shears, he did not open his mouth. [01:28:09] (24 seconds)


Imagine Jesus being raised in this household, being told who he is. And in Luke 2, it says that he went to the temple and that he was reading the scripture, that he was in the synagogue and the Old Testament, which Isaiah is in, was being read. Imagine Jesus at 12 years old reading Isaiah 53, knowing how his life would end. [01:29:10] (25 seconds)


While we might allow ourselves to sit in our sin and our shame, Christ's sacrifice provided us freedom and victory. It says, if you read through the Bible, to be holy meant to be set apart, to be uncommon. And the reason that we couldn't be with God was simply because if we were dead in our sin, that we could not be set apart and holy. [01:34:27] (24 seconds)


I think the response to his sacrifice is a life laid down. That we can pick up our cross and we can carry him. We can pick up our cross and carry it and look more like him. I challenge you as you go throughout the week to pray for Jesus. I challenge you to stop, acknowledge, recognize the things in your life that you need to lay down. [01:56:37] (23 seconds)


Ask a question about this sermon