◄ Matthew 7:14 ►
But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Study Bible
But small is the gate

The imagery of a small gate suggests exclusivity and difficulty in entry. In ancient cities, gates were often narrow to control access and protect from invaders. This metaphor indicates that entering the kingdom of heaven requires intentionality and effort. The small gate contrasts with the wide gate mentioned earlier in the passage, symbolizing the ease of following worldly desires. This aligns with Jesus' teachings on the need for repentance and transformation (Matthew 4:17).

Luk 13:24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.”…
Jhn 10:9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will…
Heb 10:20 by the new and living way opened for us…

and narrow the way

The narrow way implies a path that is restrictive and challenging. In biblical times, roads were often treacherous and required careful navigation. This metaphor suggests that following Christ involves discipline, sacrifice, and adherence to His teachings. The narrow way is reminiscent of the call to take up one's cross and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24), emphasizing the cost of discipleship and the need for perseverance.

Act 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples…
Pro 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam…
Psa 119:32 I run in the path of Your commandments…

that leads to life,

Life here refers to eternal life, a central theme in Jesus' teachings. This life is not just an extension of existence but a quality of life characterized by a relationship with God. The narrow way leading to life contrasts with the broad way leading to destruction, highlighting the ultimate reward for those who choose to follow Christ. This echoes the promise of abundant life found in John 10:10 and the assurance of eternal life in John 3:16.

Jhn 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.…
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God…
1Jn 5:11-12 And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life,…

and only a few find it.

This phrase underscores the reality that not everyone will choose the path of righteousness. The use of "few" indicates that true discipleship is rare and requires a conscious decision to follow Christ. This reflects the biblical theme of the remnant, a faithful minority who remain true to God amidst widespread unbelief (Romans 11:5). It also serves as a warning and a call to evangelism, urging believers to guide others toward the narrow way.

Luk 13:23 “Lord,” someone asked Him, “will only a few…
Rom 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though……
1Pe 3:20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus Christ
The speaker of this verse, delivering the Sermon on the Mount, which is a collection of teachings and sayings of Jesus.

2. The Disciples
The primary audience of the Sermon on the Mount, representing followers of Jesus who are learning about the Kingdom of God.

3. The Narrow Gate
A metaphorical representation of the path to eternal life, characterized by its difficulty and exclusivity.

4. The Broad Road
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, it is implied as the alternative path that leads to destruction, as described in the preceding verse.

5. The Kingdom of Heaven
The ultimate destination for those who find and follow the narrow way, representing eternal life with God.
Teaching Points
The Challenge of the Narrow Way
The path to eternal life is not easy; it requires commitment, sacrifice, and perseverance. Believers must be prepared to face challenges and opposition.

The Importance of Discernment
In a world with many paths, discernment is crucial. Believers must seek wisdom and guidance from Scripture and the Holy Spirit to stay on the narrow path.

The Role of Community
Although the path is narrow and few find it, believers are not alone. The Christian community provides support, accountability, and encouragement.

The Call to Evangelism
Knowing that few find the narrow way, believers are called to share the Gospel, helping others to discover and choose the path to life.

The Assurance of Eternal Life
Despite its difficulty, the narrow way leads to life. Believers can have confidence in their eternal destination through faith in Jesus Christ.
Bible Study Questions
1. What are some practical ways you can ensure you are on the narrow path in your daily life?

2. How can you discern whether a decision or action aligns with the narrow way that leads to life?

3. In what ways can the Christian community help you stay on the narrow path?

4. How does understanding the narrow way influence your approach to sharing the Gospel with others?

5. Reflect on a time when you faced a challenge on your spiritual journey. How did you overcome it, and what did you learn about staying on the narrow path?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 7:13
This verse contrasts the narrow gate with the broad road, emphasizing the difficulty of the path to life.

John 14:6
Jesus describes Himself as the way, the truth, and the life, reinforcing the idea that He is the narrow way to the Father.

Luke 13:24
Jesus urges His followers to strive to enter through the narrow door, highlighting the effort required to follow Him.

Proverbs 4:26-27
Encourages believers to stay on the straight path, avoiding distractions that lead away from righteousness.

Philippians 3:14
Paul speaks of pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly calling, which aligns with the pursuit of the narrow way.
Sermons
The Initial Difficulty of All Good EnterprisesR. Tuck Matthew 7:14
How Do They Enter in by This GateMatthew 7:13-14
SalvationJ. Parker, D. D.Matthew 7:13-14
Salvation: its Difficulty Argues its WorthBaxter.Matthew 7:13-14
Salvation: Joy that the Gate is OpenW. Arnot.Matthew 7:13-14
Salvation: the Gate Cannot be ForcedW. Arnot.Matthew 7:13-14
Sermon on the Mount: 7. Enter Ye in At the Strait GateMarcus Dods Matthew 7:13, 14
The Broad and the Narrow WayE. Cooper.Matthew 7:13-14
The Broad WayD. Moore, M. A., Garrard., R. Treffry., Dr. J. Matthews.Matthew 7:13-14
The Difficulty of SalvationCheminais.Matthew 7:13-14
The Entering in by the Strait GateMatthew 7:13-14
The Facility with Which Sinners Go to DestructionW. Mitchell, A. M.Matthew 7:13-14
The Gate of Salvation Too Narrow for the Self-RighteousE. Bersier, D. D.Matthew 7:13-14
The Multitude in the Broad WayT. Boston, D. D.Matthew 7:13-14
The Narrowness of the GospelE. Bersier, D. D.Matthew 7:13-14
The Noblest Provocation to Sanctified ImaginationP.C. Barker Matthew 7:13, 14
The Strait Gate and the WideJ. Gwyther, B. A.Matthew 7:13-14
The Strait Gate not a Shut GateW. Arnot.Matthew 7:13-14
The Supreme Importance of Personal SalvationWilliam Jones.Matthew 7:13-14
The Two WaysW.F. Adeney Matthew 7:13, 14
The Two WaysJ. E. Good.Matthew 7:13-14
The Way of Sin EasyW. Arnot.Matthew 7:13-14
The Way to Life and the Way to Destruction UnfoldedT. Boston, D. D.Matthew 7:13-14
The Wide GateMatthew 7:13-14
The World WayW. Arnot.Matthew 7:13-14
This Way Leads to DestructionMatthew 7:13-14
What Makes the Gate StraitMatthew 7:13-14
What This Entering BearsMatthew 7:13-14
Two WaysJ.A. Macdonald Matthew 7:13-20
People
Jesus
Places
Galilee
Topics
Compressed, Contracted, Discovery, Door, Finding, Gate, Leadeth, Leading, Leads, Narrow, Restricted, Road, Strait, Straitened
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 7:14

     4847   smallness
     6646   eternal life, gift
     8168   way, the

Matthew 7:12-20

     3254   Holy Spirit, fruit of

Matthew 7:13-14

     2377   kingdom of God, entry into
     5323   gate
     9513   hell, as incentive to action

Library
November 22. "Cast the Beam Out of Thine Own Eye" (Matt. vii. 5).
"Cast the beam out of thine own eye" (Matt. vii. 5). Greater than the fault you condemn and criticise is the sin of criticism and condemnation. There is no place we need such grace as in dealing with an erring one. A lady once called on us on her way to give an erring sister a piece of her mind. We advised her to wait until she could love her a little more. Only He who loved sinners well enough to die for them can deal with the erring. We never see all the heart. He does, and He can convict without …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

January 12. "Ask and it Shall be Given You" (Matt. vii. 7).
"Ask and it shall be given you" (Matt. vii. 7). We must receive, as well as ask. We must take the place of believing, and recognize ourselves as in it. A friend was saying, "I want to get into the will of God," and this was the answer: "Will you step into the will of God? And now, are you in the will of God?" The question aroused a thought that had not come before. The gentleman saw that he had been straining after, but not receiving the blessing he sought. Jesus has said, "Ask and ye shall receive." …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Judging, Asking, and Giving
'Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye! 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Two Paths
'Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.'--MATT. vii. 13-14. A frank statement of the hardships and difficulties involved in a course of conduct does not seem a very likely way to induce men to adopt it, but it often proves so. There is something in human nature which responds to the bracing …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Two Houses
'Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.... 25. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.'--Matt. vii. 24, 25. Our Lord closes the so-called Sermon on the Mount, which is really the King's proclamation of the law of His Kingdom, with three pairs of contrasts, all meant to sway us to obedience. The first …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Christ of the Sermon on the Mount
'And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine: 29. For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.'--MATT. vii. 28-29. It appears, then, from these words, that the first impression made on the masses by the Sermon on the Mount was not so much an appreciation of its high morality, as a feeling of the personal authority with which Christ spoke. Had the scribes, then, no authority? They ruled the whole life of the nation with …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. vii. 7, "Ask, and it Shall be Given You;" Etc. An Exhortation to Alms-Deeds.
1. In the lesson of the Holy Gospel the Lord hath exhorted us to prayer. "Ask," saith He, "and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? [2135] Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? [2136] If ye then," …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament

Known by their Fruits.
(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) S. MATT. vii. 16. "Ye shall know them by their fruits." The religion of Jesus Christ is one of deeds, not words; a life of action, not of dreaming. Our Lord warns us to beware of any form of religion, in ourselves or others, which does not bring forth good fruit. God does not look for the leaves of profession, or the blossoms of promise, He looks for fruit unto holiness. We may profess to believe in Jesus Christ, we may say the Creed without a mistake, we may read …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

Casting Blame.
8th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. vii. 15. "Inwardly they are ravening wolves." INTRODUCTION.--A Schoolmaster finds one day that several of his scholars are playing truant. The morning passes and they do not arrive. At last, in the afternoon, the truants turn up. The master has a strong suspicion where they have been: however, he asks, "Why were you not at school this morning?" "Please, sir, mother kept me at home to mind the baby." "Indeed--let me look at your mouth." He opens the mouth, …
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

