Have yu heard the stry abut the Texas nativity scene? A small Texas twn had a nativity scene in the twn square. Everything lked as yu wuld expect with a cradle, a baby, animals, and wise men. But the wise men were all wearing firefighting utfits and firemen s helmets. A visitr asked a lcal why the wisemen were dressed like firemen, and the lcal replies, Because the Bible says the wise men came frm a fire (prnunced afar in Texan). And ld jke, but it s biblically crrect S tnight as we mve int Matthew chapter 2 we re ging t be lking at thse firefighting wise men But interesting what we re nt ging t learn much abut is Jesus birth Because Matthew didn t chse t cver the details f Jesus birth at all (Luke gives us thse details) Instead, Matthew mves directly t describing the immediate effect Jesus birth had n the wrld And in particular the effect Jesus arrival had n tw very different audiences: a Jewish king and Gentile magicians S let s start reading the stry that we all knw s well (r think we knw) Matt. 2:1 Nw after Jesus was brn in Bethlehem f Judea in the days f Herd the king, magi frm the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Matt. 2:2 Where is He wh has b Matt. 2:3 When Herd the king heard this, he was trubled, and all Jerusalem with him.een brn King f the Jews? Fr we saw His star in the east and have cme t wrship Him. Matt. 2:4 Gathering tgether all the chief priests and scribes f the peple, he inquired f them where the Messiah was t be brn. Matt. 2:5 They said t him, In Bethlehem f Judea; fr this is what has been written by the prphet: 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
2! f! 17 Matt. 2:6 And yu, Bethlehem, land f Judah, Are by n means least amng the leaders f Judah; Fr ut f yu shall cme frth a Ruler Wh will shepherd My peple Israel. Matt. 2:7 Then Herd secretly called the magi and determined frm them the exact time the star appeared. Matt. 2:8 And he sent them t Bethlehem and said, G and search carefully fr the Child; and when yu have fund Him, reprt t me, s that I t may cme and wrship Him. Matt. 2:9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went n befre them until it came and std ver the place where the Child was. Matt. 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejiced exceedingly with great jy. Matthew briefly mentins the birth f Jesus, nting when and where it happened The place was a little twn f Bethlehem Bethlehem is abut 6 miles frm Jerusalem as the crw flies, which was prbably a 2 hur walk in Jesus day Tday it s abut a 20 min drive frm Jerusalem and it s under Palestinian cntrl in the West Bank Bethlehem means the huse f bread and it was best knwn in Jesus day as the hmetwn f King David That cnnectin is n accident, f curse As we learned in ur first weeks f this study, Matthew had tw themes fr his Gspel First, that Jesus is the eternal king that Gd prmised t David Secndly, that Jesus is the Savir Wh wuld bless all natins that Gd prmised t Abraham S t help us recgnize the Messiah when He arrived, Gd tld us befrehand that the Messiah wuld be brn in David s hmetwn That prphecy is given by the prphet Micah Herd s advisrs knew f this prphecy and they tell Herd abut it in v.5 Matthew reminds us f the prphecy by quting Micah in v.6 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
3! f! 17 Micah said ne day that little twn wuld have the great hnr f bringing frth the future eternal ruler f Israel Micah s wrds were written ver 700 years befre Jesus was brn Fr centuries the rabbis in Israel knew and taught that Bethlehem wuld be the place f Messiah s birth And here we find Matthew bldly prclaiming that Jesus was the fulfillment f Micah s prphecy But hw did these magi knw abut it? The secnd thing Matthew nted abut Jesus birth was the date: he said it happened in the days f Herd He s referring t Herd the Great, a ruthless tyrant wh ruled Judea fr 37 years and died in 4 B.C. At this pint we need t understand a little histry t appreciate Matthew s accunt f this man The area we call Israel tday was called Judea in Jesus day It sat between Syria in the nrth and Egypt in the Suth This entire regin was cnquered by the Rman Empire in 63 BC After cnquering the regin, Rme permitted sme f the previus Jewish rulers t cntinue gverning the territry under Rman authrity Thse rulers weren t actually Jewish they were Idumaeans Idumaeans were Edmites wh descended frm Esau, the sn f Jacb wh sld his birthright fr a bwl f stew But the Idumaeans practiced Judaism and therefre they claimed t be Jewish, but that claim didn t fl the true Jews The Jewish peple knew that true Jews descended frm Jacb and nt Esau S the Jewish peple despised these pretenders and their Rman backers Of curse, the difference between a Jew and an Idumaean was lst n Rman authrities they didn t care 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
