Scene 1: The Broad and Narrow Roads
“Go in through the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are finding it. (Matthew 7:13, 14)
At the conclusion of his sermon on the mount, Jesus gives four contrasting scenes, designed to help his listeners to identify worship that is acceptable to his God and Father.
- The broad and narrow roads (Matt. 7:13-14)
- The good tree and the worthless tree (Matt. 7:15-20)
- Those doing and not doing the will of the Father (Matt. 7:21-23)
- Those obeying and not obeying his sayings (Matt. 7:24-27)
The first contrast is between “destruction and “life.” It is a matter of being in or out. The two roads lead in opposite directions and their destinations are totally apart. Everlasting life on the one hand, everlasting destruction on the other. (John 3:36)
The broad road is characterized as the most popular since many are said to be on it. The narrow road is cramped and few are the ones finding it.
By using the expression “the way of life and the way of death”, Jesus draws upon a traditional Jewish teaching.
“And to this people you should say, ‘This is what Jehovah says: “Here I am putting before you the way of life and the way of death. (Jeremiah 21:8)
For Jehovah is aware of the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1:6)
“See, I am putting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing if you obey the commandments of Jehovah your God that I am commanding you today, and the curse if you do not obey the commandments of Jehovah your God and you turn aside from the way I am commanding you to follow today and you follow gods that you have not known. “When Jehovah your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerʹi·zim and the curse on Mount Eʹbal. (Deuteronomy 11:26-29)
The contrast appears to be between the course of life chosen by those who find self-discipline in order to gain God’s approval distasteful, since people find their way onto this road without effort or thought, simply drifting with the crowd. Apparently these are in the majority. It is only those who make the effort to turn aside through the unattractively narrow gate who can find the alternative road which leads away from the crowd to real life.
This is similar to the illustration of a marathon runner described by the apostle Paul:
. . .Do you not know that the runners in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Now everyone competing in a contest exercises self-control in all things. Of course, they do it to receive a crown that can perish, but we, one that does not perish. Therefore, the way I am running is not aimlessly; the way I am aiming my blows is so as not to be striking the air; but I pummel my body and lead it as a slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself should not become disapproved somehow. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
In Luke 13:23,24 the imagery of the narrow door is a response to the question “Are those who are saved few?”; the answer is clearly meant to be yes:
Now a man said to him: “Lord, are those being saved few?” He said to them: “Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able. (Luke 13:23, 24)
This point is emphasized later in the third concluding scene of this sermon (Matt. 7:22) and occurs many other times in Matthew’s gospel:
Then he said to his disciples: “Yes, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Therefore, beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37, 38)
“The Kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure, hidden in the field, that a man found and hid; and because of his joy, he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. “Again the Kingdom of the heavens is like a traveling merchant seeking fine pearls. Upon finding one pearl of high value, he went away and promptly sold all the things he had and bought it. Matthew 13:44-46
Just as the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life as a ransom in exchange for many.” (Matthew 20:28)
“For there are many invited, but few chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)
Over and over again in his sermon, Jesus stresses the need for his disciples to stand out as different from the majority of society. He urged them to be conscious of their spiritual need, mild tempered, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peaceable. Yet he alerted them that pursuing this righteous course would not be easy. It would lead to their persecution:
“Happy are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, since the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to them. “Happy are you when people reproach you and persecute you and lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against you for my sake. Rejoice and be overjoyed, since your reward is great in the heavens, for in that way they persecuted the prophets prior to you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its strength, how will its saltiness be restored? It is no longer usable for anything except to be thrown outside to be trampled on by men. “You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hid when located on a mountain. People light a lamp and set it, not under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it shines on all those in the house. Likewise, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heavens. (Matthew 5:10-16)
Saying the broad road leads to destruction adds a sense of urgency to the call to pursue this course, to “seek first God’s kingship and his righteousness.” (Matt. 6:33)
Today, many take these words of Jesus to mean that there must be only one true Christian religion that is determined by a correct or orthodox set of doctrines or right teachings. All others are said to be heterodox and, hence, that has to mean, according to Jesus, that they are all on the broad road leading to destruction. History is strewn with persons that have staked their claim on a particular set of scriptural interpretations, planting their flag on a particular brand of worship and advertising it as the only approved way to worship God. The Jews in Jesus day felt they had the only approved way of worshiping God and that all others, non-Jews would be excluded. However, a close analysis of what is said here as well as the entirety of Jesus ministry shows that it is not so much what a person knows but what a person is that counts with God.
But I tell you that many from east and west will come and recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of the heavens; whereas the sons of the Kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.” (Matthew 8:11, 12)
The NICNT comments on these verses:
The imagery of reclining at table with the Hebrew patriarchs would inevitably speak to Jewish readers of the messianic banquet which was a popular way of thinking of the ultimate blessedness of the true people of God. In popular Jewish thought it would be taken for granted that, while not every Jew might prove worthy of a place at the banquet, it would be a Jewish gathering, while non-Jews would find themselves outside in the darkness; to be the people of God meant, for all practical purposes, to be Jewish. Jesus’ saying dramatically challenges this instinctive assumption, both by including “many” others from foreign parts (“east and west”) on the guest list, and also daring to exclude those who were assumed to have a right to be there, the “sons of the kingdom.” To add insult to injury, the fate of these “sons of the kingdom” is described in the terms traditionally used in Jewish descriptions of the fate of the ungodly (and therefore, predominantly, the Gentiles), “darkness outside,” “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The reason they are rejected is not explicit within this saying, but in the context in which Matthew has placed it it must be linked with the fact that Jesus has not found in Israel faith like that of the centurion. Thus belonging to the kingdom of heaven is found to depend not on ancestry but on faith.
Rather than scriptural knowledge or correct doctrine, it is attitude and heart condition, what a person does with what he knows, how a person lives, that puts one on the road to life and keeps him there. So, rather than being concerned with finding the right religion, as if that meant finding the right organization, fellowship or church, one should be concerned with practicing it. Being Christian means following the pattern Jesus set, allowing ones every action to be guided by love of God and love of neighbor.
He said to him: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)
“You heard that it was said: ‘You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you, so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good and makes it rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing? And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing? You must accordingly be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48)
By this all will know that you are my disciples—if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:35)