Myrrh

Myrrh comes from the Commiphora myrrha tree — a small, thorny tree that grows in the dry scrubland of the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa. Like frankincense, the resin is collected by cutting the bark and letting the sap bleed out and harden. The dried resin is reddish-brown, with a sharp, bitter taste and a deep, warm fragrance that was highly valued across the ancient world for perfume, medicine, and the preparation of the dead for burial. It was one of the most expensive trade goods in the ancient Near East.

Myrrh was an ingredient in the holy anointing oil used to consecrate priests and kings in Israel (Exodus 30:23). The Magi's gift of myrrh to the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:11) carried a shadow of death in it — this was the substance used for funerals, not birthdays. At the crucifixion, soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh as a painkiller (Mark 15:23), and he refused it. After his death, Nicodemus brought seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes to wrap his body (John 19:39–40). The same resin used to anoint kings was used to bury him — a double meaning that runs through his entire life.