4! f! 17 S they frced the Jewish peple t accept these gvernrs And in 39 BC, the Rmans Senate named ne f these rulers, a man named Herd, as the King f the Jews ver all Judea Fr the next 35 years, Herd ruled ver the territry f Judea with an irn fist, backed by the pwer fr the Rman army Histry named him Herd the Great because f his impressive building prjects including the massive Secnd Temple f Jesus time But we shuld have called him Herd the Paranid because he lived in cnstant fear that the Jews wuld kill him He build massive frtresses t prtect himself and killed anyne he thught might try t take his thrne He put many f his family t death during his reign, including his wn children As his death apprached, Herd rdered that a large grup f the mst distinguished and lved men in Judea but arrested and held in prisn Herd cmmanded that n the ccasin f his death, these men shuld be executed als Since Herd was s hated fr his tyrannical rule, he knew that the Jews f Judea wuldn t murn his passing S by executing these belved men, Herd culd ensure that the entire natin wuld be in murning when he died if nt fr him at least fr smene Thankfully, Herd s successr decided nt t carry ut Herd s rder and the men were released Ging back t the text, Matthew tells us Jesus was brn in the days f Herd, which means that Herd was still alive and ruling ver Judea at that time We knw Herd died in 4 BC And a careful review f the Gspels and f histrical recrds frm the time pints t 5-4 BC as the likely the years f Jesus birth S Matthew is telling us that the true King f the Jews was brn during the reign f a false king f the Jews Ntice hw Matthew repeats Herd s title king in v.3 again 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
5! f! 17 He wants t emphasize this cntrast, because it s abut t becme a pint f majr cntentin in Matthew s stry Herd receives special visitrs wh tell him they are in twn t visit the king f the Jews Can yu imagine the expressin n Herd s face when he heard them asking t see the king f the Jews? These guys had sme nerve asking Herd where they culd find the king! Remember, Herd lived his entire life in parania thinking smene else wuld cme alng t take his thrne S I think it s safe t say Herd was nt pleased by what he heard frm these guys Matthew calls Herd s visitrs magi which is the name fr a certain kind f magician r srcerer frm Babyln, present-day Iraq Magi were astrlgers wh served in the curt f the king f Babyln fr centuries We can trace magi all the way back t the time f Nebuchadnezzar and the bk f Daniel, abut 600 BC Matthew says these magi came frm the east, which cnfirms they came frm Mesptamia Which means they walked abut 700 miles, like walking frm San Antni t Kansas City, MO S why did these men walk that far? When Herd asks that questin, they tell Herd it s because they saw a star appear t them while they were in the east, in Babyln Smehw, these magicians knew that the appearance f a special star was a sign that the Messiah had been brn in Judea And therefre they had cme t wrship Him Their answer just raises a bunch f new questins, desn t it? Fr example, hw did the magi knw abut the prmise f a Jewish Messiah? 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
6! f! 17 And hw did they cme t understand that a star appearing means His birth had arrived And why wuld Gentiles, eastern astrlgers n less, want t wrship a Jewish Messiah? T get ur answers, let s lk at a few key details in the stry First, accrding t v.2, the star appeared in the east in Babyln Cnventinal thinking assumes the star mved with the magi frm the east t the west leading them t the Christ child But that s nt what the text says The text simply says they saw the star in the east and by that ne sighting, they knew t start their jurney t Judea They then traveled t Judea withut a star guiding them, fr they already knw the way t Judea But they nly knew the wrds Daniel wrte they hadn t read the wrds f Micah S these men dn t knw where in Judea the king wuld be brn, s they d the next best thing they g t the palace Naturally, they assume Herd must knw where his wn successr wuld be Their chice t g t Herd is ur best evidence that the magi weren t being guided by the star at this pint In fact, we dn t see mentin f a guiding star until v.9 where it reappears t guide the magi t Jesus in Bethlehem In v.10 it says they rejiced ver seeing the star again, s nly nw has it reappeared it seems The star then mves with them until it eventually rests n the huse f Mary and Jseph S bviusly this is n rdinary star In fact, given hw it behaves, it wasn t a star at all The nly reasnable explanatin fr a bright light that mves ver the Sn f Gd wuld be the Shechinah glry f Gd 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
