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

 

 "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 currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  In yesterday's reading, 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 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."  There is a long history of the "two ways" in Judaism and in Christianity that followed.  See in the Hebrew Scriptures Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Proverbs 4:18-19, 12:28, 15:21; Wisdom of Sirach 15:17.  In early Christian writings both the Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas speak to these two ways.  Luke's version of this statement (Luke 13:24-30) is more eschatological in nature, and refers to the end of the age.  My study Bible comments that, because we wrestle against sins and human weaknesses as well as spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12), to enter 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.  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."  My study Bible comments that, 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.  So, therefore, we must be all the more cautious among those who are outwardly virtuous.  Regarding the statement, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire," John the Baptist said the same in Matthew 3:10.  

 

 "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."   This verse coupled with the next (which is not included in today's reading, but will be in tomorrow's lectionary reading) makes a strong testimony to the deity of Christ.  Here, Jesus calls Himself Lord.  This refers to the divine name "Yahweh" of the Old Testament.  He also speaks of the will of My Father, which He fully knows and shares. 

 

 The "two ways," as my study Bible indicates, is an important concept in Christianity, and follows on the strong evidence in the Jewish tradition.  Jesus gives us a vivid and lasting image in encapsulating this idea when He says, "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."  That "broad way" might be something our modern Western societies can easily image in the cornucopia of real or imagined spiritual ways that fill up our various media, and all the options that seem to be out there, with new images every day of possible paths to spiritual enlightenment.  There seems to be no end of systems people can invent, combine, or imagine based on the fragmentary ideas of spiritual systems of the past that seem to be offered through what might be euphemistically called multiculturalism.  A real multiculturalism is an idea of pluralism.  That is, cultures well-developed and whole, internally cohesive and sensible.  But what happens with a smorgasbord of choices whose origins are not completely clear and may be obscured by popular myth or cultural references isn't the same.  There is a way in which the thread of faith in Christ can lead us through all kinds of things to come to Him, and many can testify to this.  But those individuals would say the gate is narrow, and the true way is the more difficult -- the broad assortment of pickings from here and there, from one aspect of one thing to another, is a misleading attribute of what does not lead us to the place of true freedom, the Door who is Christ.  In a cacophony of choices, we find misleading answers that can temporarily dazzle, we find cults that offer us indulgence but capture us in a kind of slavery or worship to a human being, and we find destructive ideologies that proclaim to be ideals but offer little in the way of true compassion and the practice of mercy.  What we need to think about is how our choices can in fact reflect a responsible freedom, one that reflects what Christ teaches:  our own capacity for self-discipline and self-knowledge, and the cultivation of acts of mercy which come from a loving heart devoted to God, and putting the Kingdom first before our own selfish desires.  This is the way He gives us, the one which goes through that narrow gate He offers, and leads to His life for us.  For false prophets and bad trees are still with us and they proliferate; but the good tree that bears good fruit is what we will find through His narrow gate.