The Way of the Kingdom
There are some teachings that stick with you forever. I still remember a poem I had to memorize from 8th-grade English class. It’s The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. From all the profound things Jesus has said in the Sermon on the Mount, we come across perhaps what He is most remembered for teaching today, along with something a lot more important than Robert Frost’s two paths.
True love fulfills the law of God. (12)
Jesus says in Matthew 7:12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
The first word, “so,” ties this verse directly to the generosity of the Father in verses 7–11. The logic is simple. Because God is good and gracious toward His children, His children must be good and gracious toward others. Jesus isn’t starting a new topic. He’s applying the truth of God’s character to the ethics of the kingdom. The mercy we have received from our Father becomes the measure of the mercy we show to others. God is good, so we must do good toward others.
This command is commonly known as the Golden Rule. It is one of the most quoted verses in Scripture and also one of the most misunderstood. Nearly every culture or religion has a version of this saying, yet Jesus’ version is unique from all the others. Most ethical systems teach the negative form: “Do not do to others what you would not want done to you.” The difference may seem small, but it is massive. The negative form only requires restraint. What Jesus commands is active love.
I love how D.A. Carson explains this:
“The negative form of this rule is known to many religions—that is, it often appears elsewhere in the form, “Do not do anything to anyone that you would not want him to do to you.” For example, Rabbi Hillel taught, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow creatures. That is the whole law. All else is explanation.” But Jesus gives the positive form of this rule, and the difference between the two forms is profound. For example, the negative form would teach behavior like this: If you do not enjoy being robbed, don’t rob others. If you do not like being cursed, don’t curse others. If you do not enjoy being hated, don’t hate others. If you do not care to be clubbed over the head, don’t club others over the head. However, the positive form teaches behavior like this: If you enjoy being loved, love others. If you like to receive things, give to others. If you like being appreciated, appreciate others. The positive form is thus far more searching than its negative counterpart. Here there is no permission to withdraw into a world where I offend no one, but accomplish no positive good, either. What would you like done to you? What would you really like? Then, do that to others. Duplicate both the quality of these things, and their quantity—“in everything.”
Why are we to act in this way? Jesus does not say that we are to do to others what we would like them to do to us in order that they will do it to us. At stake is no such utilitarian value as “honesty pays” or the like. Rather, the reason we are to do to others what we would like others to do to us is that such behavior sums up the Law and the Prophets. In other words, such behavior conforms to the requirements of the kingdom of God, the kingdom which is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. It constitutes a quick test of the perfection demanded in 5:48; of the love described in 5:43ff.; of the truth portrayed in 5:33ff.; and so forth.”[1]
The ethic of the kingdom doesn’t allow us to be neutral. True disciples are not to merely avoid harm. We must be pursuers of good. We must act toward others with the same self-giving love we have experienced in the gospel. This kind of love can’t come from human effort. It must flow from grace. The person who knows what it means to be forgiven cannot withhold forgiveness. The one who has been treated with undeserved kindness cannot treat others harshly.
The way Jesus used the word “do” here, grammatically, is active and continuous. He's calling us to continual action. Jesus doesn’t say, “Wish for others to treat you well.” He says, “Do it.” He leaves no room for passivity. Love, in Jesus’ definition, requires action. To love your neighbor as yourself means to initiate goodness toward them in the same way God initiated grace toward you.
And this fulfills all the Law and the Prophets. When Jesus is later asked what is the greatest commandment, what does He say? He quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 in Matthew 22:37 and says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” But He does something unexpected. He adds a second one to it. He then quotes Leviticus 19:18 and says in verse 39, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He then says in verse 40 what He says here: “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Here’s the thing: We will never love our neighbor this way truly until we love God first with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.
And that’s why we see so much hate and destruction all around us. People don’t love God. You might say, “But I love God!” No, I mean truly love God. More than everything. Because that’s truly the only way to life.
The path of Christ is narrow, and few will find it. (13)
Jesus says in Matthew 7:13, “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.”
Here Jesus presses the sermon to a point of decision. The word, “enter,” isn’t a suggestion. He’s commanding a response. This word carries urgency and necessity. The gate stands open now—you can enter—but it won’t stay open forever.
There are two gates, two roads, two destinations. There is no middle path. And the gate is narrow. The gate is narrow because truth is narrow. There’s no middle way when it comes to truth. There’s just “true truth,” as Francis Schaeffer used to say. The way is narrow because there is only one way to God. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The narrow gate is not a principle or philosophy or way of life. It is a person. It is Christ alone. Jesus is the gate. Acts 4:12, in reference to Jesus, says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This is the exclusivity of the gospel. There is no other way. It doesn’t matter what people think. It matters what is real. It matters what is true.
That’s what makes this verse both offensive and beautiful. It’s offensive to the pride of man because it destroys the idea that we can find our own way to God or find our own way in life. But it’s beautiful because the gate is open to all who will come to Him. The gospel is exclusive in its means but inclusive in its invitation. Anyone may enter (inclusive), but they must enter through Jesus (exclusive).
The “wide gate” represents the way of self and sin. It’s wide because it welcomes everything—every false religion, every philosophy that denies God, every form of self-righteousness that says, “I can save myself.” It is easy because it demands no repentance, no surrender, and no faith. It allows a man to remain the lord of his own life.
