THE PARABLE OF TWOS
#005 THE PARABLE OF TWOS
Scripture Matthew 7:13-14 Orig. 12-08-63
Rewr. 10-81; 5-9-91
Passage: 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.”
Purpose: Sharing a message from this early parable of Jesus reminding us all that choices all around us need to be based on both reason and faith.
Keywords: Decision New Birth Eternal Life Judgment
Timeline/Series: Parables
Introduction
We call this “The Parable of Twos” because herein are two gates, two avenues, two companies, and two destinies. We are told that they are not alike in any eventuality. One almost compels us to choose it, the other beckons only under the circumstance of privation and struggle. But the advice of Jesus is to think the matter over carefully, and choose for eternity, not for the here and now.
We have few songs that testify of “wide gate and broad way.” Many, however, instruct us about the “way” we need to follow.
Listen as they are sung. Footsteps of Jesus: “Tho’ they lead o’er the cold dark mountain.” I Have Decided to Follow Jesus: “Tho’ none go with me, I still will follow; Tho’ none go with me, I still will follow; Tho’ none go with me, I still will follow; No turning back, no turning back.” O Master Let Me Walk with Thee: “O Master let me walk with thee In lowly paths of service free; Tell me Thy secret, help me bear The strain of toil, the fret of care.” The Master Hath Come: “The Master hath called us, the road may be dreary, And dangers and sorrows are strewn on the track; But God’s Holy Spirit shall comfort the weary; We follow the Saviour and can not turn back. The Master hath called us, though doubt and temptation May compass our journey, we cheerfully sing: ‘Press onward, Look upward,” through much tribulation The children of Zion must follow their King.”
This parable came at the end of a lengthy discourse known today as “The Sermon on the Mount.” People were hearing Jesus for the first time. They were told, in effect, that “life is hard.” It certainly was not going to be easy to follow Jesus. They were told in that sermon of the need for “meekness,” of the tribute of those that “hunger for righteousness.” He spoke to them of the clear mandate of the law opposing killing, but of a higher law that addressed hatred. Jesus said that prayer was a sacred trust, and forgiveness, a spiritual necessity. 7:12 “All things ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
I. The Parable of Twos Shows Us First that There are Two Gates. V13 “Wide is the gate,” v14 “strait is the gate.” The words themselves help us. “Wide” gives us our word “plateau,” platys. “Narrow” is the word stenos from which we get “stenography,” or narrow, lined writing. Luke 13:24 “Strive (agonize) to enter through the strait gate.”
It is brought down to choice in its simplest form. If I am buying shoes and only two pair fit, I take one pair and leave the other. But if there are a dozen possibilities, it is more difficult. When I was a boy, ice cream was available only in vanilla and chocolate. When I take my grandson to Baskin-Robbins, it will be different.
We can set this simplicity in religious context as well. There were those who heard Jesus, and believed. There were others who did not. Some listened to His message. Others rejected it. It is the application of two gates, one identified with Jesus, the other, not. The gate imagery piles up on us. One is colorful, filled with boisterous people; a refreshment stand interrupts. The other is inconvenient, and must be carefully approached; people seem serious to the point of foreboding.
It really should not surprise us that there are only two choices. Deuteronomy 30:15 “See, I have set before you this day, life and good, and death and evil.” I Kings 18:21 “And Elijah said, . . . if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal . . . .”
II. The Parable of Twos Goes on to Affirm Two Ways. “Wide is the gate . . . that leadeth to destruction . . . Strait is the gate . . . which leadeth unto life.” No doubt, all of us have measured life in terms of broad ways and back roads. I haven’t been east or west on Highway 80 for more than a few miles in years. Remember how glad we were to get back in this auditorium from the confinement of the Fellowship Hall?
It was our good fortune to live in New Orleans while old Tulane Stadium was around. The word “concourse” was reserved for airports. At Tulane Stadium everything was jammed tightly together. After the game, you squeezed through the aisle, then the gates, then it got difficult. You had to get your car out of someone’s yard.
Now, we have the Louisiana Superdome.
While the two gates refer to broad and narrow, the two ways are destruction and life. This is encroaching on two destinies. We will look at that last.
III. The Parable of Twos Tells Us Also of Two Companies. There is a consortium of “many,” and another of “few.” The gate through which the two companies have passed is symbolic. John 14:6 “Jesus said, . . . I am the way, . . . no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” John 10:7 “Then said Jesus . . . , Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door . . . .” It is interesting that there is no other differentiation. They don’t come from different districts. They have no specific nationality. Wealth, education, physical status seem to offer no criteria of involvement.
The ONE thing that separates them is Jesus. He has taught them about God’s Kingdom. He described a religious value system.
In this sermon, He has so spoken. Matthew 6:1 “Do not announce your alms before men.” 6:7 “When you pray, use not vain repetitions.” 6:17 “Fast . . . not unto men, but God.” 6:21 “Where your treasure is, so is your heart.” 6:24 “No man can serve two masters.” 7:24 “A wise man who built his house upon a rock, . . . [another] built . . . on sand.”
IV. In Conclusion, It Is the Parable of Two Destinies. Some are passing through the gate and along the way to destruction. Those who have rightly chosen, are passing through to life. It is so easy to become enthralled with the “broad” way.
The things with which we occupy ourselves are not necessarily bad things. Ann and I attended some Mardi Gras activities while in New Orleans. Locals were there in droves. Revelers came from around the country. Money was spent irretrievably on junk. There were excesses of flesh jeopardizing health. Bad disposition remained for weeks. It took weeks to clean up the clutter. Too often there was a dead child who had taken too big a risk chasing a doubloon.
Having seen Canal Street under these circumstances left an indelible view of this text. Canal was dubbed “the world’s widest thoroughfare.”
Those things may do nothing more than keep our eye off of the main things in life. Let this “broad” way remind us that there is a “narrow” way. This narrow way leads to “life.”
There is a final thought from the word’s meaning. Two Greek words define “life.” Bios (biography) means duration, manner of life. Zoe (zoology) is life in its absolute sense. 1 John 1:2 “. . . We . . . show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.” John 1:4 “In Him was life; and that life was the light of men.”
About destruction, several words contain the idea of loss: Luke 15 parables (sheep, coin, son). The idea is that of loss of well-being.
The idea here, in Matthew 7:13, is more. It is the impact on everything worthwhile.