Jesus doesn’t seem to speak about marriage and sexual sin any more often than other marks of righteousness like justice, mercy and compassion. But when he does he is not ambiguous.

Sometimes, holding on is the problem.

Which comes first: a clean heart or righteous life? While the two build on each other, Jesus offers the clean heart as a free gift…and that leads to holy living.

Jesus wants his gospel spread to all people in all parts of the world – even to the people and places we don’t like very much.

Jesus promises us freedom and peace – but even his own life makes it clear there will be struggles before we get there.

Miracles invite some people into the faith, and are a distraction to others. In every case, though, they are a testimony to God’s power.

As Jesus continues with his sermon, his teachings turn from lofty theory to practical advice on living the Christian life.

The values of the kingdom of God are very different from the values of the world. Embracing Christ’s values requires letting go of ones we’re familiar with.

Too often people minimize the reality that Jesus faced temptation…but facing and defeating temptation was central to his defeat of sin and death.

Matthew takes care to place Jesus in the context of his Jewish lineage and his place in prophecy.