Enter Through the Narrow Gate

Meditations on the Sermon on the Mount 

June 18, 2024

Enter Through the Narrow Gate

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NRSV) 

Jesus concludes his Sermon on the Mount by giving three warnings, Matthew 7:13-29, which we will consider in three meditations. The first warning is about gates, which was a very easy metaphor for his listeners to grasp. Cites had multiple entrance gates, and the gates, and the roads leading to them, varied greatly. When we think of some of our descriptions of God’s Kingdom, such as peace, joy, hope and forgiveness, it is easy to picture the road not as hard, but as expansive, inclusive, and beautiful. While these attributes certainly speak to the heart of God’s Kingdom, Jesus is alerting us here to the reality of the difficult choices necessary for us to follow him into the Kingdom.

Remember the blessings in Jesus’ introduction to his Sermon on the Mount: the beatitudes. These blessings are not for the casual passerby; rather, they paint a picture of fully devoted disciples. When I read the beatitudes, I immediately think of the comment made by G.K. Chesterton: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” After the beatitudes, before Matthew finished chapter five, Jesus taught on anger, adultery, divorce, vows, revenge, and love for enemies. Many would be disciples of Jesus, seeking the wide road to the Kingdom, found these teachings difficult and left them untried. Read on, the road becomes more narrow and harder in chapters six and seven.

My Takeaway: Even so, for you lovers of Jesus, despair not. Remember, it is God who is at work within you, and things impossible for us are possible for God. As followers of Jesus, we commit our way to the hard road and narrow gate with this promise ringing in our ears:

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Philippians 1:6

 Sē’lah

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.