Enter the Narrow Gate, Lesson 9 

Assignment: Read this lesson and Matthew 7:6-14.

From not wasting time with those who reject the gospel to living the “Golden Rule” and entering through the narrow gate, Jesus’s words offer life in abundance and life after life. As we continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount, it is important to remember that Jesus’s words are intended for his genuine disciples, not those who just dropped by to witness a miracle or be entertained.

In a series of parables recorded later in Matthew 13, Jesus speaks of an important discovery. It is often called “The Pearl of Great Price,” and it connects with what Jesus says in this passage. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46 | NIV) Jesus was speaking of accepting the gospel. Regardless of the cost, it is life’s most important decision.

In those later parables he described God’s kingdom—disciples living in absolute submission to God’s will for their lives—people just like us and those he is directing his sermon to in this passage. Kingdom residents are in the world, but not of it. (John 17) Their citizenship is in heaven. (Philippians 3:20) They have placed absolute faith in Jesus for their eternal security and are striving to be like him day by day. (Luke 6:40)

Most new believers cannot wait to tell others about Jesus, but sometimes they lack the discernment to do it effectively. I am reminded of the wild-eyed man standing on the street corner shouting, “Turn or burn!” What he shouts may be true, but his delivery is seldom productive.

Throughout his sermon, Jesus has been describing what life looks like in the kingdom of God. But now we read a verse that seems to come out of nowhere. ⁶ “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (V.6) Jesus had just cautioned them against judging others, but now tells them what not to do around dogs and pigs. What’s up with that?

Pearls, pigs and dogs are metaphors. The pearls are the good news of the gospel. And the pigs and dogs are those who have no interest in the things of God. If they have left no doubt that they are not interested, we should follow the counsel Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 10.

“When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry—but it’s no concern of yours now.” (Matthew 10:14 | MSG)

Jesus cautions disciples not to waste time on those who have rejected the gospel message and made it clear they were not interested. But the story does not always end when someone remains undecided. “Nonbelievers must hear the gospel an average of 7.6 times before they receive it. So if anyone walks away from you when you share the gospel with him, remember: the Word of God never returns void.”[1]

If you sense they are undecided, there’s nothing stopping you from seeking another opportunity to tell them what Jesus has done for you. But, even if you don’t, you have at least planted a seed. It takes wisdom to make the correct decision and the next passage tell us how to gain that wisdom.

Being like Jesus in how we live our lives and having the discernment to evangelize like we have been tasked to do, requires supernatural power and spiritual discernment. Walking in his footsteps requires determination, persistence, and wisdom. Jesus is telling them (and us) there is no point in giving God’s things to those who don’t want them or God giving us his spiritual wisdom if we aren’t ready to receive it. We demonstrate our readiness when we want it badly enough to pester him until we get it.

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (vv.7-11 | NIV)

Jesus is making an absolute, yet not universal, promise to his disciples. This passage is not a prosperity gospel proof text. It is all about God’s grace. It is God granting us the ability to live a godly life in an ungodly world. No one who earnestly seeks the kingdom will be denied.

But the blessings of the kingdom are reserved for God’s kids. You obtain that status by being born again. He is telling his followers to pray with persistence and confidence. We have been told to, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and that our “righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees.” (Matthew 5:20) Here Jesus tells us to knock on God’s door until he gives us what we need.

The next verse is what is traditionally called, “The Golden Rule,” a name that has been applied to the passage since the Middle Ages. “Contrary to popular opinion, this name was not inspired by the preciousness of this important moral principle. This name relates to accounts claiming that the Emperor Alexander Severus had Matt 7:12 inscribed in gold on the wall of his throne room.”[2] Sadly, as a leader, he was so incompetent that the wall decor was his greatest accomplishment in a reign that ended with the murder of both him and his mother. She was the real power behind the throne.

The maxim is not a Jesus original, but the focus is. “About AD 20, Rabbi Hillel, challenged by a Gentile to summarize the law in the short time the Gentile could stand on one leg, reportedly responded, “What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole law; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it” (b. Šabb. 31a).[3]

In addition to Hillel, similar quotes existed from other sources such as Homer, Herodotus, Isocrates, and Seneca. Most, however, like Hillel, come at the matter from the “do not” perspective. For Jesus’s followers, it isn’t just about not doing bad things to others, rather it is about seeking to do good to them.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (V.12) The Sermon on the Mount is a kingdom, behavioral blueprint and this passage ties together all he has said so far. This is simply living out the second greatest commandment—love others as we love ourselves. And that cannot be accomplished by self-centered people. When we see ourselves as we really are, we realize our only hope is God. We can only give others grace when we have truly experience God’s grace ourselves.

