Matthew 5:1-12
A tendency exists to interpret Jesus’ life in terms of his birth, death, and resurrection. However, the gospels dedicate considerably more time to Jesus’ ministry than his birth and death. In fact, two of the four gospels do not even record Jesus’ birth. While volume alone does not determine significance, it does contribute to how we assess importance. Given the weight the gospels give to the long middle section of Jesus’ ministry, we began a short series two weeks ago exploring the message of the kingdom driving Jesus’ ministry. This lesson concludes the series by considering the people to whom Jesus grants kingdom citizenship.