Here is the contest of the narrow way:
Matthew 7:12-14 then, whatever you should be wanting that men should be doing to you, thus you,
also, be doing to them,
for this is the law and the prophets. (13) Enter through the cramped gate, for
broad is the gate and spacious is the way which is leading away into destruction, and many are those
entering through it. (14) Yet what a cramped gate and narrowed way is the one leading away into life,
and few are those who are finding it.
"Luke 13:23 The Lord avoids a direct answer to the question, and turns the questioner's thoughts upon
himself. It would seem that at this time, the wide gates into the kingdom had been closed, and access
could be had only through the private entrances, which are locked when evening comes. The
proclamation of the kingdom had opened the gates wide up to this time, and it was easy to enter by
repentance and baptism. But at this crisis the proclamation was withdrawn, hence many of those who
struggled could not enter. By no means should this parable be applied indiscriminately to the evangel,
either of the kingdom or of the grace of God. God's good news is never narrow or cramped. In the
tabernacle in the wilderness the gate, which opened into the court where the altar and laver were
stationed, was very wide, and the entrance into the holy place occupied the whole front side of the tent.
It could not have been wider. These were types of the way of God during the proclamation of the
kingdom. The evangel for today is wider still, for it embraces all nations and imposes no conditions.
Faith in God's word cannot be obtained by any struggle. Neither is there any reluctance on God's part,
but He is beseeching all men to be conciliated. This can be understood of those only who have neglected
to enter while the wide gates of the kingdom evangel were open, and now seek an entrance after the
proclamation has been closed. (concordant Commentary).
Here is a short write-up on Matthew 7:13:
THE CRAMPED GATE AND NARROW WAY
"HOW earnestly did we once exhort sinners to leave the broad way which leads to destruction, for the
narrow path that leads to life (Matt.7:13,14)! But, thank God, we learned the great truth that we are in
Christ and share His life. How then could we be on a road that
leads to life? I learned, moreover, that
the entrance into life was
wide, not
cramped. It was entered by
grace, not by
striving (Luke 13:24). The
narrow way was not the evangel but the
law. That leads to life, for those who keep it, but, alas, of the
few who find it, none observe it. The precept given for life is for death (Rom.7:10).
"The word "strait" is no longer understood, hence it is translated
cramped in the CONCORDANT
VERSION. In its other forms it means
groan, distress. We westerners do not know what a narrow road
is. I lived on a narrow street. It was just wide enough so three automobiles could drive abreast. In the
East a street is not narrow if a single automobile can squeeze through. It is wide, extra wide. It is
narrow if pedestrians must go in single file. The word
cramped means still more. It is so narrow that it
makes one groan to squeeze through. That is the normal experience of one under the law of Moses. But
the freedom we have in Christ is like the flight of a bird in the air. Not cramped, but spacious. Full of
life, not leading to life. Not groaning, but singing!
"The figure of the two ways was used by our Lord in proclaiming the evangel of the kingdom, before
His rejection by Israel, with the cross out of sight, long before Paul was given his evangel for the
nations, which is in force today. Yet even in that economy the gospel was not cramped. In the
tabernacle the entrance was very wide indeed. Our Lord's words were immediately preceded by the
basic law of the kingdom. "All, then, whatever you may be wanting that men should be doing to you,
thus
you, also, be doing to them, for this is the law and the prophets." This law is the cramped gate and
narrow way. Who can fulfill it? (A. E. K., Unsearchable Riches).
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. Maybe if I have more time later I'll add more detail.
