I made my husband cry on Christmas day.
All I did was hand him keys and an invoice to a brand-new boat. He was so overwhelmed that it brought him to tears. It wasn’t the boat itself that caused the tears. The tears came from knowing, I was willing to be part of investing in his dreams. At that moment, he knew that I had complete belief that he would have his own fly-fishing guide service.
Have you ever been overwhelmed by a gift and started crying?
I once cried over a set of earrings, my first real diamonds. I have cried over a rocking chair, in hopes I would one day rock an infant to sleep. I even cried over my great-grandma’s Bible, entrusted to me as the family historian.
There is an overwhelming emotion that comes out as tears when someone believes in you and your dreams. A career change, becoming a spouse or parent, or preserving a family’s heritage…all of those are dreams, that when tied to a gift, create an emotional response. I think that’s the main reason my husband cried over a boat.
With that in mind, do you think Mary cried over the gifts from the wise men?
The Bible tells us that they brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is historically a gift provided to someone of royalty. Not necessarily a traditional gift for a child, but rather a gift fit for a King. Both frankincense and myrrh are used for their aroma as incense, perfume, and medicine in burial rituals to assist with covering the scent of death. Not necessarily a traditional gift for a child and certainly not one for a King. Yet these gifts are a foreshadowing of the death that would occur for this small child.
My feminine heart feels like Mary may have cried over those gifts. They were gifts with overwhelming meaning, which created the potential for an emotional response. The knowledge that the Messiah had been born and was going to die for all of us.
A death, which would be the ultimate gift. One worthy of an emotional response. And likely the reason that we see new believers often in tears when they first accept this gift from God. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” (NIV)
Whether is a dream come true gift, a piece of history gift, or an extravagant gift, tears could be a natural reaction. I didn’t mean to make my husband cry on Christmas, nor do I think the wise men would have meant to make Mary cry if that ever happened.
I do believe God smiles benevolently at the heavenly rejoicing when one of us accepts the gift of salvation through the belief that Jesus is our Savior. It’s likely that He understands tears, as an emotional response to that gift.
~Emily
Iron Porch 