So I seen it mentioned here and quite frankly all over the place that baby Jesus only got 3 presents. Does anybody know how many presents eight-year-old Jesus got? Because that seems to be the age when presents go completely overboard. I mean we did by our baby anything. Babies don't really need presents. Also it was supposedly Jesus's birthday, again not many babies get anything for their like zeroth birthday so Jesus would have gotten more than most.
I know this is a snarky and flippant complaint/question/observation, but there's actually a couple valuable questions and points in there worth actually addressing and answering for anyone genuinely curious.
TL;DR in advance: To use Matthew 2 for proof texting to justify giving gifts to everyone and to justify celebrating birthdays is a little bonkers. Here's why...
The birth narrative regarding the three magi and the gifts given is one of importance. The magi in question cited in Matthew 2:1 were three Babylonian astronomers (not sorcerers or pagans, but fearers of HaShem and possibly even remaining Jewish diaspora taught by the hands of Daniel the prophet's students and/or direct writings) who were waiting patiently for the Messiah, the prophesied King of Israel to arrive.
Now, this is an important point. Yeshua, is not only the Messiah, but the prophesied King of Israel (in this first appearance, patterning the servant redeemer of Joseph, son of Jacob/Israel, and not of the still anticipated and waiting conquering son of David in His return). Given the nature of their titles, education and origins, it's unlikely that these Wise Men were sitting around spinning on their thumbs waiting for the news. They knew where and when, and as such, traveled to be a part of it happening.
Anyway, remember one of Yeshua's titles,
King of Kings. In Eastern cultural tradition, when people went before a king, it was customary for the visitors to bring a gift (assumed worthy of a king) to present that king while in their presence.
Gold is self-explanatory in its intrinsic value.
Frankincense was a valuable incense and medical commodity in the day - so rare and costly that it was quite precious, but more importantly, it is also one of the key ingredients in the sacred incense that was to be burned only by the Hebrew priests and only in the Temple.
Myrrh was also as valuable as gold in the day due to its medicinal value as a pain reliever and treatment for various illnesses.
There's some symbolism there with all three as well, but I'll forego belaboring the point further.
Needless to say, when you weigh the cultural and prophetic significance and purpose of these gifts, it's clearly there to emphasize something specific. Yes, Elohim has come to earth to save the Jews and genties alike and dwells among us, and it is Yeshua - Jesus of Nazareth! He didn't get gifts for being born or to celebrate His birthdate, He got gifts because He is the King of Kings.
As for the "how many presents eight-year-old Jesus got" question? None. Celebrating birthdays is a pagan custom tied in with astrology and the assumption that somehow the layout of the universe could affect and impact how lucky or materially profitable one's life can be. Most non-Hellinized Jews at the time really didn't pay much attention to birthdates outside of the practical stuff of needing to count off eight days for circumcision, 40 days for temple dedication, and the week of for Bar Mitzvah twelve years later. There is likely prophetic significance to the date Yeshua was born on as well being tied with a fall feast date, but that's besides the point as even the Emissaries don't record the exact date of His birth (even if it could be roughly implied toward the ten day window of Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur, and given
we don't know the day nor hour of His return, I'd personally lean closer to Yom Kippur). It's not that important, though. It's pretty impossible given all the info surrounding the narrative for it being the Winter Solstice.
The dates that mattered most was the day He died (during the Passover slaughter), the day He resurrected (end of Shabbat during the week of Passover), and the festival that coincided with the 40th day after His resurrection when He ascended back to Heaven (Shavuot, celebrating when Torah was handed down from Sinai - significant as Yeshua ushered in the age of Torah written to the hearts of man). There's a lot going on there.