7! f! 17 That s the name fr the brightness that accmpanies the glry f Gd The last time men witnessed the glry f Gd was at its departure frm the temple f Jerusalem shrtly befre Babyln destryed the city Yu can read abut that mment in the bk f Ezekiel Fr centuries befre, Gd s glry had ccupied the Hly f Hlies in the Temple But then it departed, and fr 600 years it s been gne until nw Isn t interesting that the Lrd remved His glry frm Israel n the ccasin f the Babylnians destructin n the city And nw after 600 years it return being accmpanied by Babylnian magi? It s like Gd is saying t Israel I ve ended my time f exile frm amng yu My glry is nw ready t return and dwell amng yu again in a new and special way S that explains hw the magi fund the Christ the star, the Shechinah Glry f Gd, led them t Him But hw did they knw t fllw the star in the first place and why did they have any interest in the Messiah? Remember these men were astrlgers emplyed in Babyln t serve the Babylnian curt They were part f distinguished brtherhd f astrlgers that included men like the prphet Daniel Daniel became a magi when he was taken captive as a yung Jewish nbleman by Babyln in 600 BC Gd gave Daniel the ability t interpret prphetic dreams fr the Babylnian king Daniel als wrte a prphetic bk fretelling the Messiah s arrive, which is the bk f Daniel in ur Bible In his bk in chapter 9 Daniel specified the year the Messiah wuld arrive in Israel 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
8! f! 17 And interestingly, Daniel chse t wrte that part f his bk in the language f the Babylnians, in Aramaic S fr nearly 600 years, Babylnian astrlgers had a bk written in their wn language that predicted the precise timing fr the Messiah s arrival in Judea Daniel tells us he eventually became the leader f all Babylnian astrlgers While in charge, we must assume Daniel taught his fellw astrlgers t anticipate the arrival f Messiah in the appinted year And we knw Daniel wrshipped Jehvah while serving in the curt S thse Gentile magi wuld have understd the pwer Israel s Gd and f His prmise t save them by His Messiah S as Daniel s appinted year arrived, the astrlgers began lking t the sky fr a sign believing in what Daniel taught them And when that mysterius star appeared, they were ready t fllw They jurneyed t Jerusalem t find the king S nw back t Herd he hears the magi stry abut the star, s asks the magi fr the exact timing f the star s appearance Obviusly, Herd was trying t calculate the birth date f the child s he culd knw hw ld the child might be nw Matthew desn t recrd the magi s answer, but given the distance they traveled, the star must have appeared many mnths earlier S if yu always imagined the magi visiting Jesus in the manger n the night He was brn, that isn t accurate They likely arrive a year r lnger after Jesus was brn In v.3, Matthew said Herd was trubled by the news f anther king in Judea, and s Herd made all f Jerusalem feel his pain t T misqute an ld saying, when the king ain t happy, ain t nbdy happy 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
9! f! 17 We can understand why a paranid king fund the birth f a rival trubling But Herd practiced Judaism (suppsedly), s why didn t he embrace Jesus the way the magi did? After all, if Gentiles frm the land f Israel s enemies were willing t wrship Jesus, why wuldn t a s-called Jew in Judea? The simple answer is Herd was mre interested in maintaining his psitin f pwer n earth than in serving the living Gd He valued his temprary happiness ver an eternity f peace with Gd Herd didn t want anther king And he s nt alne Year after year, every time Christmas rlls arund, the wrld hears the same message Herd heard, that f a King brn t rule the wrld And year and year, many react the same way Herd did Instead f asking where d I find Jesus, the wrld is trubled by the mentin f His name Fr them, this gd news is anything but gd In fact, we ve reached the pint where even saying Merry Christmas can get yu int truble The wrld is trubled fr the same reasn Herd was trubled The intrusin f Gd int ur wrld trubles ungdly and disbedient hearts The Gspel pricks ur cnscience It reminds us that Gd is nt ambivalent abut hw we live and that ne day we must give an accunt befre ur Creatr The wrld reacts t the news f Jesus in the way a child reaching int the ckie jar reacts when he lks up t see Mm watching frm the kitchen drway The wrld hates the suggestin that there is smene r smething with pwer t judge them fr their chices 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
10! f! 17 S rather than submit t that authrity and seek His mercy, they reject the message altgether r try t silence it Just like Herd reject Jesus and tried t silence Him t In Herd s case, he knew there culd nly be ne king and that the nly way a new king culd culd rule was if an existing king stepped dwn S althugh Herd said he wanted t wrship this new king, he was lying Herd wasn t prepared t turn ver the thrne f Israel t anyne Mre imprtantly, he wuldn t relinquish the rule f his heart t the Gd Wh came t ffer him frgiveness and redemptin Friends, that s truly what s at stake in this familiar stry There s a new King in twn are yu willing t wrship Him r are yu lking fr ways t deny Him his thrne? Have yu made a place fr Christ in yur heart, as the Savir wrthy f yur wrship? If yu and I culd speak t Herd tday, I knw he wuld tell us that he wished he had welcmed the new King gladly in his day Herd wuld tell us that the glry he enjyed during his earthly rule was nthing in cmparisn t the glry f Christ s eternal heavenly thrne He wuld plead with each f us nt t push the Messiah away as he did Herd s wrry ver Jesus arrival reminds us f Matthew s first theme: Jesus is the rightful eternal King Wh rules in the line f David He s the sn f David And thse magi reminds us f Matthew s secnd majr theme: Jesus is the Savir fr all natins that Gd prmised, the sn f Abraham These Gentiles went t extrardinary lengths t find and wrship a Jewish Messiah They heard the prmise in the wrd f Gd spken thrugh Daniel 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