In the natural, granting grace to others is hard. But when placed in context it should be a no brainer. As a follower of Jesus, you realized there is nothing lovable in you apart from Jesus. If you have never seen yourself as a vile, worthless, sinner, mourned over your separation from God and cried out to him for his cleansing and forgiveness, it is possible, you have never truly received his grace. You may still be lost and destined for eternal separation from his love. If you have surrendered to him, you have signed on to deny yourself and take up your cross every day, not just when it is convenient. And that means doing good to those who don’t deserve it.

Jesus used the human sin of self-centeredness and pride to make a case for granting grace to others. Interestingly, it is that self-centeredness that makes the Golden Rule so hard to practice. We tend to see ourselves as singularly entitled. If you don’t believe me consider the 17 million people who traveled against medical advice over holidays during the height of the COVID pandemic or the people trashing our democracy over election results while claiming this world is not their home. Heaven has no red or blue divisions.

In that one passage Jesus is telling us “Don’t just stand there, do something!” As with most things in his upside-down kingdom, his directive goes against our basic nature. It allows us to respond, but not as we might naturally do. The response Jesus suggests is supernaturally empowered. He is encouraging a positive response, something akin to, I’ll see your cutting me off in traffic and raise you with a smile and a friendly wave— not a honking horn and an obscene gesture. “The real novelty of Christian ethics lies in the fact that Christianity offers not only instruction in moral duty, but spiritual help in acting accordingly.”[4]

What we have learned from this passage was articulated hundreds of years earlier by the Old Testament prophet Micah. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8 | NIV)

(1)   Acting justly is treating others as you want to be treated.

(2)   Loving mercy is granting grace even when it is undeserved.

(3)   Walking humbly is recognizing where you would be without Jesus.

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (vv13-14) If you are a Jesus-follower you have been set apart from your family, and have entered by this small gate that admits us individually, not by groups or families. Instead of welcoming everyone in, as the world supposes, Jesus is asking his listeners to decide in light of what he has been teaching.

That should be a sober warning to everyone, even those sitting on church pews. It is an unmistakable call to action for anyone who is not truly born again to decide which road they are on. The words are warnings, not threats. Oswald Chambers said, “God never threatens; the Devil never warns.” Jesus’s warning is intended to offer the opportunity for us to make a decision about a destination. It is literally a choice between spiritual life and death.

A gate serves two purposes. It allows in and keeps out. This narrow gate is only wide enough to admit one empty-handed, person at a time. It is exactly the size of Jesus. We enter by walking in his shadow. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones compared it to a turnstile. If so, I imagine it to be like the one in a BART station in the Bay Area. You pause to stick your ticket in the slot, and it opens. The narrow gate causes us to pause to realize we are all accountable to God individually. When we do, it lets us in. But we can’t force our way in or take anything in with us.

We must surrender completely, leaving everything behind—especially the ways and things that please the world. Once inside, the narrow path is still only wide enough for one. Jesus was first through the gate and if we plan to continue, we are expected to follow him—to walk in his footsteps. To do that, we must conform to his likeness. Jesus did not come to just save us from the punishment we deserve. Nor did he come to make us happy. He came to make us holy; to prepare us for eternity in God’s presence.

“Follow me.” It is not an intellectual exercise. Jesus does not say, “Consider me,” or “Admire me,” or even, “Love me.” To follow means surrendering control. It is like entering military service. From the day you raise your hand, you are theirs to do with you what they will. Jesus says only a few people will find the narrow way and those who find it are completely surrendered to his lordship. Just look around. Obviously, there are many professed Christians who act like they do not believe that.

You have to be looking, actually, desperately searching for the narrow gate. Most unbelievers will tell you hell is reserved for only the really bad folks. Others claim we are all God’s children. (We are all God’s creation, but only those who have been born again are his children.) Some folks even insist all roads lead to heaven. They are comforting thoughts, but they are all lies from the mouth of Satan no matter how earnestly they are repeated by well-meaning people. There is only one way to God. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 | NIV)

There are only two roads. One leads to life and the other—death. One leads to heaven, the other to hell. Some folks think that believing certain things about Jesus is sufficient. They are trusting solely in the finished work of Christ based on religious knowledge, rather than relationship.

They are ignoring the words of James, Jesus’s half-brother to their peril. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 | NIV They profess Jesus but live like their neighbors who do not give a hoot about him. Jesus himself asks, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46 | NIV)

Many will miss heaven by 18 inches—the distance between their head and their heart. It takes heart, not head knowledge to be a Jesus follower. The devil knows Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin, was crucified and resurrected. No, as Jesus has been teaching in his sermon, it takes holiness and righteousness to enter the narrow gate.

