Matthew 7: 13 – 14 “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.”
There were no problems entering the main gates of major cities in Jesus’ day as long as you arrived at the right time. Anybody and everybody streamed through the main gates of places such as Jerusalem, Jericho, Megiddo, and Joppa. And the market places were generally open to all comers. But there were other parts of these cities where the gates were far smaller. Why was that?
If you are entering a traditional compound in Northern Ghana, you must pass through a hut with two small doors, one leading in and the second one leading out to the courtyard of the compound. Once you are inside the courtyard, the doors of the buildings are all of a normal size. Why such a small door?
The purpose of small doors is quite simple; enemies attempting to enter such a small opening must duck and nearly squat to enter the compound. Before an enemy can stand upright to attack anyone, the occupants of the compound can quickly kill him. But for someone who is a legitimate guest, the narrow doorway poses no problems.
It is likely that in Jesus’ day, there were narrow gates protecting critically important areas. It was only the very important places that would have small gates that would only allow one person at a time to enter. Any riding animals such as horses, donkeys, or camels would have to stay outside. At the same time, anyone entering a narrow gate would not be able to carry a great deal with them, because the size of the gate would make that impossible. Narrow gates forced those passing through to come empty – handed.
Here Jesus begins to teach about eternal life and the way to find it, comparing the way to eternal life to the small gates that guarded important places in Jerusalem. Jesus’ teaching is both informative and a warning; those searching for eternal life will have to ignore the easy answers being accepted by others and must find the small gate and the narrow road. Jesus is also warning potential followers that they won’t have an easy time of it. Today Christians in Nigeria are being slaughtered by Boko Haram. Chinese pastors are being thrown in jails, while their churches are being bulldozed. Christians in Sudan have been crucified for their faith.
Today, which way are you choosing? Are you trying to take things as easy as possible, or are you willing to leave all behind to follow Jesus? Narrow gates don’t allow you to carry baggage, and narrow roads force you to be single minded. Let us pray for the grace to pass through the narrow gate and to follow hard after Jesus all the days of our lives!
PRAYER: Father God, we can choose to follow you, but we need your strength, you love, your grace, and your guidance to follow through to the end! Grant us the power to truly pursue you, not looking to the right or to the left, that at the end, we will be with you in paradise. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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