The king they seek.
Visitors arrive honoring a child whose birth threatens the ruler already enthroned.
Read Matthew 2 ↗READ THE INTRODUCTION · UNDERSTAND THE PASSAGES
THE QUESTION THAT CARRIES THE BOOK
The child. The cross. The Lamb.
Follow the royal claim through three scenes. Open the passage, then compare how authority appears in each.
The king they condemn.
The royal title sought at his birth is posted above his execution.
Read Matthew 27 ↗The Lamb who reigns.
John hears of the conquering Lion and sees a Lamb bearing the marks of slaughter.
Read Revelation 5 ↗A comparison developed in the introduction, pp. 6–9. Passage links open a KJV reading copy.
INTRODUCTION / STUDY GUIDE
START HEREIn this introduction
What you’ll learn
UNDERSTAND THE TEXT
Passages explained
Open a question to read its explanation and source references.
CHECK THE SOURCES
WHO SAYS WHAT?Sources used
in the introduction
The source tells you where a claim comes from. The explanation tells you how the book uses it.
REVIEW THE MAIN POINTS
Three questions to review
Read each question, then open the explanation. There is nothing to submit.
READ FURTHER
FROM THE BOOK’S INTRODUCTION GUIDEIntroduction reading list
HOW TO READ THIS BOOK
Keep two clocks in view.
When does the story take place?
The central events move toward the first-century crisis under Nero and the war ending in AD 70. Earlier Scriptures supply the history and promises carried into those decades.
When was the account written?
Letters, histories, Christian arguments and later apostolic legends preserve different kinds of testimony. A story set before Nero may have been written much later. Identify who is speaking and what the account can establish.
Adapted from “Reading this book,” p. 5, and the introduction, pp. 7–9.
The argument and its limits
The book argues that the crucified and risen Jesus is the rightful ruler, whose authority is disclosed through the people he restores. It reads AD 70 as the fulfillment of the announced Temple judgment.
The Jerusalem/Babylon and Simon/Revelation connections require their own arguments. They do not establish one another, and the book’s account of redemption does not depend on proving them all. The complete wording is preserved on pp. 8–9 in the introduction reader.
OPTIONAL
Notes and corrections
Keep a private note, or prepare a specific correction to share with the author.