Two Doors, One Life: Enter Through the Narrow Gate

Two Doors, One Life: Enter Through the Narrow Gate

"Citizen of Heaven, Feet on Earth" series, part 4. Sermon from Matthew 7:13-14 (Momentum).

What makes a true disciple of Jesus? The question keeps coming back today, and everyone answers it a little differently. For some, it's personal piety (prayer, consecration, the inner life. For others, it's acts of charity), if you carry the name of Christian, it should show in the city. And you know as well as I do that a good part of our society is skeptical of this kind of question. Just talking about being a "true disciple" already sounds a bit like radicalization to their ears.

With all that in mind, it's good to ask the real question: what does Jesus himself say? He doesn't speak in a direct lecture, the way we might sometimes prefer. No, he who is greater than Solomon speaks to us in the language of the sage, in image and parable. And the image he chooses here is two doors.

"Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it."
, Matthew 7:13-14 (WEB)

1. "Enter" Isn't an Option : It's a Command

This statement really serves as the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Every image Jesus gives in the following verses (the false prophets, the good tree and the bad tree, the house built on the rock), all point back to these two doors.

The first thing you notice is that Jesus says "enter." That's a command. It's not the kind of thing that says "you have a choice, make your choice." No, it's "enter." And you also have to remember who he's talking to. He's speaking to his friends, to those ready to follow him and spend the whole day with him listening to his teaching. It's to his disciples that he says: enter through this narrow gate. Things get serious.

And this isn't the first time Scripture speaks this way. The Messiah who takes the floor embodies the whole of Scripture, from Moses all the way to John the Baptist. Moses already, in Deuteronomy 32:46-47, says nearly the same thing:

"Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law. For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life."

Moses doesn't leave it optional. If you want your life to go well in the promised land, here is the way. And his successor picks up the same language. Look at Joshua 24:15:

"If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh."

Joshua goes even further than Moses. You're in the promised land, you know everything God has done for you, do you really want to go serve other gods? So when Jesus sets his friends before the two doors, he places them in a line that stretches all the way back to the beginning.

2. A Word That Offends : Then as Now

The trouble, for us moderns, is that we don't like things to be exclusive. Especially in the West, we want to stay open-minded, open to critique. And that's partly a good thing, it's how our society functions. But the moment someone tries to narrow the field of choices, watch out, that offends.

And yet, isn't life already full of exclusive choices? Marrying someone means saying no to every other option. Signing an employment contract means giving up working for the competition. We accept this kind of exclusion, we even celebrate it. On the important things in life, we're already quite exclusive.

Still, this word of Jesus, today, gets received quickly as a mark of radicalization. This week, in an article in Le Figaro, Olivier Roy described two types of radicalism. The first is pietist: it wants above all to defend the true faith and strict observance of religious practices, without any political project attached. The second is activist: it also wants to defend the virtues of rigorous orthodoxy, but by intervening energetically in the political sphere, with the ultimate goal of building a religious state. That's the way our world talks.

Don't think it was so different in Jesus' day. For the typical Galilean listening to the Master, saying the Messiah is the only way sounds fine, because they're expecting a coup! They genuinely expect the Messiah to come with an army and establish a new government. For the Pharisee, it also sounds fine, not because he cares about government, but because he already believes himself righteous, and as far as he's concerned, he's already won. For the Sadducee, it's very different, because he's the one who holds political power, and he knows Jesus isn't on his side. Things get complicated fast. And for the Romans? History tells us: total persecution against the Church. A total offense, because for them there is no god but Caesar.

In other words, then as now, saying a thing like this has never been easy.

3. The Wide Gate: The Path of Least Resistance

"Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it."

In the language of the sage, this describes the life of the simple, the naïve. What Jesus describes is a big gate with no clear boundary and an easy path to trace. It's like a city with no wall and no guarded gates, a city that cannot hold. It's the path of least resistance. The free train ride. The toll-free highway. What you take naturally, almost without thinking.

Solomon already described it in Proverbs 14:12: "There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Of course you'd take the free ride. But there are inspectors on board, and in the end, Jesus says, it's destruction.

Why destruction? Doesn't the Lord want us to take the fast way, the easy way? No. It's the apostle Paul who helps us understand this better. In Ephesians 2:1-3:

"You were made alive when you were dead through your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."

Why is the gate wide and everyone going through it? Because they aren't born again, they aren't regenerate, they don't know the difference. It's like someone who can't see the color green. You tell them, "Look, that lawn over there is beautiful, it's green." Between a lush lawn and a yellowed one, it's all the same to them. They don't know. And that person, unable to tell the difference, will just follow what everyone else is doing.

In Proverbs, the simple, the naïve, isn't lesser than anyone else. He's just Mr. Everyman. He believes everything will turn out fine, but he doesn't think about the spiritual consequences, because he doesn't know them. As Zack Eswine puts it: "The problem with naïveté isn't its openness; it's its reluctance to shut the door when evil wants in."

Think of Snow White. There she is, minding her own business, doing housework. Knock knock, the old witch. Why do these characters always open the door? "Oh, a witch? Sure, come on in!" Worse still: "You want an apple? Great, thanks, I'm hungry." That's the wide gate. To walk through it, all you have to do is follow your own natural bent. Whether you're smart, wicked, engaged, narcissistic, doesn't matter, it's all the same. The only rule is: whatever you do, don't think about eternity.

4. The Narrow Gate: A Gift, a Choice, a Long View

"How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it."

Unlike everything we've just seen, Jesus calls his disciples to choose a different kind of life. It's costly. It demands sacrifice. It's specific. And it's noticeably less popular. It echoes Proverbs 1:20-23, where wisdom calls out in the streets to those without a future, to instruct them. Jesus calls his friends to that same wisdom: enter through the narrow gate.