11! f 17! Having believed that wrld, they then waited patiently fr centuries fr that wrd t be fulfilled S that when the time came t meet this Messiah, they jumped at the pprtunity They came t Him bwing befre Him t wrship They were willing t d what Jesus wn peple were nt willing t d in that day They gladly walked thrugh the dr Gd has pened fr all natins t receive salvatin thrugh Christ That dr is still pen fr all peple tday But yu dn t have t walk 700 miles t find Jesus As Paul says, Jesus is as clse as yu wn muth, fr yu nly need t declare Jesus as Lrd Ding s because yu believe He is the One Gd prmised t send fr yu t save yu frm yur sin Fr we all have sinned and fall shrt f the glry, the perfectin f Gd, s we all need a Savir That s what the Bible tells us t d if we have faith in Jesus Christ, just as the magi acted in faith t d as Daniel tld them Let s take a lk at the rest f the magi s stry t finish tnight Matt. 2:11 After cming int the huse they saw the Child with Mary His mther; and they fell t the grund and wrshiped Him. Then, pening their treasures, they presented t Him gifts f gld, frankincense, and myrrh. Matt. 2:12 And having been warned by Gd in a dream nt t return t Herd, the magi left fr their wn cuntry by anther way. The magi are led by the star t the huse where Mary and the Child, Jesus Ntice they are in a huse at this pint, which makes sense It s been a year r mre since Jesus was brn He s nt an infant in a manger smewhere 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
12! f! 17 By nw he s a tddler and the family has fund a hme t rent Which means ur nativity scenes are all wrng the shepherds frm the field and the magi never crssed paths Originally, Jesus parents were living in Nazareth, But they traveled t Bethlehem because a Rmans census required families t return t their ancestral hmes Jseph s ancestrs were frm Bethlehem, s he tk Mary there shrtly befre Jesus was brn And they stayed in Bethlehem a year r lnger after Jesus birth Smehw the Lrd has restrained the family s they wuld be available fr the magi when they visited Jesus I lve that detail because it shws what Gd is willing t d t make sure thse wh seek Him will find Him Gd summned thse magi and He made sure His Sn stayed in Bethlehem lng enugh fr them t get there I think He des that fr all us in a sense Gd puts a call n ur heart t knw Him and t cme wrship Him And yu dn t have t wrry that yu ll miss Him He makes sure we find Him if we g lking We dn t discver Gd n ur wn, He reveals Himself t us in the Persn f His Sn Jesus Christ Then in v.11 we re tld that as these men finally reach the child, they fall dwn and wrship Him What a strange scene that must have been t anyne watching Yu have t understand that these magi were impressive dudes The very fact that Herd was willing t grant them an audience and then didn t kill them fr wrshipping anther king tells yu smething abut the pwer and prestige f these men They were impressive, wealthy and pwerful men 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
13! f! 17 On tp f it all, they wuld have been dressed in the finest clthing, majestic like a king themselves S nw imagine these guys arriving at a mdest Bethlehem hme in all their splendr after traveling ver 700 miles t see this king And then they reverently walk in and bw t the grund befre a tddler rlling arund and babbling n the dirt flr That mment must have lked incredibly strange even t Jesus parents These men were the first recrded Gentiles t wrship the Messiah in Persn And yet they faced exactly the same test that everyne wh has ever believed in Jesus Christ has als faced They had t be willing t accept n faith that Jesus was their King, their Intercessr, their Savir Thse men had n mre prf that Jesus was Messiah we have tday They had the wrd f Gd frm Daniel telling them abut the Messiah and hw t find Him But we d t They had the glry f Gd pinting the way in the frm f a star But the Bible says we have the Spirit f Gd leading us t Jesus And just like us, when the time came fr them t enter that little huse and bw dwn t wrship Jesus, they had t take a step f faith In that mment they encuntered a Jesus Wh wasn t sitting n a thrne He didn t perfrm miracles r speak wrds f wisdm, and He wasn t surrunded by angels r a curt f wrshippers He was prbably drling and may have needed his diaper changed Nevertheless, thse men were mved by faith t wrship Their faith led them t take that lng walk Their faith gave them the curage t cnfrnt Herd 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
