The Narrow and Wide Gates (Matthew 7:13-14)
Mt 7:13-14 Almost all who read or hear Jesus' Sermon on the Mount given here in Matthew Chapters 5-7 agree that it is an excellent sermon, excellent teaching; they agree that Jesus is a good teacher. But Jesus doesn't want to hear that. Jesus does not want praise. He wants people to obey Him; He wants them to heed His teaching.
Therefore, Jesus says to us: "Okay, you have heard my teaching. Now what are you going to do about it? Heed it, or not heed it? Go through the narrow gate or go through the wide gate. There are only two gates. You must choose."
Let us imagine that we are walking along a path and we come to two gates. There are only two; we must go through one or the other. One of the gates is wide, and the road leading on from it is easy, level. Many people are walking along that road. We think, "Surely so many people cannot be mistaken; they must be on the right road."
The second gate is narrow. The road leading on from it is also narrow, steep, rocky. Very few people are walking on this road. But Jesus says, "If you want to follow me, you must pass through this small gate and walk on this narrow road."
To follow Jesus it is necessary to leave the crowd. We must leave the world. Even if all our friends and relatives are walking through the wide gate, we must separate from them. We must stand alone; we must be different. We must turn from the customs of the world. How difficult it is to leave family and friends to follow Christ! (see Mt 10:35-37). But that is the first step if we are to pass through the narrow gate: we must leave the crowd, the world. We must remember that each of us one day must face God alone. God will judge us one by one. And if on that day we want to enter heaven, we must leave the crowd today and enter in at the narrow gate.
In one way, the Christian life is easy. Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest … my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Mt 11:28-30). The people walking along the wide road are carrying heavy burdens of sins, worries, fears. Those walking on the narrow road do not carry those burdens: Jesus carries them.
However, those on the narrow road must carry one thing: a cross. In order to pass through the narrow gate we must deny ourselves and take up our cross (see Mk 8:34 and comment). We must leave our old self, our "old man," outside the gate. We must leave our property, our rights, our honor, outside the gate. Our old self must be crucified (Ro 6:6). The only thing we can take with us through that gate is a cross. Paul wrote: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Ga 2:20). And he wrote: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Ga 6:14).
The narrow road is difficult. On the way we will meet all kinds of trouble and persecution (2Ti 3:12). Satan will put many obstacles and temptations in our way. There will be few conveniences (Mt 8:19-20). And the road will not get easier. For every stage in our lives, Satan has new temptations to give us.
Therefore, why walk on such a road? Because that narrow road leads to life. eternal life (verse 14). The broad road leads to destruction (Je 21:8).
Friends, there are only two roads. If you are not walking on the narrow road, then you must be walking on the broad one.
What is the purpose of a road? It leads to some destination. Think of the people walking on the broad road. For them the journey is easy, pleasant. Some are dancing, singing. Some are storing up treasures. Some are getting land and houses. And then they will come to the end of the road. What is that? Death. Where will their singing and dancing be then? What good will their possessions be to them then? (see Mk 8:36; Lk 12:16-20).
Let each man think of where his road is leading. Only the narrow road leads to life eternal. Yes, in this life the road is difficult, but remember the destination! (Ro 18:18; 2Co 4:17).
Jesus says to everyone: "Enter through the narrow gate." It is not enough to listen to Jesus' wonderful teaching. We must obey it. We must enter the gate. When Jesus first called His disciples, He said: "Follow me. (Mk 1:17; 2:14). Jesus gives each of us a choice: to follow, or not to follow. We must choose. Let us not wait. Let us not delay. Jesus may not call to us again.
A Tree and Its Fruit (Matthew 7:15-20)
(Lk 6:43-44)
Mt 7:15 Watch out for false prophets. These false prophets are false teachers, false Christians, who try to stop people from passing through the narrow gate. They say: "This is not the way; we'll show you a wider gate and an easier way."
Why are they so dangerous? Because they seem on the outside to be good. Their teaching sounds good. But they lead men to destruction. That's why Jesus calls them ferocious wolves (See Ac 20:29-31).
Mt 7:16 We can recognize false prophets by their fruit, that is, by their teaching and by their work. They talk about God, about Jesus, about love and joy, but they do not talk about the narrow gate. They teach only the easy things, the pleasant things about the Christian religion. But they never teach about the holiness ofGod, about His wrath against sin.
The false prophets say to sinful man: "Don't worry; all is well. God will forgive you." But they don't preach about repentance, about turning from sin, about denying oneself. Jeremiah spoke of such false prophets in his time: "They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. (Je 6:13-14). And men like to listen to such prophets, because they say things that men like to hear (2Ti 4:3-4).
Mt 7:17-18 Some false prophets are easy to recognize. They are like thornbushes and thistles (verse 16). But other false prophets are hard to recognize. They are like fig trees with beautiful leaves, but they bear bad fruit, or no fruit.
According to the tree, so will be its fruit. According to what we are, so ultimately will our actions be. If we are of the world, our fruit will also be of the world. If we are of the Spirit, our fruit will also be of the Spirit. In Lk 6:45, Jesus said: "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." As are our hearts, so will we speak (see Mt 12:33-35 and comment).
Sometimes a bad tree seems to give good fruit. We are fooled. A person may say, "I am a Christian; I believe." For some time he may act like a Christian. But in the end he falls away. Peter says that such people are like pigs who have been washed, but then return to the mud (see 2Pe 2:20-22). We can wash a pig on the outside, but if his inward nature is not changed, it will soon go back into the mud. False Christians are like that.
Extract from Applied New Testament Commentary