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Matthew 7:7-14

Jesus had addressed the Jews’ righteousness toward those on the outside - the Gentiles. This was to begin
with not judging them - not condemning them, for being “other” than Israel - lesser - godless, lawless,
unclean Gentiles. Jesus made it plain that such damning judgment would simply add to the Jews’ own
condemnation, with God.

Nor were the Jews to try to deliver the Gentiles from their sins - not while the Jews were still in their sins,
themselves. The Jews had to stop seeing the works of the Law as their means of delivering themselves -
and instead, come to their Deliverer, Jesus. Only when the Jews had received reconciliation with God
themselves, would they be able to participate in reconciling others, to God.

But that reconciliation of the Gentiles would never be achieved through the Jews putting the Gentiles under
the Law. The Gentiles couldn’t be saved through the Law, any more than the Jews had been. The ministry
of reconciliation requires discerning judgment - of what and how to share, with men. This discernment is
something that the Holy Spirit gives men, once they believe into the Lord.

But there was another necessary element that the Jews would need, in order to be a light to the Gentiles.
Can you guess what that is? They would need love - something that does not come naturally to men,
especially between the Jews and the Gentiles.

It is only the love of God that would keep the Jews from viewing the Gentiles as fuel for the fires of hell,
and instead, wanting to snatch them from those fires.

So once more, Jesus has presented the Jews in their unbelief with impossible requirements - for the Jews
always viewed themselves as better than the Gentiles; God’s favored nation.

Jesus has shown the Jews that with those privileges that Israel has received from God comes personal
responsibility - responsibility for which God will additionally judge each individual Jew, in the end.

Having heightened the Jews’ sense of concern yet again about the uncertainty of them working their way
into the Kingdom of God, Jesus then proceeded to encourage them - to come the way God provided.

We’ll continue now in verse 7.

[Matthew 7:7-14]

Verses 7-11 are frequently taken out of the context in which Jesus uttered the words. In fact, verses 7 and 8
are a favorite quote. And what do people take them to mean? Well, often, they think it means that if a
person - a believer - asks God for anything, God will give it. They might add, you just have to have enough
faith - really believe God will give it to you - and then, He will. Really? No!

The more discerning might point out that, considering what is said elsewhere in Scripture, whatever the
believer asks which is in accordance with God’s will, the believer will receive. Is that true? Yes, that is
true.

In his first letter in Scripture, the apostle John wrote, “if we ask anything according to His will, He [God]
hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we
have asked of Him” (1 Jn 5:14-15).
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So is that what Jesus is saying here? No. This isn’t about the believer praying, in accordance with God’s
will. Who is Jesus speaking to? A multitude of unbelieving Jews. And remembering that context, Jesus is
telling the Jews to ask - and “it” would be given to them.

What would Jesus be telling them to ask about; just anything? Stuff, in their life? These Jews have an
absolutely vital need; what is it? They need to be saved; they need to gain entrance into the kingdom of
God, and they don’t have it. They think that salvation is to be had by doing the works of the Law. Jesus
has shown them over and over that they can’t keep the Law.

So what do they need to ask God for? They need to ask Him how they can be saved. You see, if they will
stop trying to save themselves through their religious works, and just turn to God and ask Him for
salvation, He’ll give it to them.

The appeals of Jesus here - to ask, seek, and knock - they are all continuous or repeated action.

Ask, and ask, and ask God - go to Him with your questions - and He’ll see to it that you receive answers.
He’d show the Jews what it would take for them to be saved; to enter His kingdom - not their own work,
but the work of the One whom He sent.

Seek, and seek, and seek that One - and you will find Him. Where will the Jews find Him? In their
Scriptures. They will find the One who is perfectly righteous. They will find the One who will be the
substitute for their sin; the Anointed Son of God; their Messiah.

And the more they seek Him out in their Scriptures, the more they will come to see that He is the one
speaking to them, that very day; Jesus. The son of David (2 Sam 7:12); born of a virgin (Is 7:14); in the
town of Bethlehem (Mic 5:2); called out of Egypt (Hos 11:1); dwelling at that very time in Capernaum -
Galilee of the Gentiles (Is 9:1-2).

They will seek their Deliverer; they will find Him, in Jesus. Jesus had said to the Jews, seek first the
kingdom of God - and His righteousness - God’s (6:33). Where is that righteousness of God to be found?
In Jesus.

And then all that remains is for the Jew to knock - and to keep on knocking. This doesn’t represent here
persistent effort, but singular and complete trust. The Jew who has asked God, sought out his Messiah in
his Scriptures, and found Him in the person of Jesus, has now found the way into the kingdom of God.

