In the Gospel of John, Jesus very explicitly identifies himself as the gate leading to salvation and pasture. That is to say, he is the one who has come to redeem God’s chosen people and bring reconciliation between God and man. Through his perfect obedience, he has earned the right for man to dwell in God’s presence where there is eternal life. Through his death he paid for the sins of God’s people, he bore the destruction which they deserve. We do not travel a hard path to go through a gate at the end, we go through a gate onto a hard path, and Christ is that gate. He is the only redeemer of God’s chosen people.
Now, at the conclusion of his sermon, he states this fact clearly and he calls his hearers to submit to him as King. He has spoken. He has shared God’s truth. He has testified to the coming of the kingdom and the work that he will do for us as King. Now is the time to live in the light of these realities, to pursue the good works that he has prepared for us to walk in, to honour him as our Chief Prophet, High Priest, and Eternal King. 1
Speaking in a time where many rabbis were competing for the hearts of the Jewish people—the Pharisees and the scribes, the Romans, and the Sadducees—Jesus raises his flag above them all. He is the narrow gate who brings peace with God, and those who come to him must submit to him as King. He is the King and not a friend who gives advice, the King and not a sage who shares an opinion. As King, he is the one who has a right to tell me how to live, the one who gets to decide how I spend my weekends and my money, how I respond to those who hurt me (Matthew 5:38–42) and what I should do with my lustful desires (Matthew 5:27–30). This is not about accepting Jesus into your heart, having a warm fuzzy feeling and a vague personal relationship,
where you have a ticket to heaven and freedom to live as you please. We may not act as if you can know Christ without submitting to his commands. No, to enter by the narrow gate is to acknowledge that there is no area of life that is off limits to his authority, no area of life where what I want to do comes before what he wants me to do. He is the gate; the gate is narrow; there is only room for one King.
13 “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.