Jesus is a black and white person. I’m not talking about skin-color. He is dogmatic and spells out truth in definite terms. His descriptions of spiritual realities are never wishy-washy or vague and people are either saved for eternity or they are not. However, statements like this are not an excuse to consider myself superior. Jesus said,
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Years ago I talked about my faith with a Jewish man. He said, “How arrogant of you to think that you can know you are right with God.”
At first, I defended my belief; the Bible does say that a person can know for sure that they are forgiven and have eternal life. Now I realize that it wasn’t my claim to eternal life that upset him as much as it was my arrogance. Back then, I would use verses like the ones above to justify my attitude that this life is made up of “us” and “them” and that I belonged to the right group.
Spiritual growth means learning to read and interpret statements like this in their context. Jesus was talking to a group of people who looked down on their noses at outsiders. They were spiritual elitists who needed His warnings about judging others. While He did acknowledge that there are two groups, He never gave either of them permission to abuse or malign the other. Instead He told them to ask God for help with the godly way to behave, and offered His people what we now call the Golden Rule.
After telling them to treat others as they wanted to be treated, Jesus made this statement about the narrow gate. If I read it right, this is an admonition to those who are hung up on judging others and are not obeying that Rule. Instead, they abuse “outsiders” and are very likely on the same path. That is, such behavior indicates that both those who unjustly judge and those they judge are on the broad way. This way could also be called the way of “everybody does it” and that prideful attitude leads to destruction.
The narrow way is not about acting superior, or putting people down. Jesus says that few people who have that attitude can find the narrow gate that leads to life. For the proud, this way is too confining, too difficult, because it is about humility. It is about realizing that I have done nothing, zero, nada, zip, to earn or deserve the blessings of God. I cannot be arrogant.
How often my heart protests such confinement. I want to boast, to be somebody, to be noticed and recognized. But, as my Jewish friend noted, even when I am trying to glorify God, if that attitude is present, it will present itself and by it, everything I say or do will be ruined.
A West Indian man chose Islam over Christianity because to him Islam “is a noble, broad path with room for a man and his sins on it. The way of Christ is too narrow.”
My devotional reading laments that too many professing Christians today don’t see the issue as clearly as this Muslim man and fail to understand or accept Jesus’ definition of the narrow way. They don’t see it as a “difficult or demanding way” and “a life of self-denial and intense effort.”
I’ve mixed thoughts as I read this. I do understand that this gate refers to how a person can have eternal life and that the gate is narrow. According to Jesus, it is limited to one way and one gate. For this, Christians are said to be “narrow-minded” but our idea of salvation does not come from our own perspective or desire to be exclusive, but from Jesus who said things like this:
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
The broad way (or the broad-minded way) includes every other idea about religion and spiritual matters, including the effort to earn or deserve God’s favor, getting stuck in a religious system of rules that supposedly please God, or even the idea that there is no heaven or afterlife. Jesus lumps everything else but Himself into the broad way when He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
This is not a new teaching. For instance, Proverbs 14:12 hints at it with, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
This narrow gate to God is offensive because it also says we are sinners, cannot save ourselves, and that Jesus died in our place. To be saved, we have to accept those things, admit that they are true, and put our faith in Him, not in anything we can do. It also says the broad way has only one result — eternal condemnation and separation from God.
However, this verse and today’s reading imply that the narrow way also means that the walk of a Christian is restricted and difficult, making demands that are not pleasant and require intense effort. Here is where I have mixed feelings. In one sense, this is true, but in another sense it is not.
Once through the gate, walking with Jesus does ask that I stay there. I cannot go back to my old sinful ways and prosper or have a spiritual fruitful life, but must rely on Jesus for everything. He is the boss and I must do everything He says. That is demanding, yet as I walk with Jesus, it seems that my life has expanded and my sense of freedom is enlarged. How can that be?
Perhaps Jesus talked about the narrow way and the narrow gate to deter triflers. He didn’t want anyone to buy in without counting the cost and then later bail out because they didn’t want this self-denial stuff of the narrow way. That makes sense. Start and stop Christians are a poor testimony of His saving power. He wanted people to be certain that they cannot do this on their own. Salvation is about letting Jesus take charge of my life and knowing that I cannot live the Christian life apart from Him. Trusting Him totally means that I must be fully aware that the way of faith is simply too difficult, too narrow to trust myself and my own ideas.
