Aunty Jane
Well-Known Member
The road to life is described in Matt 7:13-14, if you’d like to explore it?What is the "road to life"?
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (ESV)
What do we discern from Jesus’ words here? Are they complicated or hard to understand?
Contrasts were a big part of Jesus’ teachings.….so here we have two different paths, leading to two very different destinations, but the travelers on the wrong road imagine that they are on the right one, because they have so many on the journey with them. All these people can’t be wrong….can they? Even minor disagreements don’t count if you ignore them….right?
There is a gate…a narrow one…leading onto the right road, which is not like the other path, it is cramped and difficult to travel, whereas the gate onto the super highway is wide, so that the ”many” who are traveling it, do not find it difficult at all.
The outcome of people’s decisions as to which path they will choose, is stated a few verses later in Vs 21-23, which says….
”Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 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 mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’“ (ESV)
Those who chose the road ‘well travelled‘ will not have the same outcome as those who took the “road less travelled.“ So those who chose the right road are in the minority….the majority are on a dead end road where there is a precipice awaiting them. Look at what they claimed…..was any of it real? Or did they only imagine that Jesus was their “Lord”? Were any of their activities or claims real to Jesus?
Were they shocked at his rejection? Why were they shocked?