Here is the Door. But the door is shut. The kingdom of God is completely exclusive; no one can come in,
who does not belong there. And the door remains shut, unless the Jew knocks upon it; and we see that this
must refer to the Jew, as an individual person.

So the Jew does have a part, in gaining entrance; something that is required of him, to come in. But it isn’t
work. The Jew must acknowledge that this is the one and only entrance to the Kingdom; and he must be
willing to take the proper action, in order to be admitted. You have to knock on a closed door, in order to
get in.

What does that represent? Believing. The Jew must come to Jesus, and put all of his trust, in Him. And as
the Jew knocks on that Door, joining Himself to Jesus by faith, it opens to him the kingdom of God. The
Jew gains entrance through Jesus; he has now become a son of the Kingdom; a son of God.
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Jesus next gave the Jews assurance that God would be faithful, to respond to them. Let’s read those verses
again.

v. 9-11 So Jesus used earthly fathers as an analogy here. He asks two rhetorical questions; and they’re
fairly similar. In both cases, the son has asked his father for food which would have been considered basic
staples in that region of Galilee - bread and fish. These were the foods that sustained life; basic necessities.

The son must have been hungry; he realized he did not have food, to supply his need; he came to his father,
knowing his father would take care of him, and asked him for food.

Now, what would the father do? Give his son what he needs; give him the food, he asks for. Jesus is
showing how unnatural it would be for this father to substitute something else, that was not food, and
would not meet the son’s need - the stone. Or worse, something that was downright harmful - the serpent.
Do fathers do this? What would anyone listening think? Of course not.

What’s interesting about Jesus’ illustration is that the substitutes resembled the food. The bread in the
Greek refers to a loaf of bread. The Jews often baked small cakes of flour. You can see that a stone might
look similar to that. And the fish and the serpent both wriggle; and if it were an eel or a catfish, as found in
the Sea of Galilee, the resemblance would be quite good.

Was Jesus indicating something, through this similarity? Most likely, He was. The non-food items were
actually deceptions, weren’t they? They looked like the food items, but they would not meet the son’s
need. The idea takes the illustration further into the realm of cruelty, with the father intentionally deceiving
his son. Such actions were generally unimaginable - even for an earthly father.

In verse 11, Jesus says that earthly fathers are evil. Why does He say that? Because they are.

Turn to Ephesians chapter 2. Evil is the absence of good. And that describes the human race, once sin
entered the world. Paul was describing the sons of Adam. In this passage, the “you” is the Gentiles; the
“we” are the Jews.

[Ephesians 2:1-3] The Gentiles were born into this world in bodies of death; in fact, the entire creation has
been consigned to death, due to their self-will, as demonstrated through Adam.

These dead men walk according to the course of this world - the world system, built up on the face of
God’s earth by Satan. Satan works through that system, in the Gentiles; they’re sons of disobedience;
rebels.

And in verse 3, Paul is saying, we Jews are the exact same way. It’s a condemned creation, because the
men in it are evil. What’s needed? For each man to become a new creation - through being made alive
together with Christ (v. 5); through being born again.

[Return to Matthew]

So Jesus was not referring to any particular evil actions of the Jews here, but of their general lack of good,
as sons of Adam; they are naturally self-willed, and therefore, self-serving.

Despite this, they Jews know how to give good gifts to their children - every human father does. It natural,
to a father, to take care of his son; it’s against nature, for him to neglect his son, or to harm his son, or to
cruelly deceive his son. Natural affections are part of being human; God made men that way.
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Well, if that could be said of human fathers, what about God? He is the father of all humanity - their
Creator. God is good, and He does good - only good (Ps 119:68).

So if the Jews were to come to Him, asking, seeking their Father’s kingdom and His righteousness - would
not the Father give it to them? Would the Father deceive them, and give them a counterfeit - as their
religion of Judaism does?

It was a matter of them recognizing their need - and of who could meet their need - and of coming to Him -
believing. The Jews could trust their heavenly Father, to give them eternal life and righteousness, so that
they could enter into His kingdom.

The next statement Jesus makes does not relate directly to these thoughts.

v. 12 “Therefore” is sometimes used to indicate that the speaker is coming to his conclusion. Is this the
conclusion of what precedes? Yes; but all the way back to chapter 5.

This is the conclusion of Jesus on the righteousness that God demands, which must exceed that of the
scribes and the Pharisees, in order to enter the kingdom of God (5:20).

