MATTHEW 7:13-28

A five-part organization of the Gospel of Matthew first proposed by B. W. Bacon in 1930 is perhaps the most popular. It begins by recognition of five similar statements in the book, each of which directly follows a block of discourse material.

“And when Jesus finished these sayings...” (7:28)

            “And when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples...” (11:1)

            “And when Jesus had finished these parables...” (13:53)

            “Now when Jesus had finished these sayings...” (19:1)

            “When Jesus had finished all these sayings...” (26:1)

The discourses which precede these pronouncements are well recognized to be arranged topically and to cover subjects that are, respectively, ethical, missionary, kergymatic, ecclesiastical and eschatological. (Nixon) But Brown notes, “Although each major discourse has a different focus, the theme of God's reign is accented in each of them.” Also, each of the discourses ends on a note of judgment. (Snodgrass)

And Cahill summarizes the contents of these verses as follows: “The warnings not to be taken in by false prophets in sheep's clothing (7:15), or by trees that do not bear good fruit (7:16-20), or by those who perform showy works in Jesus' name (7:22-23), or to build one's house on 'sand' by not actually living up to Jesus' words (7:24-27) suggest choice, responsibility, difficulty, and the possibility of delusion in the life of would-be discipleship. The allusions to the 'narrow gate' (7:13-14) and the Lords's repudiation of 'evildoers' on the 'last day' (7:22-23) are explicit references to judgment.”

With that as a starting point, let us consider in more depth the passage concluding the first of these five “sermons” of Christ. It consists of four pithy teachings of Jesus, each one involving a sharp contrast in behavior and having a definite literary structure designed to make it memorable and easy to remember.

Ryken says, “As He concludes His discourse (7:13-27), Jesus sharpens the issues and begins to force a response from His listeners. He leaves His audience with a challenge, urging them to make sure that they are members of God's kingdom. In order to make His point with impact, Jesus used three memorable contrasts – the narrow gate that leads to life vs. the wide gate that leads to destruction (vss. 13-14), true prophets vs. false prophets (vss. 15-23), and the wise man who builds his house on a rock vs. the foolish man who builds on the sand (vss. 24-27).”

Before proceeding, I should point out that Blomberg, for one, combines verses 15-20 and 21-23 into one example and says concerning the 'three examples,' “In each case the first category refers to those who hear, obey, and are saved; the second, to those who only hear and so are destroyed. In each case eternal life and judgment are at stake.” Few commentators follow his lead.

The Narrow and Wide Gate (Matthew 7:13-14)

Enter the narrow gate

        1. The gate is wide

                2. and the way is easy

                        3. that leads to destruction

                                4. there are many who take it

        1'. The gate is narrow

                2'. and the road is hard

                        3'. that leads to life

                                4'. and there are few who find it

“This is the second command. Cf. Luke xiii 24...The Lukan version is more emphatically eschatological in context than is the exposition here. But it is likely that we are to see this verse against the context of vss. 22ff. In this case, Go in by the narrow gate will be understood as meaning that entrance into the Kingdom --- whether the Kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God – is through a narrow gate.” (Albright and Mann)

Overman says, “For the frequent metaphor of the two roads, see e.g., Prov 7.27; 15.24; Jer 21.8.” And Tilden adds Luke 13:23-24; Psalm 1; Deuteronomy 30:19; John10:7 and John 14:6 to that list.

Boice warns that “we may imagine a man who has agreed with the bulk of this teaching [so far in the Sermon] but who thinks he can put it into practice merely by exerting a little more effort while continuing in the same general direction in which he is going. To such a man these verses are a reminder that the Christian life must begin with an about-face and that it cannot be carried on without a personal commitment to the Lord Jesus.”

Hill feels that the translation 'hard' in section 2' “is rather misleading. The Greek tethlimmene means 'pressed together', i.e. not spacious and roomy; it is not the road for everybody; only the few (cf. the antithesis of 22.14) will find and follow this path.”

