Summary of my sermon, based on Matthew 2:1-12. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on December 15, 2024.
Last week, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who lives in Tokyo but is originally from Vietnam. He was curious about the idea of a pardon, particularly in light of recent news about Joe Biden pardoning his son, Hunter Biden. He asked me if something similar could happen in Canada. I wasn’t sure, so I looked it up and found out that yes, the Governor General can grant pardons in Canada. But rather than getting into the complexities of it, I simply told him, “The King can.”
That really confused him! He wasn’t aware that Canada has a King. So, I explained that King Charles is also the King of Canada, but his role is largely ceremonial. Even when the Governor General grants a pardon, it is merely a rubber stamp on decisions already made by the government. Unlike in the United States, where a presidential pardon is fully within the president’s power, the Canadian monarchy has no real political authority.
This conversation reminded me of how different the world is today compared to most of human history. Kings used to have real power. In Matthew 2, we see a contrast between different kings that teaches us how we should respond to Jesus.
The first king in our passage is Herod the Great. He was king of Judea but not from the line of David. Instead, he was appointed by the Romans, who were the actual rulers. Though he held the title of king, he was a vassal—his power only existed as long as he remained loyal to Rome. When the wise men came searching for “he who has been born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2), Herod was troubled, along with the ruling elites of Jerusalem. They knew the prophecy about the Messiah, but instead of rejoicing, they feared the coming of the true King.
The second group in our passage is the wise men, often mistakenly called kings because of the Christmas carol, “We Three Kings.” The Bible never says they were kings, nor does it say there were only three of them—just that they brought three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These wise men were likely astrologers from Persia who had studied the Hebrew Scriptures, possibly influenced by Jews who had lived there since the Babylonian captivity. When they saw the star, they understood it as a sign that the promised King had come. Unlike Herod and the Jewish leaders, they sought Jesus to worship Him.
Matthew 2:10-11 tells us their response: “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”
These wise men, who served the powerful kings of Persia, bowed before a baby in a manger. They were the first Gentiles to do what Paul describes in Philippians 2:10-11: “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
So, the question remains—how will you respond to Jesus? Will you reject Him like Herod and the Jewish leaders, or will you seek Him, worship Him, and offer your life to Him like the wise men?
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