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. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13-14
I continue my study of The Character of Jesus. For this morning, I focus on chapter 9: The Narrowness of Jesus where I highlighted in my Kindle version the following excerpts:
- "Let us think about the narrowness of Jesus. I know it is a disparaging word in our modern speech and damaging to a person's reputation. We often hear it used in a sinister and condemning sense, we sometimes use it so ourselves. We say, "Oh, yes, he is narrow," meaning that one side of his nature has been blighted, blasted. His mind is not full formed. His heart is not full grown. He is a dwarfed and stunted man, cramped by a defective education or squeezed out of shape by a narrowing environment. In no such sense as this was the man of Galilee narrow. But what word will better express one of the conspicuous traits of Jesus than just this word "narrowness"? He set definite boundaries for himself, he shut himself up within contracted limits; in this sense he was narrow."
- "How narrow was the circle inside of which he did all his work ! He lived his life in Palestine, a little country no larger than Connecticut. It was not a prominent country either, but only a little province tributary to mighty Rome. It cut no figure in the eye of the world, and the lords and ladies of the world's capitals knew-little of it and cared less. It was an obscure and rural country, small in territory and insignificant in prestige, and yet the Prince of Glory confined himself to this little comer of the earth. He might have traveled across the world as many an illustrious teacher had done before his day. He might have taught in Athens and lifted up his voice in the streets of the Eternal City. He might have given his message to a wide circle of men whose influence covered many lands; but he rather chose to stay at home, to give his time to the cities of Galilee, to pour out his strength on the villages of Judea. For thirty years he remained in the dingy obscurity of a carpenter's shop, and the country upon which he poured out the full wealth of his brain and heart was only a carpenter's shop among the palaces of the earth."
- "If his field was contracted, so also was the character of his work. He only tried to do one thing."
- "A man one day interrupted him while he was speaking, saying, "Make my brother divide the inheritance with me!" But his reply was, 'That lies outside my province — come and listen to me and I will do for you the service which God has appointed me to do.'"
- "No one man can do everything, no one man should attempt everything. There are a thousand things which need to be done and yet which no man however industrious and noble can perform. Jesus set limits to his activity, and beyond those limits no man ever persuaded him to go. One day his brothers wanted him to go to Jerusalem and make an impression on the big men there, but he refused to listen to their exhortation, telling them that they might go any time they chose, but that it was different with him. He could not go until it was time for him to go, until his work compelled him to go. He could not go until his hour had come. When the hour arrived he set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem. All along the way men tried to divert him, but he could not be diverted, to Jerusalem he must go. He had a baptism to be baptized with and he was pressed in on both sides and there was no relief until his work had been accomplished."
- "He could not dissipate his energy, he could not waste a single hour. It was always, 'I must', 'I must,' 'I must.'"
- "There were broad roads on his right and left, and along these roads thousands of his countrymen were traveling, but he could not go with them. It was for him to walk along-the narrow path, for this alone led to the glorious life which was to cheer and save the world. When he talks to men about the two ways, one of them narrow and the other one broad, he is speaking out of his own experience; and when he urges men to choose the narrow one in preference to the one which is broad, he is only saying, 'Follow me!'"
- While today many would view Jesus as being closed-minded, "[t]o [Jesus] certain conceptions of God were true and others were false, certain estimates of man were correct and others erroneous, certain standards of duty were uplifting and others degrading, and with all his mind and soul and strength he clung to the true and combated the false. He never shrank from holding clean-cut opinions and from expressing them with vigor and emphasis. He was not afraid of being called intolerant or a bigot. He made a distinction between falsehood and truth, and was not ashamed to stamp upon the former and proclaim boldly the latter."
- "He came to bear witness to the truth, and for that reason he was not broad enough to give a place in his heart to falsehood."
- "This same narrowness comes out again in the limited range of his approbations. There were some things he could praise and there were other things he was obliged to condemn."
- "He had eyes which saw through the exterior of men's hearts, and he judged them with a fearlessness which made them crouch in terror."
- "He did not minimize the heinousness of sin by treating all men alike. It makes no difference to some of us whether men are honest or not, or whether they live filthy lives or not; but it made a difference to Jesus. No mean and contemptible scoundrel ever felt in Jesus' presence like holding up his head. He was so narrow in his judgments he refused to let bad men feel that they were good. In all his judgments on the lives and homes of men he pursued the narrow way."
- "It is in his habit of drawing distinctions and setting boundaries that we are to find the cause of many things which might otherwise remain inexplicable. One of the notes of Jesus' life was joy. He was a man acquainted with grief, and yet his joy was without measure."
- "No man can be happy with an entire world to roam over. It is only when a man picks out some particular little sphere and says, "Inside of this I purpose to work," that real life begins and his heart learns the art of singing."
- "So long as the world's work lies in a mountain mass, there is only depression and hopelessness; it is when a man picks up in his hand a definite, tiny task and says, " This is the thing to which I shall devote my life," that the shadows vanish and life becomes worth living. It is the narrow path that leads to life. Jesus' work was definite."
- "If you want to see a man who sings at his work, look for him inside of a narrow circle."
- "Not only was Jesus joyful, but he was mighty. He made an impression because he stayed in one place, and hit the same nail on the head until it was driven completely in."
- "He made himself thus mighty by limiting himself."
- "By limiting himself our Lord came off conqueror. He succeeded. What is it to succeed? It is to do the thing for which we were created."
- "Jesus' life on earth covered only thirty-three brief years, and yet he did the greatest piece of work ever accomplished on the earth."
- "But he says to us with that strange, dogmatic, compelling accent which stirred the hearts of the people long ago in Galilee, "Verily I say unto you, unless you abide in me, you have no life at all in you!" This, then, is the narrowness of Jesus. He is narrow for a purpose. He limited himself, emptied himself of his divine glory...walked the narrow path which led from the carpenter's shop to Golgotha, all because of his great love for us, and in order that we might each one of us have life and have it more abundantly."
Believers who study the Bible can easily read scripture and become overwhelmed at all that Jesus commands from us, and think that how can I ever do all of these things. The first point that is key is that you as a human cannot. It is Christ within you, the Holy Spirit - see Galatians 2:20 - that through the sanctification process is molding You into more of His image, bringing about obedience to His Word (see Romans 1:5 and other text examples). Additionally, I think it helps to focus most importantly on the most important commands per Jesus from Matthew 22:34-40 to love God and to love others (the latter of which flows from the former). Jesus shares how all commands flow from these. Follow Jesus and see how the narrow way of Jesus has power…including power to grow in a desire for and love of Jesus!
Comment and discuss this post.
My Prayer: Father God, Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Jesus may be narrow but His way is power and blessings - thank You Jesus for the blessings You pour out for me. I am not deserving of the love, grace and blessings You pour out for me. My sim is great and it continues…daily. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from such towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart soul and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Please give Lisa and myself wisdom energy and strength. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Help me serve You, my family my church and others. Help me understand be obedient to and apply Your message for me today and every day.
