Spiritual Guides – Matthews 7:13-29
The Narrow Gate
13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits.
Concerning Self-Deception
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’
Hearers and Doers
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”
28 Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, 29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
What does the Passage say?
This passage is the last part of the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon, Jesus explains the way of discipleship.
V. 13-14 Entering throws the narrow gate is what is required for us to do. We are not to follow the popularity of the world. Majority vote is not following God’s way. “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (v. 14 NIV).
V. 15-20 Jesus warns his disciples about false prophets. He says, “By their fruit, you will recognize them” (v. 16 NIV). The fruit is not about how many people follow them. The fruit starts with their lives fully committed to Christ, and how it overflows and leads others to commit to Christ fully.
V. 21-23 Followers who fully commit to God’s will are the true disciples.
V. 24-29 He conclusion is a call for all who listen to this verse to let go of their will and fully commit to following the will of God. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (v.24 NIV).
What does the Passage say to me/us?
What is our call to live in this world as disciples?
It definitely is a lifelong question we will have to answer.
When Jesus was preaching, his family came to visit him. The people told Jesus that his family was waiting for him. To them, Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:35 NRSV)
He came to this world, not only to save us but also to call us to be his family. And we have to hear that to live in this world, as his family, we need to follow God’s will faithfully.
The reason why this is so critical, and even seem to be counter-cultural (narrow road), is because we tend to follow our own will, instead of God’s will.
It might seem like we are missing out on life if we live in that way. It might seem like life will be difficult because it looks like we are swimming against the tide.
However, we know that Jesus came to this world so that we can live life to the fullest (John 10:10). So if we are not fully committing our life to God’s will, wouldn’t that make us missing something bigger than what we have?
Prayer
Lord, we commit our lives to you. In your grace, may we follow your will, with all that we have.
In Christ name, AMEN.
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