Verses 12 We know this as the Golden Rule. Do for others as you would have them do to you. Interestingly this part of His sermon comes after Jesus was talking about judging and praying. We do for the people around us what we would like God to do for us. When we are tempted to judge, we should think of this. When we are praying, we should think of this. Righteousness must be our rule of life. We are called to love our neighbor (that’s all those around us).
Verses 13-14 There’s no middle ground here; we are either right or wrong, good or evil path. Imagine a wide-open country road with a very wide gate. Crowds from all around are able to walk through this gate easily. Some by continuing to entertain all the appetites of the flesh – lust, greed, passion, slander, addictions, carelessness. They “follow their heart” and their eyes. Others by practicing religion and rules to make themselves acceptable to God. People can wander endlessly through this gate with no real boundary at all. This is what happens when we follow the crowd. Sin’s destination is death. One commentator said, “Whether it be through the highway of open profaneness, or the back way of hypocrisy,” these wide open roads lead to death.
But then there is a narrow gate and this one leads to Life! When hiking in the wilderness, we might find boulders in our path. This narrow gate is like the small space between two rocks that we must pass through to get to the other side. It’s hard to get through. We must let go of our old life, our corrupt habits, daily temptations, all of life as we had lived it before, and exchange it for a new spirit, a new heart. Not many people take this small passage but if we want to walk through it, we must go against the grain, like swimming upstream, to break through unbelief. We might be able to walk away from the crowds, but can we walk away from ourselves? We must be stripped of our prideful thoughts about ourselves, “put off our former way of life” (Ephesians 4:22) and forsake all of our interests except Jesus. We must wrestle our will to be right and surrender to God’s will, His Word, that says He is the only Right way to life. We must fight through our thoughts that say we are being limited or restrained because, at the end of the day, only a few are going to heaven compared to the population in eternal torment, which is hell.
The only way through this narrow gate is through Jesus. Very few find this road because they are unwilling to accept God’s way – Jesus – to obtain eternal life. Too many people are clinging to their own happiness, their own passions, their own satisfaction, their own self-preservation, their own way.
A relationship with God is not a set of rules and boundaries that we obey. It also doesn’t happen when we live in rebellion and have no care to close the gap in our relationship with the Lord. The story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) reminds us that after the son’s running away and rebellion, squandering all his father had given him, the son came to the end of himself. And he turned back toward his father. And there, in that moment of turning, the Bible says “while he (the son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20 ESV) The gate is always open to His children to come back, to come home.
The only way to a relationship with God is through Jesus on the cross. If there was another way, God would never have sent His only son. Understanding our Father’s goodness and unfailing love that sacrifices for the sake of forgiving and reconciling His children to Him are paramount to our relationship with God. This gate is never locked. It’s always available. Here we are comforted by His favor that gives life to our souls. We are led to hope in eternal bliss, and this helps us live in peace and harmony with the difficulties and inconveniences that are on this road as well. This way is a straight path. There is nothing crooked or confusing about it. And one second in heaven will more than make up for all that we’ve endured getting there. If we could just pick our head up from the view of self and look to the end destination that our path is heading toward, we would see that we are either walking the smooth and pleasant path towards eternal suffering or the rough road towards eternal joy. Do we love Jesus to the point that we are willing to take the difficult, selfless road to be with Him in heaven? Or are we too caught up in temporary satisfactions to see this road is leading us to death every day we stay here? It is not impossible to change when we have the Holy Spirit, our advocate, working in us. There is grace here, free, for those who are willing to submit to it. We should knock at His gate with sincere and constant prayers for a change in our hearts, in our path, so that we can join Him in this life to experience the liberty from bondage and condemnation today.
Prayer: Jesus, You are the only way worth living. You are life everlasting, Life in abundance. You set me free from the bondage of sin that tricks me into believing my own satisfaction is the way, the truth, the life. I rebuke my own selfish desires, the comforts in this life, anything holding me hostage to this world, to my flesh, to evil. I don’t want to be bound by the worries of this world. I don’t want to constantly be seeking my own happiness. Help me to suffer now with hope in mind for my future with You, Jesus. Help me to find joy, peace, and harmony in my trials and difficulties because I know who is with me here in the middle of it. I know where my home is. I know what my hope is in. Give me Your perspective, my Lord. I want in that narrow gate. I want on that path. I will do anything to be with You. Help me live with that mindset and not settle for what I see here on earth. Help me have a heavenly gaze in all things I endure here in this life. Holy Spirit, help me treat others as I would like to be treated. Help me to open my mouth and share Your Word with others, that is liberty and victory in all things. Help me share where my hope comes from. This is the kindest thing I can do for my neighbor, my brothers, and sisters, for anyone looking for comfort and relief. Help me really believe that so that I can walk in it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.