A defining characteristic of the Kingdom of Heaven is meekness because the King is meek. 

Recognizing that we are poor in spirit should lead us to mourning for our sin. And when we find ourselves there - we find the good news of resurrection!

As Jesus begins His sermon on the mount, He addresses the crowd with "The Great Surprise." 

As Jesus begins His ministry, He institutes the Kingdom of Heaven. It begins much like God has worked in the Old Testament. 

Immediately following a celebratory moment in His baptism, Jesus is led into the wilderness for 40 days of hunger and a battle with the devil.

Matthew moves forward to a moment of revelation in Jesus' life - His baptism at the Jordan River.

Matthew skillfully proves the Messiah-ship of Jesus by showing Him to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament - as a better Israel.

When the magi make their way to see Jesus their response is one of overwhelmingly joyful worship. Our response to the presence of Jesus should be the same.

With the genealogy of Jesus completed, Matthew shifts to tell the story of the birth of Jesus - from the eyes of Joseph.

In the third and final section of Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, we come to the period of the Babylonian exile. The Israelites have been removed from their land and are now strangers in a land that is not their own. They kingly line has seemingly ended and hope is lost - so they stop rejoicing. But the the Biblical view of exile with a God who IS love changes everything.