Jesus says that “many” enter by it. That word should make us tremble. Many will walk the broad road because it feels safe and comfortable, and it even feels right. It’s the road of majority opinion. It’s filled with people who think they are fine with God but have never bowed the knee to Christ. It’s full of religion without repentance. It’s full of “spiritual” people and people who even go to church. It’s full of “good” people.
The narrow gate, on the other hand, demands everything because it offers everything. You can’t squeeze through the narrow gate carrying pride or unbelief. You must lay them down. As D.A. Carson notes, “Because there are only two ways, simple failure to make such deep commitment is already a commitment not to do so. Jesus’ way —demands repentance, trust, and obedience. Therefore refusal, stemming as it must from an unrepentant arrogance, unbelief and/or disobedience—in short, self-centeredness instead of God-centeredness—can only be construed as rebellion.”[2] To not make a decision to enter the narrow gate, is to make a decision not to do so. You must bow your knee to Him and make Him Lord.
That’s why the gospel offends our natural instincts. We want salvation on our own terms. But the gospel doesn’t adjust itself to our preferences. It calls us to repentance and faith and submission to Jesus as Lord. The wide road says, “Follow your heart.” The narrow road says, “Deny yourself.” The wide road says, “There are many ways to God.” The narrow road says, “There is one.” This is the most loving exclusivity in the world. The door to life is narrow because it leads to life, not destruction. The fact that there is one gate should not cause despair. It should cause worship and gratitude and joy. God didn’t have to make a way at all, but He did. And that way has a name: Jesus!
The wide way may look inviting, but it ends in ruin. The narrow way is costly, but it leads to life. The gospel demands a choice. And Jesus says, “Enter.”
The way of Christ is difficult but leads to abundant and everlasting joy. (14)
Jesus continues in verse 14, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
After warning about the wide and easy road, Jesus now gives the reason His followers must choose the narrow one. The narrow gate opens to a hard road. That’s the reality of discipleship. Jesus never promised an easy life. He promised eternal life. He didn’t say the way would be comfortable, but that it would be worth it. When Jesus says the way is “hard,” He uses a word that carries the idea of pressure and tribulation.[3] It’s the same word used elsewhere to describe the suffering and trials that come with faithfulness to God.[4] The Christian life isn’t a stroll down a smooth path. It’s often an uphill climb.
The way is difficult because it’s the way of obedience. It’s hard to deny yourself in a world that tells you to indulge yourself. It’s hard to follow Christ when others mock you for believing in Him. It’s hard to keep trusting when life doesn’t go as planned. But it’s also the only way that leads to life. Notice that Jesus doesn’t simply say it leads to heaven. He says it leads to life. That means both the life to come and the life you experience now when you walk with God. This isn’t a path that drains joy. It’s one that deepens it.
That’s the paradox of the gospel. What seems like loss is actually gain. What feels like death is the road to life. Jesus said in John 12:25, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” To the world, that sounds backwards. But to the believer, it’s the secret of joy.
The narrow road is hard because it strips away everything that competes for your heart. But as it does, it gives you something far better: Christ Himself. That’s what Paul meant when he said, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). The narrow way is the abundant way because Jesus walks it with you. You can experience the worst life has to offer, and you can have joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory[5] and peace that surpasses all understanding.[6]
The love that fulfills the law must lead to the gate that leads to life. (12–14)
Jesus isn’t jumping from one topic to another here. Verse 12 and verses 13–14 are meant to be read together, I believe. The love that fulfills the law must lead to the gate that leads to life.
Verse 12 shows us the ethic of the kingdom, and verses 13–14 show us the entrance into it. The two are inseparable. The first without the second becomes moralism. The second without the first becomes hypocrisy. True discipleship must hold both together.
The Golden Rule describes how the children of God live. In a sense, it’s the road. The narrow gate describes how they enter the family of God. And here’s the deal: both depend entirely on grace. We are to do unto others as we would have them do unto to ourselves; we are to love our neighbor as ourself; we are to love God above everything else. And we fail so miserably. But what we can’t do, Jesus did. He died on the cross. That is the love that fulfills the law, and that is the gate that leads to life. We must rely entirely on the grace of God for how we live, and for where we spend eternity.
Every person must choose the way they will walk. (13–14)
Jesus ends this section, and really the entire Sermon on the Mount, with a call to decision. The kingdom is not something to admire from a distance. It is something to enter.
There are two gates, two roads, two crowds, and two destinations. That’s it. There is no middle path. The narrow way leads to life. The wide way leads to destruction. Jesus said it, and Jesus made the way by His death and resurrection. He is the gate. Every person must choose which way they will walk, which gate they enter.
The narrow way is narrow because it has one entrance—Christ Himself. He is the gate. He is the way. He said in John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.” And He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The gate is narrow because truth is narrow, but it is open because grace is wide. And it’s for you. Right now. This moment.
And so, He invites you. Enter now, while the gate of grace stands open. Don’t wait for another road or another time. The moment of decision is now. The road requires repentance and self-denial, but the One who walks with you is faithful and full of grace. The path is narrow, but it leads to abundant and eternal life.
[1] Carson, The Sermon on the Mount, 112.
[2] Carson, 122.
[3] https://biblehub.com/greek/2346.htm
[4] 2 Cor. 1:6; 4:8; 7:5; 1 Thess. 3:4; 2 Thess. 1:6-7; 1 Tim. 5:10; Heb. 11:37
