At
the church where I serve we have been spending
our time together looking at perhaps the most famous sermon that Jesus ever
preached, which is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. And, as we have
looked at this sermon, our hope and prayer is that God would move by the power
of the Holy Spirit in a way that enables us to wrap our heads, hearts, and
hands around the lifestyle that Jesus calls us to live as one who is living in
a right relationship with Him.
This week I would like for us to pick
up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this
famous sermon that Jesus preached, called the Sermon on the Mount, which is
recorded for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called
the gospel of Matthew, we are going to discover another timeless truth from
Jesus uncut. So, let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Matthew 7:13:
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way
is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
As Matthew continues to give us a front
row seat to this famous sermon that Jesus preached, we see Jesus
command those who were listening to His sermon to enter through the narrow
gate. With this command, Jesus is painting a word picture to the crowds of how
one would enter into eternal life with God as part of the Kingdom of Heaven. In
this word picture, Jesus paints the entrance to eternal life with God as part
of the Kingdom of Heaven as being narrow.
Jesus then unpacks the reason behind His command to enter through
the narrow gate by explaining that the gate is wide
and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter
through it. Jesus here uses the image of a pathway to describe how one chooses
to conduct one’s life here on earth. In other words, how one chooses to behave
and engage in life here on earth places them on a way or a path that leads to a
destination that is marked by a gate.
Jesus point is that there is a way that one chooses to
behave and engage in life here on earth that places them on a pathway to
destruction. The destruction that Jesus refers to here involves eternal
punishment for those who are found guilty of evil and wrongdoing. In addition,
Jesus explained that entrance to this destruction and punishment is marked by a
gate.
And that pathway, that way of behavior and lifestyle
is broad; many choose to behave and engage in life in a way that places them on
that pathway. In addition, the gate that marks the entrance to destruction is
wide; many will enter through that gate and into a state where they will
experience eternal punishment after being found guilty of evil and wrongdoing.
Jesus then contrasted the pathway and gate that leads to eternal punishment for
those who are found guilty of evil and wrongdoing with the narrow gate that
Jesus commanded those who were listening to His sermon to enter in verse 14:
"For the gate is small and
the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Jesus explained that, unlike the pathway and gate that
leads to eternal punishment for those who are found guilty of evil and
wrongdoing, the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. Jesus
point is that there is a way that one chooses to behave and engage in life here
on earth that places them on a pathway to eternal life with God as a part of
the Kingdom of Heaven. And just like the entrance to eternal destruction and
punishment, entrance to this eternal life with God as part of the Kingdom of
Heaven is marked by a gate.
However, unlike the pathway to eternal destruction and
punishment, the pathway to eternal life with God as part of the Kingdom of
Heaven is narrow. Now when Jesus uses this word narrow, this word paints a
picture of a confined road that is a source of trouble or difficulty to those
who choose to take it. In addition, Jesus explained that the gate that marks
the entrance to eternal life with God as part of the Kingdom of Heaven is
narrow. Jesus point is that few choose
to behave and engage in life in a way that places them on the pathway that
leads to entering into eternal life with God as part of the Kingdom of Heaven.
And it is here that we see Jesus reveal for
us a timeless truth about the true nature of what it means
to obey the message and teachings of Jesus and the true nature of a lifestyle
that is living a right relationship with Jesus. In that a right relationship with God requires a right
entrance into that relationship. The timeless reality is that to experience a
right relationship with God requires that we choose a way of life that places
us on the right pathway to eternal life with God as part of the kingdom of
Heaven.
Now a natural question that arises here is
“Well Dave that sounds great, but what exactly is that way of life? What do I
need to do to make sure that I end up on the pathway that leads to eternal life
with God as part of the kingdom of Heaven”?
If that question is running through your mind,
I want to let you know that is a great question to ask. And in an event from
history that is recorded for us in a section of another account of Jesus life
in the Bible, called the gospel of John, we see one of Jesus followers ask that
very question.
However, to fully understand this encounter, we
first need to understand the context in which this encounter took place.
At this point in the gospel of John, Jesus is
engaged in the final conversation that He would have with His disciples before
He would be arrested, tried, and crucified. Jesus
began that conversation with His disciples, who thought that this was going to
be the time where Jesus was going to kick out the ruling Roman Empire and establish
the Kingdom of Heavens, by basically saying “I love you guys, you are my
spiritual children, but I am only here for a little while and then I am out of
here. And while you are going to look for Me, just like I said to the
self-righteous religious people who oppose Me, I say to you guys as well, you
can’t follow Me where I am going. I am leaving, and you cannot follow”.
Now I would like for us to try to place
ourselves in the disciple’s shoes.
Imagine yourself as a disciple. You left everything, family, friends,
career, in order to follow Jesus. And now Jesus has basically told you that He
is leaving and that where He is going, you cannot follow Him. Now if you were
one of Jesus disciples, what would you be thinking and feeling?
“What! What do you mean that
we cannot follow you? We left everything to follow you. We leveraged everything
to follow you.” As a disciple, your world has been turned upside down.
Because it is in this context that we will be jumping into this encounter tomorrow…
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