Mike Blogs

Chapter 5 began with the Beatitudes (blessings), then followed a series of “You have heard that it was said, but I tell you that…”...

We have all seen it in our competitive contentious society: In a marriage, one sharp answer sparks a smart aleck response; and the race...

I have repeated verse 11 to begin today’s study below because I do not want to lose the continuity that Matthew provides for this glimpse...

14: 20  The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends. We have an interesting couplet, verses 20 and 21,...

5: 1-2.  When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he began to speak and...

Sometimes it is obvious who is righteous and who is wicked. Other times, it takes a while and we only realize in retrospect who had our...

Jesus has been anointed for ministry through John’s baptism in the Jordan River (Matthew 3). Jesus has survived hunger and parried the...

Memorizing verses is a great practice. When I was a child, at church we had contests to see who could quote the verse that our youth...

What did the previous chapter look like, especially the Baptism of Jesus? Was there not some similarity to the way that we commission...