We Three Kings Of Orient Are
Read Hebrews 10:5-7,10-14.
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am -it is written about me in the scroll-
I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”
10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
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When Christ came into the world, he came in human body. What was Jesus to do in that body and with that body? (7b and 10) What blessings come to us through Jesus’ sacrifice of himself? (10,14) Where does the writer refer to Jesus’ victorious resurrection and ultimate victory over the devil? Close with a prayer thanking Jesus for being willing to come to our world and sacrifice himself for our sins, and asking him to help us properly honor him with our offerings and our very hearts and lives.
The Christmas carol “We Three Kings Of Orient Are” shows how the gifts of the Magi were symbolic, revealing Jesus as “King and God and Sacrifice” and foretelling his suffering, death, and resurrection (Stanza 4). The gift of gold reminds us that Jesus is a King, victorious over death, hell, and the devil for us. The gift of myrrh, which was often used to prepare bodies for burial, reminds us that Jesus came to suffer and die for our sins. The gift of frankincense, used in the incense that burned in the Old Testament temple to give honor to God, reminds us that Jesus is God and deserves our worship.
Sing along with this carol at:
1.We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we travel afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star of royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Following yonder star.
2. Born a king on Bethlehem’s plain,
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign.
3. Frankincense to offer have I.
Incense owns a Deity nigh.
Prayer and praising all men raising,
Worship Him, God on high.
3. Myrrh is mine: Its bitter perfume
Breaths a life of gathering gloom.
Sorrow, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in a stone-cold tomb.
4. Glorious now behold Him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Sounds through the earth and skies.