Narrow Gate

Matthew 7:13-14 (New International Version, ©2011)

The Narrow and Wide Gates

    13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7:12-14&version=NIV>

 
 

 
 

What are your first impressions of this passage?

 
 

Test yourself before we begin

What did Jesus mean here?

1. Big gates are dangerous
   
2. Narrow gates are better - they display superior craftsmanship.
   
3. Just because something is popular does not make it right
   
4. Sometimes the hard road is the right road.
   

    
    

   Read this poem by Robert Frost - compare the words of Jesus to the words of the poet
   

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;     Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,     And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.     I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

 
 

Pasted from <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/>

 
 

 
 

• When Jesus mentions the broad road and wide gate he's referring to the way that most people take - what do you believe this road to look like?
  

   
   

• Roads were new technology in Jesus' day - the Romans had created roads that connected all of the known world - you could now communicate and move quickly anywhere - it was the internet of the day - what impact does this have on this passage?
  

   
   

• Narrow roads would have been older technology - perhaps considered backwards, antiquated - what parallels can you draw with this?
  

   
   

• Is it a hard road to walk? Discuss the terms "path of least resistance" and "go with the flow"
  

   
   

• Describe the path that most take these days - is it challenging? - How would you describe the physical health of the average american, mental health, spiritual health?
  

   
   

• How does the broad road lead to destruction?
  

   
   

• An old saying goes, "anything worth getting is worth working hard for," do you agree?
  

   
   

• What do you consider the narrow path to be today? What must the Christian do to take this road?