I don’t think there is any more vivid picture of just how wicked the world was, when Jesus was born, than in the few verses we just read. These verses are not verses we readily jump to when we think of the nativity scenes. We gravitate to the shepherds coming and seeing the new born. We delight in thoughts of the angels singing above the manger. We rejoice at seeing the wise men fall at His feet and worshiping Him.

But we don’t like to think of these verses before us, for they remind us just how wicked the world was, in which Jesus was born.