Good and Bad Trees (Matthew 7:15-20)

Beware of false prophets

        1. You will know them by their fruits

                2. Every good tree bears good fruit

                        3. The bad tree bears bad fruit

                2'. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit

                        3'. nor can a bad tree bear good fruit

                2''. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and burned

        1'. You will know them by their fruits.

“The unbelieving world itself is like a wolf in its hostility to disciples of Jesus (Mt 7:15, 10:16; Lk 10:3).” (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery)

France: “These false prophets are described as 'coming to you,' and so apparently as people from outside the disciple group who nonetheless wish to represent themselves as on the same side. The contrast between their appearance and what they are 'inside' makes it clear that, unlike the self-deluded charismatics of vv. 22-23, they are consciously putting on an act...The instruction to 'beware' of them implies the same need for discrimination on the part of God's people as we saw in v. 6. People cannot always be taken at their face value, and the more so when they claim to speak for God.”

“What a man is in his inner being comes to expression outwardly, especially in words and deeds. Says Luke (6:45) in a similar context (see 6:44), 'The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil (treasure) produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.' Character reveals itself.” (Hendricksen)

Saying and Doing (Matthew 7:21-23)

        1. Not everyone who says,”Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven

                2. but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven

        1'. But on that day, many will say, Lord, Lord

                2'. did we not do works in your name?

        1'. But I will say, “I never knew you”

                2''. Go away from me, you evildoers.”

Note the regular alternation of the concepts of saying and doing.

Beale and Gladd ask, “What is the precise meaning of the phrase 'mysteries of the kingdom'?...The phrase...should probably be rendered as 'mysteries belonging to the kingdom of heaven'...Mark and Luke render this idea as 'mystery / mysteries of the kingdom and God ' (Mark 4:11; Lk 8:10), whereas Matthew renders it 'mysteries of the kingdom of heaven' (cf., e.g., Mt 3:2; 4:17; 5:3,10,19-20; 7:21; 8:11; 10:7)...Jesus even says in Matthew 7:21-23 that those who were regarded as teachers of the church will be judged as false teachers at the final judgment.”

Payne explains that the promise given in Matthew 7:21 “is not simply life after death, as it may be elsewhere (cf. II Tim 4:18...); for the context is that of the final judgment, contrast vv. 19, 22-23...on the wicked.”

“This is the first use in Matthew of 'Lord,' kyrie, as an address to Jesus. God has been referred to frequently, both in OT quotation and in Matthew's own editorial style, as ho Kyrios...The vocative in itself carries no necessary theological connotation, but simply recognizes a superior social status...But in Matthew's narrative, addressed to Jesus as a Galilean villager of no social prominence, and frequently in the context of expecting miraculous help, kyrie clearly carries more weight, and the fact that Matthew uses it substantially more than the other Synoptic evangelists indicates that he was well aware of this more than purely social dimension.” (France)

Tale of Two Houses (Matthew 7:24-27)

        1. Everyone who hears and acts upon my words

                2. will be like the wise man

                        3. who built his house upon a rock

                                4. the rains, flood and wind came

                                        5. but it did not fall

                                                6. because it had been founded on a rock

        1'. Everyone who hears but does not act upon my words

                2'. will be like the foolish man

                        3'. who built his house upon the sand

                                4'. the rains, flood and wind came

                                        5. and it fell – and great was its fall

Myers says, “Instructions on how to really understand the Bible are given over and over again in both Old and New Testaments. 'He who does what is true comes to the light' [John 3:21]. The wise man – the one who built his house on the rock – differs from the foolish man in that he acts upon the word [Matthew 7:24-29]. The power of Jesus' words is known in the doing of them.”

“In the NT, flock is still used for Israel, described by Jesus as lost (Mt 15:24) as well as weakened and exhausted (Mt 9:36). Mostly, however, it refers to the remnant band of disciples he is gathering (Lk 10:3; Jn 10:1-16). On account of its smallness, Jesus talks of this as his 'little' flock. Its members are commanded not to fear on that account, even with the danger of deceptive attacks from within and overt attacks from without (Mt 7:15; 10:16) and the certainty of its undergoing great tribulation in the future (Mk 14:27), because it is God who is giving it the kingdom (Lk 12:32).” (DBI)