Living with Mystery3) The narrow gate and narrow road
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‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
It was the belief of the Jews that they were God’s chosen people who would not be rejected. This was essentially due to the fact that they were all circumcised. But because they were soon offended by the teachings of Jesus, it shows this to be a presumption. Jesus came preaching that all should repent, for the Kingdom was near. It was this message that showed their misunderstanding: they had a beautiful Temple; sacrifices were being offered; they were living in the Promised Land; they were the circumcised children of Abraham; why did they need to repent?
heart
They presumably thought the prophets, who preached repentance in the past, were addressing only the people who had gone before. They did not consider that the principles of the repentance of which these prophets spoke applied continuously to all generations:
‘Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offences; then sin will not be your downfall. (Ezekiel 18:30)
The idea that circumcision was an outward representation of a changed heart was nothing new. Even as early as Israel’s time in the wilderness this was related to them:
He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. (Deuteronomy 30:5-6)
The message was that the whole person, body and soul, is to love the Lord. It is not enough just to follow the outward religious observances such as circumcision. The inward heart and motivations should match the outward practices.
message
I have often wondered why John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. Was it simply to create an air of expectancy? Was it to gather large crowds in anticipation? Now I see it as a preparation for the message which Jesus was to bring. This was John’s mission:
the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:2-3)
John was to remind the people of the basic importance of repentance. So, when Jesus came preaching repentance, they were already in a receptive frame of mind.
John’s message, though, was rejected by the chief religious leaders of the Jews. It shows how stuck they were in their blindness. They saw no need for repentance as they thought their belief and practices were just fine. Consequently, they also rejected the message of Jesus. One day they challenged Jesus to say where his teaching and authority were from. This was a trick political question, through which they hoped to ensnare him in saying something by which they could get him arrested. Jesus refused to answer until they first answered his question which was:
John’s baptism – was it from heaven, or of human origin?’ They discussed it among themselves and said, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” he will ask, “Why didn’t you believe him?” But if we say, “Of human origin,” all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.’ So they answered, ‘We don’t know where it was from.’ (Luke 20:4-7)
sacrifice
The Old Testament has many pointers to Jesus and his teachings about God and the Kingdom. But to a degree they are hidden. This is not because God wanted them to be hard to find, but to test the genuineness of their hearts. Those who were seeking God with a true heart would find these pointers. For instance, there are places where this is clear: the sacrifices mandated in the Law were meant to come from hearts aware of their own sin. It becomes a religious deceit when something commanded is obeyed, but the person fails to see the inward significance of what it represents. Sacrificial offerings for sin were to be made because the worshipper had been convicted of their sin, and the sacrifice demonstrated their repentance from it. King David famously expressed it in this way:
You do not delight in
sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17)
Having been convicted of his sin, the Psalm finishes with the renewal of sacrifices which are now being offered on the correct basis of repentance.
There is another expression of repentance in this Psalm which is very significant:
Restore to me the joy of your salvation (Psalm 51:12)
Notice that he refers to ‘your’ salvation and not ‘my’ salvation. Salvation is from God and not a possession of any individual or people. It was easy for the Jews to think salvation was ‘theirs’ because they were the special chosen people. This presumption can easily be made by Christians too. In terms of language, it would be the difference between ‘I am saved’ and ‘I have been saved’! Salvation is a gift, not a right.
separation
The narrow road compared with the broad road is a metaphor which deals with such presumption. It is very easy for Christians to start thinking that being a special people grants them permanent privileges which remove the need for a life of repentance. Peter wrote:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
These are such amazing promises, yet they are founded on being a people who live in the reality of repentant hearts.
It has been said that the differences in size between the narrow road and the broad road reflect the expected levels of traffic! It is clear that difficulties surround the discovery of, and journey along, the narrow road: ‘only a few find it’. Jesus taught about this in several ways:
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Matthew 25:31-33)
This is another example of the sifting which reveals only those who genuinely believe and practise their faith.
And yet another parable ends with the same message as the gate and the road:
‘But when the king came in
to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding
clothes. He asked, “How did you get in here without wedding clothes,
friend?” The man was speechless.
‘Then the king told the
attendants, “Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
‘For many are
invited, but few are chosen.’ (Matthew 22:11-14)
I am not going to delve into predestination and election here; I want to emphasise our responsibility to maintain open, repentant hearts before God, and avoid all elements of presumption.
navigation
In his famous treatise on the Christian life, The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan expanded on this principle of the narrow and broad road. Using allegory, he showed how our pilgrimage with Christ through life is full of pitfalls, temptations and potential deceptions. He reveals many possible ways in which we might leave the narrow road. He did this to alert us and inspire us to avoid them. In this century, we have different specific challenges to those of the 17th century, but the same basic root remains: the inability to see our need for repentance in order to enter through the 'narrow gate'.
The deception that can come through religious practices has always been a problem. The Jews had circumcision, the Temple and their sacrificial worship. The Christian church has its rituals and practices too. I have no doubt that many on the 'broad way' practise Christian religious rituals without ever having found true repentance from the heart. Recently there has been an overemphasis of the truth that ‘God is love’. This has happened to the extent of suggestions being made that there is no need for repentance, because love accepts us ‘just as we are’. This is only an extension of the old presumptions: God accepts me because I am circumcised (the ancient mistake); God accepts me because he loves me (the modern error).
To conclude, Jesus came preaching:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17 ESV)
Repentance is the key which opens the 'narrow gate' onto the narrow road. Repentance describes the quality of heart which loves the Lord and passionately, walks wisely on that narrow road. Repentance is the invitation to the Holy Spirit to fill us with His wisdom so that we walk without looking back to our old sin; His wisdom to plough up our old life in a straight furrow. His wisdom that keeps us on the narrow road in the service of the Kingdom.
Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 9:62)