What did Jesus do with his gold, frankincense and myrrh - surely very valuable gifts that would have

What did Jesus do with his gold, frankincense and myrrh - surely very valuable gifts that would have set him up for life?

• THERE ARE two traditions. The first, referred to in the carol 'We Three Kings', interprets the gifts as symbolising three aspects of Christ's future life: gold representing kingship, frankincense (worship) and myrrh (death and mourning). An alternative tradition holds that Mary and Joseph used the gold to pay for the stable, the frankincense to perfume it and the myrrh as an ointment for the new-born baby. Since, to Christians, Christ represents the meeting-point of the mystical and mundane, the 'Word made flesh', there's no reason why these traditions should be taken as contradictory.

  David Cottis, London SW15.