Jesus says the way that leads to life is hard. The word he uses belongs to a family of words about pressure, suffering, and persecution. It is not merely that the Christian life takes discipline, though it does. It is that the road to life can lead you straight into...
The sharpest reason the gate is narrow is this: you can miss it. You miss it if you refuse to admit that you are a sinner who needs a Savior. That is the one entrance requirement, and it is the one our proud hearts resist most. Stand at that door and take honest...
Why would the door of life be narrow at all? Why not fling it open so wide that everyone walks through without noticing? The first answer is that the commands of Christ restrict us. Eight of the Ten Commandments begin with the words you shall not. When God’s law...
Jesus has been teaching for three chapters. He has addressed anger and lust, prayer and worry, money and judgment, and the golden rule that summarizes the Law and the Prophets. Now, before he steps down from the mountain, he gathers all of it into one imperative....
Step back and look at the whole verse as one unit. By now you may be thinking, I understand this, it is so simple, but I cannot do it. And you are right. None of us can keep it consistently. Imagine putting a waiter’s white towel over your arm at dawn as a...
