The narrow way
The Sermon on the Mount is embedded in Western culture. 'Turn the other cheek', 'do not judge', 'you cannot serve both God and money' are familiar, even to those who cannot exactly identify their origin. But Jesus' Sermon on the Mount has been described as a 'manifesto of non-conformity'. Close attention to it reveals it to be resistant to domestication.
No one likes to be described as 'narrow'. It conjures pictures of intolerance and sectarianism. It comes as a surprise then to find that Jesus who gives a lavish invitation to 'Come to me', also describes faith as a journey on a narrow path. The Sermon on the Mount concludes with a series of warnings about false trails that will lead someone away from the 'narrow way' of Jesus that alone leads to fullness of life.