However, Jesus also said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). That means that after going through the narrow gate I must stay on the narrow way and when I do, my life is richer and fuller than I ever thought possible.
I understand the reasoning of those who choose that broad way that allows sin. I also understand that up front all they can see is a narrow gate. Oh that they could just step through it and see the wonder and the freedom that is on the path on the other side.
Gates like turnstiles and the one shown in this photo allow only one person at a time to pass through. I don’t know what kind of gate Jesus was talking about when He said this, but it could have been such a gate.
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
This narrow gate represents the entrance to eternal life through faith in Christ. It is called narrow for it is not easily entered, but also entered one at a time. New life and faith do not happen in batches or to entire groups. God works with individuals.
The gate is narrow because it is a difficult gate that goes against natural inclination. It seems more logical that to please God we must do something, even many somethings that are good. Many also follow the path of ease and self-indulgence which ends in destruction. Few are concerned with eternal matters and willing to take the way that leads to it at whatever cost.
This one way, the narrow way, offends many people, but the King lays down the law of the kingdom; we do not. One of my commentaries says that “its very first step involves a revolution in all our purposes and plans for life, and a surrender of all that is dear to natural inclination” and then “all that follows is but a repetition of the first great act of self-sacrifice.”
No wonder that few find and few are found in it, yet where else would I want to be? This choice, this narrow way leads to life and is life itself. It is here that I want to walk.
For my birthday, my son gave me a subscription to National Geographic Magazine. Since I’ve not read it for many years, and since it will not be in my mailbox for a few weeks, I picked up a couple copies at the library to ‘get up to speed.’ In reading one issue, I observed the reality of Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
That particular issue had several articles about spirituality and religious practices around the world. Most of them were pagan ceremonies involving idols and based on fear and superstition. What surprised me is that these were not taking place in remote jungles but in areas I would consider the civilized world.
I remembered Jesus also said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
As I thought about these articles and Jesus words, I marveled at both the ease and difficulty of faith. It seems easy to me to believe in a God who has revealed Himself as loving, gracious, merciful, and forgiving. But I sometimes forget about Job.
Job was a man whom God applauded for his faith, but Satan challenged God. He said that if Job were put to the test, his faith would fail. God allowed the test, and it was severe. Yet as much as Job complained and argued that he’d done nothing to deserve this, his faith in God remained firm. He said, “Why do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hands? Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. He also shall be my salvation, for a hypocrite could not come before Him” (Job 13:14-16).
Job’s statements show his faith that God knew all about him. Sure, he didn’t like what was happening but he also did not piously pretend otherwise. He openly said what was on his heart because He believed God knew anyway.
What is more important, Job trusted God no matter what He allowed to happen to him. This is why I think the “way is narrow” and “few there be that find it.” The way is also sometimes extremely difficult!
In a parable about seed sowed in various types of soils, Jesus tells why many are called but few are chosen. The seed represents the word of God and the various soils represent the hearts of those that hear it.
In the parable, some of the seed came up, but it didn’t produce fruit for two reasons. The first was the seed sown on stony places. Jesus said this represented a person who hears the Word of God and receives it with joy, “yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles” (Matthew 13:20-21).
Those who cannot take the heat get out of the kitchen. Those who cannot stand loss of friends or admiration or respect, because they believe in Jesus Christ, will bail out. Those who cannot deal with the trials of living for God will run the other way.
The other reason for lack of fruit and perseverance in faith is illustrated by the seed sown among thorns. Jesus says in verse 22 that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”
Those who are more interested in this life and what it has to offer will not go through that narrow gate. They might get close enough to see what is the kingdom of God on the other side, but are repelled by it so pull back to the comforts and hopes of what they want in this kingdom.
Job endured. He was a rich man and was distressed and grieving at the loss of his wealth, and his family, and even his health, but he hung onto God. For him, faith was the only indestructible thing he had. Few there be that find that.
The articles and photos about many people on that broad road made me wonder at the grace of God. I’m no different from they are, except that God called me and chose me. Perhaps the difference is that He also taught me very early that I cannot go through that narrow gate by myself, nor can I believe in Him by myself, nor even keep believing by myself. My devotional reading today says, “We must trust Him to keep us trusting.”
I wholeheartedly agree. My faith is like a mustard seed. It sometimes winds up on the rocks or amid the thistles, and without Him to rescue me, I’m sure my face would be in the crowds in that magazine article, joining them in their contemporary pagan worship.
