Matthew 2:1-12

What is your New Year’s resolution looking like for 2026? Before we get too serious, here are a few jokes about the resolutions we might struggle to keep often.

‘Consider taking up a new hobby such as procrastination. Or maybe later.’

‘Read the Bible regularly and realize it is full of wine.’

‘Stop worrying when I’m asleep.’

‘A lot of people are exercising for their New Year’s resolution. But right now, I’m watching a show I don’t like. Why? Because the remote fell on the floor.’

Statistics tell us that while millions make New Year’s resolutions, only 7 percent actually cross the finish line. Even more shocking, medical studies have shown that even those with terminal cancer are not good at keeping their new year resolutions. Only 1 in 9 of them finds the will to change their life habits.

Have you ever been driving somewhere familiar, following your GPS, when suddenly the screen flashes: ‘New Route Suggested’? Usually, we ignore it. We like the way we know.

Humans are a species of the ‘old way.’ Knowing the right way isn’t enough. Even fearing death isn’t always enough. We need something more powerful than a resolution; we need a transformation from inside —the kind of change that only happens when we encounter the divinity. That’s exactly what happened to the Magi, the wise men from the east in today’s gospel reading.

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Matthew 2:13-23

Jesus did not enter the world in the luxury of a palace; instead, he was born into a displaced family. Shortly after his birth, Jesus became a refugee when his parents, Mary and Joseph, were forced to flee their home in Bethlehem and seek safety in Egypt.

During the reign of King Herod, many Jewish families fled to Egypt for a haven. It was close to Judea, yet it was located safely outside Herod’s jurisdiction while remaining under Roman control.

The historical context of their flight is in the writings of Flavius Josephus; he was a famous historian of that time. Josephus describes Herod as one of the most corrupt and brutal kings in Jewish history. He even murdered his own wife and three of his sons to secure his kingship for more years.

Today’s reading says he ordered the massacre of all baby boys in Bethlehem. It is entirely consistent with his psychopathic character. A man willing to kill his own flesh and blood would certainly not hesitate to kill the children of strangers to eliminate a future threat like the “newborn king”.

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Matthew 11:2-11

Thomas Edison held a lifelong obsession with Morse Code. This fascination started early, as he became a professional telegraph operator at the remarkably young age of 15 in the mid-19th century.

This fixation even manifested visually: he carried a mysterious, tattoo-like symbol of dots and dashes on his left arm. Some speculate that this symbol may have contained a hidden message.

Edison’s deep involvement with the code permeated his personal life as well. He famously used it to bestow nicknames upon his children. When his daughter, Marion, was young, her father dubbed her “Dot.” A couple of years later, when his son, Thomas Jr., arrived, Edison naturally nicknamed him “Dash.”

Even when it came time for Edison to remarry after his first wife’s death, his passion for the code played a role. He taught Morse Code to his new fiancée, Mina, and it is documented that they often communicated with each other using the very system of dots and dashes.

Ultimately, Edison’s dedication to this communication method was productive. His intense interest in Morse Code drove him to invent the automatic telegraph well before the turn of the 20th century. What an extraordinary and fruitful obsession!

An obsession is when a single idea, image, or desire completely takes over a person’s thoughts and feelings. However, if that obsession is a positive one, it can actually be a very useful and powerful tool.

There is someone with his life-long obsession in today’s reading from Matthew.  He was known as ‘John the Baptist’.  He was also called ‘a voice in the wildernesses.’ He lived most of his adult life in the desert, living on locusts and wild honey. He didn’t care about his appearance… because he had a very special life-long obsession.

His obsession was with someone called the Messiah.

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Matthew 3:1-12

Viktor Frankl was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. During his imprisonment, Frankl began to record what was happening inside the camp. He later said that this job of writing became his sense of purpose, which eventually gave him the willpower and reason to survive.

In his famous book, Man’s Search for Meaning, he offers lessons that are deeply relevant to us as Christians, especially in this advent season.

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