False Prophets
(Eighth Sunday after Trinity.) Matthew vii. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. People are apt to overlook, I think, the real meaning of these words. They do so, because they part them from the words which go just before them, about false prophets. They consider that 'fruit' means only a man's conduct,--that a man is known by his conduct. That professions are worth nothing, and practice worth everything. That the good man, after all, is the man who does right; and the bad man, the man who …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

A Man Expects to Reap the Same Kind as He Sows.
"Herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit . . . after his kind."--Gen. i: 12. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"--Matt. vii: 16. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." --Romans viii: 13. A Man Expects to Reap the Same Kind as He Sows. If I should tell you that I sowed ten acres of wheat last year and that watermelons came up, or that I sowed cucumbers and gathered …
Dwight L. Moody—Sowing and Reaping

The Mote and the Beam
That friend of ours has got something in his eye! Though it is only something tiny--what Jesus called a mote--how painful it is and how helpless he is until it is removed! It is surely our part as a friend to do all we can to remove it, and how grateful he is to us when we have succeeded in doing so. We should be equally grateful to him, if he did the same service for us. In the light of that, it seems clear that the real point of the well-known passage in Matthew 7:3-5 about the beam and the mote …
Roy Hession and Revel Hession—The Calvary Road

Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil by Force must Inevitably be Accepted by Men of the Present Day.
Christianity is Not a System of Rules, but a New Conception of Life, and therefore it was Not Obligatory and was Not Accepted in its True Significance by All, but only by a Few--Christianity is, Moreover, Prophetic of the Destruction of the Pagan Life, and therefore of Necessity of the Acceptance of the Christian Doctrines--Non-resistance of Evil by Force is One Aspect of the Christian Doctrine, which must Inevitably in Our Times be Accepted by Men--Two Methods of Deciding Every Quarrel--First Method …
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

Fifth Lesson. Ask, and it Shall be Given You;
Ask, and it shall be given you; Or, The Certainty of the Answer to Prayer. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened,'--Matt. vii. 7, 8. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.'--Jas. iv. 3. OUR Lord returns here in the Sermon on the Mount a second time to speak of prayer. The first time He had spoken of the Father who is …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

Sixth Lesson. How Much More?'
How much more?' Or, The Infinite Fatherliness of God. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?'--Matt. vii. 9-11 IN these words our Lord proceeds further to confirm what He had said of the certainty of an answer to prayer. To remove …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

The Beggar. Mt 7:7-8
 …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Here Again Arises a Very Difficult Question. For in what Way Shall we Fools...
28. Here again arises a very difficult question. For in what way shall we fools be able to find a wise man, whereas this name, although hardly any one dare openly, yet most men lay claim to indirectly: so disagreeing one with another in the very matters, in the knowledge of which wisdom consists, as that it must needs be that either none of them, or but some certain one be wise? But when the fool enquires, who is that wise man? I do not at all see, in what way he can be distinguished and perceived. …
St. Augustine—On the Profit of Believing.

Asking, Seeking, Finding. --Matt. vii. 7, 8
Asking, Seeking, Finding.--Matt. vii. 7, 8. Ask, and ye shall receive; On this my hope I build: I ask forgiveness, and believe My prayer shall be fulfill'd. Seek, and expect to find: Wounded to death in soul, I seek the Saviour of mankind; His touch can make me whole. Knock, and with patience wait, Faith shall free entrance win: I stand and knock at mercy's gate; Lord Jesus! let me in. How should I ask in vain? Seek, and not find Thee, Lord? Knock, and yet no admittance gain? Is it not in Thy …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Assurance and Encouragement. --Matt. vii. 7, 8
Assurance and Encouragement.--Matt. vii. 7, 8. While these commands endure, These promises are sure; And 'tis an easy task To knock, to seek, to ask: Sinner hast thou the willing mind? Saint, art thou thus inclined? Dost thou expect, desire, believe? Then knock and enter, seek and find, Ask and receive. …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

The Strait Gate;
OR, GREAT DIFFICULTY OF GOING TO HEAVEN: PLAINLY PROVING, BY THE SCRIPTURES, THAT NOT ONLY THE RUDE AND PROFANE, BUT MANY GREAT PROFESSORS, WILL COME SHORT OF THAT KINGDOM. "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."--Matthew 7:13, 14 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. If any uninspired writer has been …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Parting Counsels
'And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 25. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Author's Preface.
I did not write this little work with the thought of its being given to the public. It was prepared for the help of a few Christians who were desirous of loving God with the whole heart. But so many have requested copies of it, because of the benefit they have derived from its perusal, that I have been asked to publish it. I have left it in its natural simplicity. I do not condemn the opinions of any: on the contrary, I esteem those which are held by others, and submit all that I have written to …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Links
Matthew 7:14 NIV
Matthew 7:14 NLT
Matthew 7:14 ESV
Matthew 7:14 NASB
Matthew 7:14 KJV

Matthew 7:14 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Matthew 7:13
Top of Page
Top of Page