And in doing so, Jesus shows you the heart of the Father. Remember verse 11, just a few lines earlier: "Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ... If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:9-11). The narrow gate is a good gift, a gift that comes from the Father.

This gate also calls for a long view. We've been watching a show at home called Alco, the story of an uncle who "made it" in life and instructs his nephew: "Here's what you need to do if you want to become like me." What made me laugh, but which speaks well to the long view, is this: he takes his nephew out for ice cream. The kid is thrilled. And the uncle says, "You see this body of mine, this look? It's thanks to years of sacrifice, all those years I had to say no to ice cream... and now, I'd love a little bite of yours."

What Jesus is asking of you, obviously, isn't to be vain like that uncle. It's to have a long-term mindset for your life, through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, in his kindness, calls you to something far greater: to eternity itself. Once again: the narrow gate is God's gift. It's grace that helps you avoid an enormous amount of evil, not least destruction itself. Or as Paul puts it in Romans 8:18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us."

5. What Does This Narrow Gate Look Like? Look at Peter

What does this narrow gate actually look like in practice? Take the example of the apostle Peter. We often criticize him, because he does sometimes mess up. But look at what he does.

1. He leaves everything to follow Jesus. He had a stable trade, fishing. When Jesus calls him, he leaves it all to follow him. That's the narrow gate.
2. He gets back up after his fall. In Matthew 16, Peter beautifully confesses who Jesus is. Two minutes later, he tries to turn Jesus away from the cross, and Jesus tells him, "Get behind me, Satan!" Peter could have shut down, grown bitter. Instead, he gets back up and keeps following Jesus.
3. He is restored after denying Jesus. Perhaps his most glaring failure: he denies his Master three times. What does Jesus do? He goes to him, and three times asks, "Do you love me?" (John 21:15-19). Once for each denial, the Lord restores him. That's the narrow gate.
4. He builds up the Church and accepts correction. In Acts 2, at Pentecost, he preaches and people come to Christ. Later, he's persecuted, thrown in prison. He builds up churches. In Galatians 2, Paul corrects him in front of everyone. What does Peter do? He keeps going.
5. He goes all the way to the end. We know he was crucified for the Lord.

That's the narrow gate. That's Proverbs 24:16: "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again." That's our Peter. That's the path Jesus lays out for you.

6. What May Be the Most Beautiful Part: Jesus Walked It First

What might be the most beautiful part of all this: if Jesus chooses a hard path for you, it's because he has already walked it himself.

"If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
, Matthew 16:24 (WEB)

That's what the good Master does. He calls you to go where he has already gone. The eternal Son of God, who lived in majesty and glory, took our humanity upon himself, denied himself, and redeemed us from all our shame and condemnation. This is not at all a political work. It's far removed from violence. It is, instead: take up your cross and follow him all the way. That calls for a change of heart. And what's beautiful is that Jesus himself shares his life with you.

Key Takeaways

• "Enter" is a command, not a suggestion. Jesus is speaking to his friends, his disciples: things get serious.
• The wide gate is the default path, the one you follow without thinking, because you haven't yet seen the difference. In the end, Jesus says, it's destruction.
• The narrow gate is a gift from the Father, a grace, not first of all an effort. It's wisdom calling out, and it's the heart of a good Father who gives good things to his children.
• Living this gate out doesn't mean being perfect, it means, like Peter, falling and getting back up, being corrected and continuing on, all the way to the end.
• Jesus never sends you down a path he hasn't walked himself. He was the first to walk through the narrow gate, all the way to the cross.

Personal Application

1. Which gate does your life resemble right now: the one you walk through without thinking, or the one you choose because of Jesus?
2. Where in your week are you refusing to "shut the door when evil wants in"? Screens, words, relationships, money?
3. If you're honest, what is your confidence before God based on: the fact that you "believe yourself righteous," like the Pharisee, or the grace received in Jesus?
4. Is there a recent fall keeping you from getting back up? What would Peter do in your place today?
5. What concrete cross is Jesus asking you to carry this week in order to follow him?

Verses Cited

• Matthew 7:13-14 · the two doors
• Matthew 7:9-11 · the Father gives good gifts
• Matthew 16:13-24 · Peter's confession, "take up your cross"
• Deuteronomy 32:46-47 · Moses: "it is no vain thing for you"
• Joshua 24:15 · "as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh"
• Proverbs 14:12 · the way that seems right but leads to death
• Proverbs 1:20-23 · wisdom calls out in the streets
• Proverbs 24:16 · "a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again"
• Ephesians 2:1-3 · dead in our trespasses, walking according to the course of this world
• Romans 8:18 · sufferings of the present time, glory to come
• Acts 2 · Peter at Pentecost
• Galatians 2:11-14 · Paul corrects Peter
• John 21:15-19 · "do you love me?", Peter's restoration

FAQ

Does the "narrow gate" mean you have to be perfect to be saved?

No. The narrow gate is first of all a gift from the Father, a grace (Matthew 7:11), the new birth by the Holy Spirit. It's because you are regenerate that you begin to see the difference between the two paths, and that you can get back up after every fall, like Peter (Proverbs 24:16).

Why does Jesus say "few" find the narrow gate?

Because the default path, the one of least resistance, is spiritually invisible until you are born again. The crowd follows what everyone else does. The narrow gate, by contrast, is specific: it calls you to choose Christ, to deny yourself, and to embrace a long-term view, which runs against the grain of the world.

Is choosing the narrow gate about withdrawing from the world, or about religious politics?

Neither. Jesus isn't calling for a withdrawn pietism, nor for a political project to impose a religious state. He calls each person individually to a change of heart: take up your cross, follow him, love God and your neighbor, all the way to the end (Matthew 16:24).