Why is the Gate to God so Narrow?

Do you know how much God loves you? He loves you so much that he made the entrance into his heavenly Kingdom narrow.

That sounds as though it needs some explanation, doesn’t it? Jesus did indeed say that the way to the abundant life is narrow: “¹³Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

First of all, we need to know that the narrowness of the gate does not prohibit anyone’s entrance. All who believe in Jesus and choose to live for him can go in—at any time. There is never a line. We don’t have to take a number. Any amount of people can enter through that gate simultaneously, and as they do, each one will have a completely personal and unique experience with Jesus. That is one of the glorious marvels of the spiritual world.

Next, we need to know what—or rather who—that narrow gate is. Jesus tells us in the passage where he spoke of himself as the Good Shepherd: “⁷…I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep…. ⁹I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:7, 9-10).

He also said, “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Jesus says he is the narrow gate, the only way to God. Many people do not accept that there could be only one way. To them, Jesus appears to be egotistical in proclaiming such a thing. I can understand how it may look that way. However, when I read in his Word of his great sacrifice on the cross to take my sins upon himself and become my access to the Father—my narrow gate—I see there is not an ounce of self-love involved. Only pure love for me.

Phillip Keller, in his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 (which I wrote about in my previous post but didn’t include this information), illustrated the narrow gate in a way that helped me to grasp how truly loving it is. He recounts a cold, rainy, windy winter when his neighbor’s neglected, sickly, and hungry sheep huddled at the fence, looking into his rich pastures.

Occasionally they could crawl through a hole in the fence or, at the time of extreme tides when the sea retreated beyond the fence line, they would go down around the end of the fence to sneak in. Because the sheep were in such pitiful condition, though, eating the rich pasture food could cause their death. But all Keller could do was return the sheep to their owner for they were not his sheep. They had not come into his ranch through the proper gate.

Had the sheep come under his ownership, they would have come through the gate all his sheep used, the one where he was. He would have provided the special care they needed. He would have given them dry, rationed food until they were able to gradually handle the green diet. He would have checked them thoroughly for any wounds or diseases and done whatever was necessary to bring them to good health.

Do you see the love in the narrow gate? Jesus doesn’t want us to slip by him because only by going through him will we belong to his family. Only by going through him will we be cleansed from the disease of sin so we can enter into the holy presence of God.

If Jesus hadn’t sacrificed his life to become that narrow gate for us, we would have no way at all to the Father.

That’s how much God loves you!

Scripture quotations are from NIV.

Feature photo by Magda Vrabetz on Unsplash