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"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."
- Matthew 7:13-21
We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, given in Matthew chs. 5-7. Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 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! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." My study bible notes here: "The description of the two ways was widespread in Judaism (Deut. 30:15-20, Psalm 1 . . .) and in early Christian writings (Didache, Barnabas). Luke's version (Luke 13:24-30) is more eschatological, referring to the end of the age. Because we wrestle against sins and human weaknesses as well as spiritual forces of evil (Eph. 6:12), entering the Kingdom is the more difficult way."
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." My study bible tells us: "Because they can easily deceive others, those who put on a show of virtue or religion are more dangerous than those who are evil outright. Thus, we must be all the more cautious among those who are outwardly virtuous."
"You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them." The statement, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire," was also made by John the Baptist. See Matthew 3:10.
Once again in today's reading, as in yesterday's, Jesus is calling us to discernment. What is this narrow way? How do we make good choices, and avoid the wide and broad way that leads to destruction, into which so many apparently go? Jesus warns us, gives us a preview, that this way He is teaching is not only through a narrow gate but it is difficult - and there are few who find it. So He is giving us warning, telling us to pay attention: His way is one that requires our attention, our active discernment, our constant effort. This is not to say we are on our own, but that our true job is our faith and engagement with God (seeking, asking and knocking was the way He characterized it in yesterday's reading). Above all things, there is our effort to engage with God, to desire that intimate relationship. This is how we find the way. This mystical reality requires active engagement on our part, a way of being awake via constantly seeking. And then, there comes this warning: to beware of false prophets. Let us not look in the wrong direction! Let us remember our own asking, seeking, and knocking and the power that has to find the way, to engage in the reality of God, to seek first this Kingdom -- and the way will be made known to us. How do we avoid false prophets? We will know them by their fruits. Once again, Jesus is calling us not to be sleepwalking through life, but just the opposite: we are not like the blind leading the blind -- we are called to wisdom, to understanding, and especially to alertness while we seek His way and engage in all the practices included in the metaphor of asking, seeking, and knocking -- of seeking first the Kingdom. We would do well to remember that, as He sends out His apostles on their first mission, He says they must be "wise as serpents and gentle as doves." This is the discernment, awareness, and active intelligence, alertness, that He asks of His servants and followers. And finally, there is this warning: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." It's a reminder, begun in yesterday's reading at the beginning of chapter 7, that there is one Judge, and He is in our presence. He's not just teaching, but He is also the place of real Judgment, a place we can't know of ourselves, someone we can't fool, who knows everything about us. It's a reinforcement of discernment and alertness, reminding us to "keep it real" all the time, not to fool ourselves or be fooled by others -- to seek Him and His Kingdom first.
