Mat 7:2 For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.
Mat 7:3 Why do you stare from without at the very small particle that is in your brother's eye but do not become aware of and consider the beam of timber that is in your own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, Let me get the tiny particle out of your eye, when there is the beam of timber in your own eye?
Mat 7:5 You hypocrite, first get the beam of timber out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the tiny particle out of your brother's eye.
Mat 7:6 Do not give that which is holy (the sacred thing) to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls before hogs, lest they trample upon them with their feet and turn and tear you in pieces.
Ask, and It Will Be Given. ( Mat 7:7 ) Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.
Mat 7:8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.
Mat 7:9 Or what man is there of you, if his son asks him for a loaf of bread, will hand him a stone?
Mat 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, will hand him a serpent?
Mat 7:11 If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give good and advantageous things to those who keep on asking Him!
The Golden Rule. (Mat 7:12 ) So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets.
Mat 7:13 Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are those who are entering through it.
Mat 7:14 But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it. [Deu 30:19; Jer 21:8]
because: or, How
narrow: Mat 16:24-25; Pro 4:26-27, Pro 8:20; Isa 30:21, Isa 35:8, Isa 57:14; Jer 6:16; Mar 8:34; Joh 15:18-20, Joh 16:2, Joh 16:33; Act 14:22; 1Th 3:2-5
and few: Mat 20:16, Mat 22:14, Mat 25:1-12; Luk 12:32, Luk 13:23-30; Rom 9:27-29, Rom 9:32, Rom 11:5-6; Rom 12:2; Eph 2:2-3; 1Pe 3:20-21
Matthew 7:13-14
Enter you in at the strait gate - Christ here compares the way to life to an entrance through a gate. The words “straight” and “strait” have very different meanings. The former means “not crooked;” the latter, “pent up, narrow, difficult to be entered.”
This is the word used here, and it means that the way to heaven is “pent up, narrow, close,” and not obviously entered. The way to death is open, broad, and thronged. The Saviour here referred probably to ancient cities. They were surrounded with walls and entered through gates. Some of those, connected with the great avenues to the city, were broad and admitted a throng; others, for more private purposes, were narrow, and few would be seen entering them.
So, says Christ, is the path to heaven. It is narrow. It is not “the great highway” that people tread. Few go there. Here and there one may be seen - traveling in solitude and singularity. The way to death, on the other hand, is broad. Multitudes are in it. It is the great highway in which people go. They fall into it easily and without effort, and go without thought. If they wish to leave that and go by a narrow gate to the city, it would require effort and thought. So, says Christ, “diligence” is needed to enter life. See Luk 13:24. None go of course. All must strive, to obtain it; and so narrow, unfrequented, and solitary is it, that few find it. This sentiment has been beautifully versified by Watts:
“Broad is the road that leads to death,
And thousands walk together there;
But wisdom shows a narrower path,
With here and there a traveler.”
Matthew 7:13-14
T. The Narrow Way (7:13, 14)
The Lord now warns that the gate of Christian discipleship is narrow and the way is difficult. But those who faithfully follow His teachings find the abundant life.
On the other hand, there is the wide gate—the life of self-indulgence and pleasure. The end of such a life is destruction. This is not a discussion of losing one's soul, but of a failure to live out the purpose of one's existence.
These verses also have an application to the gospel by depicting the two roads and destinies of the human race.
The wide gate and broad way lead to destruction (Pro 16:25). The narrow gate and difficult way lead to life. Jesus is both the gate (Joh 10:9) and the way (Joh 14:6). But while this is a valid application of the passage, the interpretation is for believers. Jesus is saying that to follow Him would require faith, discipline, and endurance. But this difficult life is the only life worth living. If you choose the easy way, you will have plenty of company, but you will miss God's best for you.
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