Two Ways; One Foundation

The late first century Christian writing, the Didache, begins with these words, “There are two ways, one of life and one of death. And there is a great difference between the two ways. And this is the way of life: First, 'you shall love God who made you'; second, 'your neighbor as yourself.”

And then, as the Didache goes on to describe the Way of Life, a lot of what it says is taken right from Jesus' teaching here in Luke 6.

And that's no coincidence. Because it's just that truth—the truth of the Two Ways—that's been the main theme of Jesus' teaching in this sermon.

That's what he started off with in the Blessings and Woes. It's the foundation for the teaching about loving your enemies and doing good to those who hate you. And it's what Jesus drives home here as the sermon moves toward its conclusion....