By Макаров (http://ru-oldrussia.livejournal.com/11583.html) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The text is Matthew 5:21-37.

Introduction

Starting at a very young age, people in our society are taught that certain answers are expected of them in certain situations.  There is a Sunday school urban legend that illustrates this point beautifully:

There was a Sunday school teacher leading a class of very young kids.  As part of her lesson one morning, she held up a picture of a squirrel and asked the kids if they knew what it was.  There was a dead silence in the room.  The teacher was puzzled.  She thought, “Surely, these kids know a squirrel when they see one!”  So she asked again.  And again, there was silence.  “Now kids,” she said, “do you mean to tell me that no one in this room knows what this is a picture of?”  Slowly and tentatively, one little boy in…