Jesus gathers his disciples then he gets questioned by just about everyone. Why did he choose those people? Why did he act that way or say that word or eat that food? The people are used to having so many different rules and traditions floating around but Jesus ends with some powerful and comforting words.

Jesus calls some men to come follow him. In the process of asking them to follow him, he fills them in on the good, bad and ugly of what following him will look like. This is really not the best way to gather a bunch of followers but it is the best way to gather committed ones.

Jesus does a lot of things we're not expecting. One of those things is when he heals people he doesn't always do what they're expecting. In this case it's no different. Jesus heals people but from an illness they don't even know is a problem.

This is not a license to do evil. It's not a license to do wrong. Disclaimer over. Jesus does some powerful things and sometimes to accomplish those powerful things he needs to show that the way of the world isn't the way of God.

As Jesus finishes the sermon on the mount we see a few more examples of what a transformed life will actually look like. Can we tell people right from wrong? Do you really understand the golden rule? And why am I not getting what I asked for?

Jesus moves from the "not to's" and moves to the should dos. This means there are things we should be doing as followers of Jesus. But Jesus gives a pretty strong caution that's easy to miss.

Matthew includes a cool part of Jesus' life and teaching called the sermon on the mount. This chapter is the kick off for that very long and thorough teaching by Jesus. The point of this sermon is to set the world on its head.

Temptations are all around us. Eat a little more. Sleep in a little later. Just one more drink. Drive a little faster. Go with the crowd. Jesus shows us how to handle temptations of all sorts in this short lesson.

John the Baptist has a strange message about repentance. Turn from your wrongs and live a different kind of life to experience the Kingdom today.

So why was Herod so mean? Who were the wise men? Why does it matter?