TEXT: Matthew 7:13-14

SUBJECT: Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount #21: Two Ways

With these words, our Lord begins to bring His sermon to a close. He has described His way over against the way of the Scribes and Pharisees. Now He tells us: "Choose". He presents an inescapable choice. There are two ways--and two ways only. On one or the other every person is now walking. Including you.

One is the "broad way" which is entered through a "wide gate". The "broad way" is popular. It is "broad" because it is so heavily trafficked. Nearly everyone is on it. The "wide gate" is easy. It is "wide" so as to inconvenience no one who wants to pass through it.

At the moment, much of professed Christianity is "a broad way" and a "wide gate". Many are born into the Church, baptized in infancy, confirmed in childhood, and asked to do little more than attend Mass each week, go to Confession now and then, and receive a proper Christian burial. It is easy to see why so many walk this path.

But we mustn't limit ourselves to one branch of the Christian Church. Our branch also has its "broad way" and "wide gate". Millions are taught that the Faith requires nothing more than saying a prayer, going to church, and abstaining from the bottle, the cigarette, and the theatre. It's no wonder so many choose this way.

These are examples of "broad ways" and "wide gates". But they are not precisely what the Lord had in mind. The "broad way" and the "wide gate" of which He spoke is the religion of the Scribes and Pharisees. Back in 5:20, He made it clear: "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds (that) of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven".

Their religion is described throughout the Sermon, sometimes directly, more often by contrast. About it, we can say:

It was performance-oriented. The Pharisee wasn't much interested in character; he wanted action. Consequently, the Beatitudes had no place on his agenda. The actions he most admired were charity, fasting, and prayer. He needn't pity the poor person--no less love him--as long as he dropped a coin or two in his cup. Fasting wasn't the product of contrition; prayer had little to do with Divine fellowship. The Scribe's faith was superficial or external. He and his brethren were like polished cups full of curdled milk or whitewashed tombs full of rotting flesh.

It was punishment-driven. The Pharisee's motto was "An eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth". Therefore, he "loved his neighbor and hated his enemy". He was also quick to "judge". His favorite saying was right out of the Bible--Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21, to be exact. It is not, however, the whole Bible! Moses and the prophets tempered justice with mercy; the Scribe and Pharisee didn't. Theirs was a ruthless and unforgiving religion. Their standards were selective.

You can see--can't you--how the Pharisees' "way" is "broad" and his "gate" so "wide"? It was easy and fun! It's much easier to say prayers than to pray. And much more fun to pass judgment on others than to examine yourself. No wonder the Scribes and Pharisees have such a big place in the Gospels. They must have been coming out of the woodwork! How "broad" was their "way"; how "wide" was their gate.

The problem with their "way" is not its grade or its loneliness, but its end: "Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction". This is an ugly word; it carries the idea of waste and ruin. The Lord Jesus means hell. Most people are on the "broad way" to hell. When they get there, they'll have no one to blame but themselves. It was their choice. They preferred "the wide gate" and the "broad way". They were forewarned.

The other way is not half as pleasant now, but ends at a much happier destination. It is "the "narrow gate" that opens to a "difficult way". The word means "confined, cramped, or tight". If you think of the other way as a superhighway, this way a twisting mountain road.

What is this "narrow gate"? Some commentators have said "Christ". We begin the Christian life by coming to God through no one but the Lord Jesus. In one place, He called Himself "The door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved..." This is a true doctrine. It is not, however, the one taught here. This "narrow gate" and "difficult way" correspond to the life described in the our Lord's great sermon.

It begins with humility and contrition. No one passes through this gate but he who is "poor in spirit".

It goes on to demand a superior ethic. Not only must we refrain from murder, but also the anger and bitterness that cause it. Adultery must be eschewed, but so must sexual lust. We mustn't lie under oath, but neither may we slant stories to our advantage in ordinary conversation. We must go beyond not taking vengeance on those who do us wrong to, positively, love them, bless them, and do them good.

Our piety is must also be superior. Like the Pharisees, we pray, fast, and give alms. But unlike them, we must do so for the glory of God and not for the praise of men.

If you know anything about these things, you realize how "narrow" this "gate" is; how "difficult" is the "way". To humble yourself before the LORD is more painful than the most ghastly humiliation you've ever had before other people. No wonder the publican "beat his breast" and wouldn't so much as "lift his eyes to heaven". He was crushed and humiliated and mortified.

To live a holy life--from the inside out--is as taxing as "taking up your cross daily". As is serving God for God.

To compensate for these hardships, however, our Lord promises a wonderful destination: "Life". His road is narrow and steep and lonely and treacherous, but, Oh!, where it takes you! To life--a life never ending and ever full of joy! "In Your presence is the fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forever more".

The naked eye is treacherous. The broad way looks so inviting. But it is full of dead men marching to the Second Death. The narrow way seems repellent. But on it are living men, climbing to life eternal. May God give us a spiritual vision of these two ways. And may we:

"Abhor that which is evil;

Cleave to that which is good".