A story about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

            There was once a village, and at its center was a maze, and in that maze was a monster, vicious and cruel, death dealing to an extreme. But the villagers said to themselves, “stay on the safe side of the maze, and you’ll be all right.”

            But it seemed the monster could navigate the maze and get in and get out.

            So, the villagers built a wall around the perimeter of the maze, and told their children, “just stay on the safe side of the wall and you’ll be all right.”

            But then the village’s sheep started disappearing, people started seeing a monstrous thing in the shadows.

            One day a Builder came to the village, and volunteered to create a barrier for the sheep and the children, so that the Monster would be kept at bay, and they would be safe.

            The village rejoiced and it was built, so sturdy that they knew the children and animals would be safe.

            Then the Builder offered to create a trap for the monster, and as bait to catch the Monster he offered himself—the Builder was the bait for the Monster.

            That night he sat in his trap, and dusk came down. He could hear the Monster claw at the walls where the vulnerable were, but it did not break the barriers.

            Then it entered his trap, rushing at him… and the trap was tripped, a net came down over the monster and scooped it up

            … and the monster was revealed—it was the villagers themselves.

            The Monster was the people, their anger, lust, and lies driving them to do things they could not imagine they were capable of.

            And then in the light of day, the Builder unsprung his trap, releasing them all from the Monster.