#8 ~ MYRRH , a Bitter Gift ~ The Hebrew virgin Mariam's Portion ~ ADVENT MEDITATION 2020

 

Commiphora Myrrha

Myrrh, the bitter herb, is from the same Hebrew root as "Mary" or "Maryam" or "Mariam" . The root of this Hebrew word , of course, means BITTER. 

Myrrh was present in the Gifts of the Magi to the young Child JESUS . . .

 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.

 

in the wine at His+ Crucifixion . . .

 Mark 15: 22-23

And they bring HIM+ unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.

And they gave HIM+ to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but HE+ received it not.

 and used at His+ Burial . . .

John 19: 39-40

And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to JESUS by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

Then took they the Body of JESUS, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

 

  Wikipedia states these facts about Myrrh ~ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrrh

 

The word myrrh corresponds with a common Semitic root m-r-r meaning "bitter", as in Aramaic ܡܪܝܪܐ murr and Arabic مُرّ murr.

 

How is MYRRH obtained ? 

Very painfully.  Even obtaining the Myrrh sounds painful. 

When a wound on a tree penetrates through the bark and into the sapwood, the tree secretes a resin.

Myrrh gum, like frankincense, is such a resin.

Myrrh is harvested by repeatedly wounding the trees to bleed the gum, which is waxy and coagulates quickly.

Luke 2:34-35

 Righteous Simeon prophesied to Mariam about the bitterness that awaited her in connection with the Royal BABE+ JESUS.

 ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His+ mother, Behold, this CHILD+ is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a Sign which shall be spoken against;

³⁵ (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

 The birth mother of JESUS had to endure much bitterness of heart as she walked through her Divine Calling upon earth. 

• Her betrothed husband was about to divorce her, thinking she had played the prostitute.
  

• She had to walk 70 to 90 miles , uphill, in the fall or winter and camp outside for several days during the last week of her pregnancy. 

• When she arrived in Bethlehem, she had no birthing place ready .

• She had no midwife no mother no aunt to help her through her first birthing. 

Did Mariam have cause for bitterness in the situation in which . . .

 THE LORD PURPOSELY PLACED HER ? 

+  +  + 

LET US PRAY:  

O LORD, YOU called Mary to bear the CHRIST-CHILD, but who came to her defense when she was doing right by YOU ? 

O FATHER in Heaven, I see that obeying YOU may bring a lonely , a hard, and a misunderstood life to me. 

Obedience to YOU does not equal acceptance and approval by man, I see. 

Turn me away from bitterness, O LORD, when I do not receive what I wanted. 

Bitterness when my expectations have been shattered. Bitterness when my happiness is reversed. Bitterness when I am empty but others are full. 

O LORD, I repent; hear my cry and cleanse my heart of making DEMANDS on others to fulfill my hopes and my happiness. 

Let me receive, like Mary, whatsoever YOUR Hand provides. 

Help me lay up in my heart , like Mary, , even the myrrh that YOU allow to come into my life. 

And let me yield my life to YOUR enabling Grace which enables me to take the bitter myrrh and become a sweet-smelling offering given back to YOU, O LORD. 

This I pray, in the LIFE-GIVING NAME of JESUS CHRIST Who+ came to carry all my bitterness upon His+ wounded back . . . at the Cross. Amen.