14! f! 17 And that same faith caused them the humble themselves in wrship befre a yung child After wrshipping the Lrd, they prceeded t give Him gifts, fr that was the custm in that day When dignitaries frm a freign land came t pay respects t a greater king, they brught gifts Of curse, yu culdn t give a king just any gift Yu have t give a gift wrthy f them, smething that reflects their hnr and imprtance But what d yu get fr the Guy wh has everything? Gd already wns everything already In truth, yu can t give Gd anything valuable enugh t equal His glry S the best yu can d is give Him gifts that symblize His glry Which is what these magi did Matthew tells us the magi presented three types f gifts t the Child Christ Because there were three types f gifts, peple have cme t assume there were three magi But that s an assumptin nly, and there s n reasn t think it s true All we knw frm scripture is there was mre than ne magi since the text refers t the magi as they But there culd have been 2, 3, 7, 20, 100 (I like t imagine 100 magi crammed int Mary s living rm persnally) The first type f gift they gave Jesus was gld Obviusly, gld was very valuable then just as it is tday We dn t knw hw much gld they gave Jesus, but even a small amunt f gld was precius One gld Rman cin f that day, called an aureus, was wrth abut three mnths salary fr a sldier r labrer 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
15! f! 17 That s abut $3,300 tday S Jesus family prbably received a cnsiderable amunt f mney But as I said, Gd already wn everything, s Jesus didn t need the mney (later in the Gspels Jesus pulls a cin frm a fish) S these aren t trying t make Jesus wealthy The men were demnstrating their faith in Jesus by bringing him a gift that symblized His kingship Jesus was their King and s He received what kings receive, gld The secnd type f gift was a valuable spice called frankincense Frankincense is a resin prduced frm the sap f certain trees in Arabia and Africa When it is burned, it creates a strng incense It was the main ingredient in the incense Gd cmmanded t be burned n the altar f incense in the tabernacle The priests wuld burn the frankincense and its smke wuld rise up in frnt f the curtain that separated the Hly Place frm the Hly f Hlies Eventually it wuld waft ver and arund the curtain and enter int the presence f Gd behind the curtain In that way, burning incense became a picture r symbl f ur prayers Revelatin 5 tells us that ur prayers rise up like incense t Gd And they reach Gd by way f an intercessr, Christ wh brings ur petitins befre the Father S these men gave Jesus frankincense because they had faith in Jesus as their High Priest A priest burns incense n the altar befre the presence f Gd Just as Christ lives t intercede fr us Finally, they gave Jesus myrrh, a mst unlikely baby gift if there was ne Myrrh is anther resin spice that cmes frm the sap f a different tree 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
16! f! 17 Myrrh is als native t Arabia and quite expensive It s very fragrant and ften used in perfumes It was als used in the tabernacle service But it s mst cmmn use was in making an aninting il used n dead bdies prepared fr burial Dead bdies dn t smell very gd, s t help cver that dr fr a while, the bdy wuld be prepared with spices and il Jesus bdy received this treatment after He died S these men bring Jesus a symbl f His cming death, a death that wuld becme a payment fr their sin What faith these men bviusly had in Jesus! They were even willing t acknwledge Jesus s cming death as a sacrifice fr their sins And they made this cnfessin thrugh this gift even as Jesus was still just a baby These men knew Jesus was their eternal King, their High Priest and their Sacrificial Lamb They gave Him gifts t represent all three And in the prcess, Gd used these men t make Jesus pr family temprarily very wealthy Next week we find ut why Jesus family needed that wealth But fr nw, ask yurself d yu knw what these magi knew abut Jesus? D yu have the faith these men had? Or are yu like Herd the king wh thught he had everything but actually had nthing? Everyne in the wrld is like ne r the ther f these tw Everyne is either trying t rule their wn heart r they have placed their faith in Jesus as their King Yu re either praying t Jesus as yur High Priest, r yu re praying t yurself and n ne else 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.
17! f! 17 Yu re either depending n Christ s payment fr yur sin, r like Herd yu will ne day pay that price yurself Thse magi heard the wrd f Gd and placed their faith in that reprt And I urge yu t d the same tnight Please yur faith in Jesus Christ, yur King, yur High Priest, yur perfect sinless sacrifice given t save yu frm yur sins Yu nly need t cnfess yur faith in Jesus as Lrd and Savir and yu will be saved 2018 Verse By Verse Ministry Internatinal (www.versebyverseministry.rg) May be cpied and distributed prvided the dcument is reprduced in its entirety, including this cpyright statement, and n fee is cllected fr its distributin.