Follow the myrrh during Lent...

But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

All who see me mock me;

they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

“He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him;

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” (Psalm 22:6-8 ESV)

It was about a year ago (on the 4th Wednesday during Lent) that I delivered a sermon as a part of our "Follow the..." midweek Lenten series: "Follow the Blood," "Follow the Tree," "Follow the Thief, and my topic, "Follow the Myrrh." It was tough to work myrrh into a Lenten framework, but here it is:

Follow the what?!  Myrrh. Yes, that’s 2 R’s and an H.  You know, of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh fame.  Ahhhh yes, THAT myrrh... And I know what you’re thinking now-- myrrh, that’s a Christmas...um...thingy, isn’t it?

I understand the confusion-- yes it is a Christmas thingy, actually a fragrant resin presented to the newborn King of the Jews by three Gentiles from the East, the Magi, back in King Herod’s day (Matthew 2).  So why "Follow the Myrrh" during Lent?  Good question!  I’m glad you asked…

Before we can follow something as curious as myrrh, we need to know not so much what it is, but where to find it, in order to follow it. Once that happens, the why will fall right into place... I hope...

Myrrh is mentioned 17 times in Scripture, and the search for it begins, well, at the beginning. Myrrh gets its first mention in Genesis, as something traded by merchants (Genesis 37:25); Moses used myrrh to make sacred anointing oil (Exodus 30:23); it’s used as a perfume in the Song of Solomon (1:13, 3:6); Psalm 45(:8); and to sweeten temptation in Proverbs (7:17); in Ester (2:12) it’s used as a beauty treatment; it’s a gift in Matthew’s Gospel; in Mark’s Gospel (15:23) it’s used as a pain-killer, and in John’s Gospel myrrh is used in the preparation of the dead for burial (19:39-40). Those last two are key during Lent.

Myrrh is a resin or gum considered precious throughout biblical times, particularly in the Old Testament, that oozed from a hard, thorny tree common in Africa and Arabia.  Myrrh gets its name from the Hebrew word for bitterness because, though it smells good, it apparently has a bitter taste. And like its Advent cousin frankincense, myrrh could be burned as incense-- and still is today in some Eastern Orthodox churches.  But it’s myrrh’s Old World medicinal and embalming properties that color its journey through Scripture from the time of Joseph through the arrival of the Magi to the suffering and death of our Savior on the Cross.

When we "follow the myrrh" we start out with dried tree sap valued primarily for its fragrance, used to anoint the holy, perfume clothes and people, not to mention tempt a man’s desires… By the time Jesus is born, this myrrh is fit for a king-- or is it?  Here the trail gets cold until we look more closely at what the Magi could have meant by such a present; we can infer the meaning of gold to be kingship, of frankincense to be priesthood, but what of the bitter, smell-good myrrh? I believe there’s more than a little prophesying going on at this point. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah, who lived some 700 years before Jesus was born, spoke these words from God: “They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.” (Isaiah 60:6). The Magi not only appeared-- but  gifted, as well-- prophetically! This bitter myrrh signified the rejection, suffering, and death of Jesus for the sins of the world.

Myrrh symbolizes suffering, trials, tribulations, and afflictions. In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the church of Smyrna is known as the "Suffering Church"; in Greek (and in Russian), smyrna means myrrh. To extract myrrh, the tree is repeatedly beaten and wounded to cause it to bleed... Sound familiar?  It should because...

On Good Friday Jesus was beaten, poked and prodded, spit upon, made to wear a crown of thorns, then, bleeding and bruised, was made to carry the cross on which he would be hung to suffer for hours before dying...so that you and I could live, so that our sins-- past, present, and future-- would be forgiven. While on that cross, Jesus was offered a drink of wine mingled with myrrh, possibly as taunting, but maybe as a way to ease the pain. He refused. Jesus willingly and obediently suffered pain and death for our inequities, bearing the full wrath of God that we so rightly deserve! 

Perhaps it’s difficult to see the love in this love story at this point, but John tells us very simply in the well-know 3:16 verse "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." This is a story with a happy ending, as we follow the myrrh to the empty tomb of Easter Sunday.  And it’s John again (19:38-40) who tells us "After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews." All four Gospel writers report that Jesus’ tomb was found empty on Easter morning. Our very faith as Christians hinges on the risen Christ, the fulcrum point of God’s solution to our sinful nature and our broken world!

So why "Follow the Myrrh" during Lent? The Bible, the story of God’s love for us is itself mingled with myrrh; it’s bitter with sin, yet fragrant with grace, the very grace that is freely offered to us as we come to the Lord’s Table this evening.

Perhaps there’s someone here tonight who is experiencing a bitterness in life, a broken relationship, either with another person or with God, or perhaps a stubborn addiction leaves a bad taste in the mouth, or maybe the bitterness of guilt and regret is like a cancer, taking a heavy toll for a past that can’t be changed-- in Christ Jesus, God can change that bitter myrrh to fragrant myrrh!  Relationships can be repaired, addictions conquered, guilt and regret sent to the Cross where they belong, forgotten and forgiven because God had a plan and Jesus had a purpose and it was centered on YOU. This is the season to put first the God who put YOU first as He sent His One and Only Son to die that you might experience His Grace alone...through faith alone...in Christ Jesus alone...

In His name. Amen.