People may still like you if you call yourself a Christian, but believe me, you will lose your popularity as soon as you begin to reflect the character of Jesus. We are taught to conform almost from birth. But now Jesus is calling us to be very different and most of us are naturally and culturally uncomfortable with being different.

If you believe you are able to enter without surrendering completely, you have deluded yourself. You have entered the wide or broad gate. In Luke 13, Jesus tells us it is not easy to get in the narrow one. “Make every effort to enter through the narrow gate. Many, I tell you, will try to enter and won’t be able to.” Luke 13:24 | CEV. The Greek translated “make every effort” is typically rendered ‘agonize,’ ‘labor feverishly’ and even ‘fight.’ It obviously entails more than thoughtlessly raising a hand or signing a card. The prodigal had to leave the far country of sin and dissipation and return to his father in sorrowful repentance. We cannot serve both the world and God. We must forsake one and cling to the other. One gate leads to life, the other to destruction.

There was a time when, at the end of every service, pastors gave what was called an altar call and those who did not follow Jesus and were responding to the Holy Spirit’s prompting would kneel at an altar, confess their sin, ask for forgiveness and surrender to Jesus. Likewise, followers of Jesus who had stumbled would kneel to confess and be restored. That doesn’t happen much in churches today. Now folks are asked to raise a hand or fill out a card and they are in. That makes them members of the local assembly, but unless they have truly repented and surrendered to Jesus, they are still walking the wide road.

 For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (v.13) If you are not on the narrow road, you are on the wide one and you have been since birth. Those on this road are often unaware that there even is an alternative. They do not realize they are speeding along the highway to Hell because there are plenty of other cars on that road with them. That’s the good news. They are never alone. They are part of the crowd. The bad news is the road ends, but those who are on it continue and fall to their spiritual destruction. This passage is the flashing, yellow warning lights alerting his listeners that road is a dead end.

 So, does that mean those of us who don’t measure up are on the wide path? No. Satan wants us to think that and give up, but as with everything he whispers, it’s a lie. Failure does not mean we have lost our way or as my Baptist friends might say backslid. Ask yourself these questions.

1. Have you completely surrendered your life to Jesus?
2. Are you committed to following what he teaches?
3. Is your primary goal to be like him?
4. Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness?

 If the answer is “Yes,” look around. You are not going to see many folks because you are on the narrow road. Keep this in mind. You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, but you strive to be like him because you are saved.

Entering the narrow gate is evidence you have been saved. Following the narrow road proves you are being led by the Holy Spirit. We do our best. Jesus did the rest. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21 | NIV)

 Jesus is giving his listeners a choice in this passage. He encourages us to strive, to make every effort to enter through the narrow gate and follow the narrow path, but there is no pressure, no compulsion. It’s our choice. Make no mistake, he is clearly warning of the consequences of our decision. It might seem like a no-brainer. Life over destruction. Heaven over Hell. Yet many pridefully reject his offer of abundant life here and life after life in the hereafter.

The New Testament gospel is very humbling to self and to pride. That is because we can only come to Jesus on his terms, when we are convicted of our sins. Think back to what Jesus said in the Beatitudes about the poor in spirit, those who mourn over their separation from God, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

 To enter the narrow gate we must first recognize how truly lost we are. Until we feel the full weight of sin on our shoulders, pride keeps us from kneeling at the foot of the cross. Next comes confession and repentance.

Repentance means turning around and going in a different direction—not back to the wide gate, but forward following the footsteps of Jesus on the narrow road. As long as we breathe, we are subject to failure. Failure does not define us. Not running to God when we fall defines us. Our God is a God of second chances.

 Discussion

1. What did you learn that surprised you?
2. What did you read that caused you to disagree, squirm a little or make excuses?
3. How do Jesus’s words on pigs and dogs play into the believer’s responsibility to evangelize?
4. Have you ever “pestered” God for his wisdom or the power to live his way in the world? How did that work for you?
5. Why is it hard to do things that benefit those who treat us badly?
6. What barriers do you encounter in completely surrendering to Jesus?
7. Does your righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees? How do you know?
8. Why is it easy to accept Jesus as savior, but not lord? (Dietrich Bonhoeffer called that “cheap grace.”)
9. Are you striving for God’s perfection in the way you live?
10. What changes, if any, are intending to make as a result of what you read?

[1] William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Share Jesus Without Fear (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 1999) Kindle Edition, p. 11.

[2] Charles L. Quarles, Sermon On The Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church, New American Commentary Studies in Bible and Theology (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2011) Kindle Edition, Location 5895.

[3] D. A. Carson. Matthew, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic) Kindle Edition, Location 7828.

[4] Ibid., Location 5923.