What are they which are but twelve?
Twelve are attending on God’s son;
Twelve make our creed. The Dial’s done:

^{Luke 23:52} This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.

⁵³ And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.

⁵⁴ And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

⁵⁵ And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

⁵⁶ And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Strange verses to list in regard to the Christmas gifts. Probably so, but Myrrh was a common spice used in preparing for a body for burial.  The last gift symbolized Jesus purpose in being born.  He would be the Lamb of God sacrificed for the Sins of Man.  Jesus was born to die.

The Myrrh cost…

This is my favorite of the gifts.  They presented Him with a gift suitable for a High Priest.

Hebrews 4:

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

¹⁵ For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

The sages brought Frankincense to the infant.  Priests utilize this the incense when burning a sacrifice.  The sweet odor rose to God in heaven.

Exodus 30:

⁶ And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

⁷ And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the…

matthew 2:¹¹ And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.

Gold symbolizes power.  Gold represents the perfect gift for a king.  And the sages made clear the star was the star of a mighty king.  Jesus, a descendent of King David, will one day take His earthly throne in Israel.  We read the end of the book and we know Jesus is the King of Kings.

Revelation 19:

¹¹ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

¹² His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he…

Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The circumcision of male children on the eighth day went back to Abraham.  The ceremonial procedure acts as a symbol of the convenient between God and the descendants of Abraham.

Today is the eighth day of Christmas and the anniversary of when Jesus was circumcised. In this ceremony, He received his name.  On this day, the baby was given His name Jehovah’s Salvation or as we know it–Jesus.

There are Christians today who circumcise their sons and there is nothing wrong with that.  But from the time of Christ’s death and the start of the new covenant, we are no longer required to circumcise the flesh.  We are called to circumcise the heart.  This concept is actually…

Moravians (a group of devout Christians) started Watch Night services around 1733 on the estates of Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf in Hernhut, Germany.  This count from childhood longed to serve God.  He established the earliest Protestant missions and had a strong influence on John Wesley the founder of the Methodist movement.

Over the years, the Methodist continued the tradition of Watch Night services.  These include New Year’s eve watch night services, but they were also done on other evenings. The most famous watch night was when slaves waited on December 31, 1862 for the dawn of freedom.  The Emancipation Proclamation came into effect on the first.

The purpose of the Watch Night centered on evaluating your relationship with Christ.  The evening should be spent in contemplation of where you would stand if tomorrow you were called to face God.  We have no idea when Christ will return or when we…

What are they which are but seven?
Seven liberal arts hath God sent down
With divine skill man’s soul to crown:

Let’s zoom in on our nativity scene for a minute.

We have elite sages from some where in the East headed to Bethlehem.  They represent nobility and the highest levels of knowledge for their times.

Mary, probably 15 or 16 years old, descended from the great King David lives a humble peasant’s life in the small village of Nazareth.  A women described as favored by God.  A teenage women God trusted with His only begotten son.  Basically, you can say Mary is a small town teenager who loves God.

Joseph, we have no idea of his age, but we know he was also of the family of David.  We know he was an craftsman.  He worked with his hands to create the things needed by others.  Many believe he was a carpenter though the word can be used for any of the crafts.  This man knew he could have dealt…

What are they which are but six?
Six days to labor is not wrong,
For God himself did work so long: