The Narrow and Wide Gates

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus is beginning to bring his Sermon on the Mount to a close. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes the time to re-establish the true meaning of how a believer is to apply the Old Testament law in his/her life and how that should affect his/her relationship with God and with others. As he brings the sermon to a close, however, the tone changes dramatically. Jesus now begins to provide a few crucial warnings to his disciples. The first is a warning to be sure that his disciples stay on the straight and narrow road. The path that Jesus desires for his disciples begins through entry in a narrow gate. That gate is none other than Jesus himself, which he declares in John 10:7. This gate is not just narrow, it is exclusive. Jesus says in John 14:6 that he is THE way, THE truth, and THE life and that he is the ONLY way to the Father. The warning is a stern one, because in contrast to the narrow gate, the road leading to destruction is broad, its gate is wide, and there are many people on it. A number of theologians argue that there is no hell or that hell will be sparsely populated. Most recently, there has been uproar in the media over a book published by popular evangelical pastor Rob Bell that supposedly questions the existence of hell. The argument that such doubters provide is that a loving God would never send so many people into destruction. Indeed, Rob Bell reportedly makes the pronouncement that “Good news, Love Wins” (Love Wins is the name of his book). As a result, either God will honor the faithful effort of all religions, will provide post-mortem opportunities for repentance, or will simply forgive our sinfulness on the basis of Jesus’ work without the requirement of faith. Jesus, who is God incarnate, says exactly the opposite in these verses. The way to destruction that Jesus speaks of is none other than the way to hell and he is very clear that not only is it the easy path, but that many people will be on it.

By contrast, path leading to life is not only narrow, but it is also difficult. Although Jesus just finished promising that God will provide the basic needs for all of his children, he now counters that with a reminder that the way of life will be hard. Too many “easy grace” evangelists attempt to “sell” Christianity as something that will solve all of their problems. Certainly, Christianity solves the most important problem that all humans have – the penalty of sin. However, there are no promises that Christianity will result in an easy life. In fact, this verse is only one of several places where Jesus teaches clearly that the Christian life will be anything but easy. A narrow road would be difficult to follow simply because it is narrow, but Jesus says this particular narrow road is especially difficult. Paul echoes this in Romans 8:17 when he says that we must suffer with Christ in order to be glorified with Christ. This is a warning, therefore, not to embark upon the journey lightly. However, it should not dissuade a true believer from embarking on the journey. The way does, after all, lead to life. Furthermore, while Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:33 that they will have difficulty in the world, he also reminds them that he has overcome the world. Most importantly, Jesus promised his disciples in Matthew 28 that he would always be with them on the journey. A Christian can be assured, therefore, that even though the journey will be difficult, Jesus will be there to help us overcome those difficulties and carry us to the end. As Paul says in Philippians 1:6 “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”