Jesus has described that righteousness toward one’s fellow Jew and toward the Gentiles. And in this
statement, He sums up that righteousness - what is often called the “golden rule” - “whatever you want men
to do to you, do also to them”.

It’s interesting to note that such a thought was already in circulation, in antiquity - among the Greeks, the
Jews - even in Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism! Before the time of Jesus, Rabbi Hillel put it this
way: “What is hateful to yourself do not to someone else”.

But it was Jesus who made it a positive command - not just to avoid doing to others what you yourself
don’t want done to you; but treating them the way you do want to be treated; fairly, kindly, respectfully,
mercifully.

The Law said something similar: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18). But Jesus was
extending the thought to include those whom the Jews would not normally consider to be “neighbors”: the
Gentiles.

In this way, Jesus elevated the thought to the heavenlies, to embrace what was needed to fulfill the
righteousness of the Law; a heart filled with the love of God - for all mankind. Righteousness - treating
men as they should be treated - that takes love.

Did these unbelieving Jews have such love? Again - no. So could they fulfill the righteousness of the Law
- doing unto others what they want done, to them? Not by their own efforts.

But notice in verse 12 that Jesus says this is the Law - and, the Prophets. That is, the man who does this
fulfills all of Scripture. Hmmm. Did the Jews remember that Jesus had said that He came not to destroy
the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (5:17)?

Here is the One who would fulfill all righteousness (3:15), by keeping the Law perfectly, and then offer His
perfection in the stead of men - in fulfillment of the Scriptures. Here is the only One who could bear the
burden of the Law - and in love, would do so, for men.
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Such teaching calls for a response; and as Jesus concludes, He provides four final illustrations, contrasts, to
encourage His Jewish listeners to make the right choice. We’ll be looking at just the first one, today.

v. 13-14 Here is a popular set of verses, that many of us have memorized. In the context, we see that it is
the first of four exhortations of the Jews by Jesus (7:13-14, 15-20, 21-23, 24-27). In this one, Jesus calls on
them to make a decision - between two gates, with two ways, leading to two entirely different destinations.
And Jesus even qualifies the people who enter by these gates - there are the few, and the many.

Jesus is urging the Jews to choose a certain gate; which one? The narrow gate. In the KJV, it’s the strait
gate; “strait” is an archaic word for tight; a very constricted space; narrow describes it well; a gate so
narrow you would have to squeeze through.

That doesn’t sound easy, does it? But where does this gate lead? To life. This way, that leads to life, is
described by Jesus as difficult. The word “difficult” in the Greek means pressed together, or compressed.
It is used to describe the pressing of a person in a crowd.

When you’re pressed like that, it’s difficult to follow any way other than the way the crowd is going, isn’t
it? Jesus says that there are only a few who take this difficult way, to find the narrow gate; but those who
do, and enter that gate, come into life; and we can tell that Jesus must mean eternal life, in the kingdom of
God.

But there’s another gate; and this gate is wide. Oh, that sounds much more accommodating! But where
does this wide gate lead? To destruction - to utter ruin.

This way, that leads to destruction, is a broad road; and there are many, many people on it; crowds of
people; you can just “go with the flow”. But Jesus says, choose the narrow gate; the difficult way - because
your eternal destination is ultimately what matters.

So what is this broad way, with its wide gate? We could say that’s the way of religion; all of man’s efforts,
to reach - or become - God; all of man’s imagined ways, to save himself; to live forever.

There’s a whole crowd of people, going that way - and among them, the Jews, who think that Judaism can
save them. But no amount of self-effort, self-improvement, or self-realization will make a sinner holy; and
without holiness, no one will see God (Heb 12:14). The Jews were being swept along with the crowd, in
that broad way, toward the wide gate, that leads to destruction.

Now, you know what the narrow gate represents, don’t you? That’s Jesus. He’s the way into the kingdom
of God; but the way in is completely exclusive.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, except through Me” (Jn 14:6);
through the gate. A man must come by faith alone, in Christ alone. This means the Jew can’t try to get in
carrying his pedigree as a son of Abraham, his membership in God’s covenant nation, his piousness, or his
keeping of the Law.

This gate is narrow; none of that stuff will allow the man to fit through. In order to enter the gate, the Jew
must relinquish all of his efforts in the flesh; he must see that it is in simply passing through the gate -
taking a step of faith, that Jesus is his way in - that the Jew will enter into the kingdom of God.
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But in order to do that, the Jew would have to break away from the crowd - all those other Jews, who insist
that they can keep the Law, and find acceptance by God, on that basis. The Jew will be pressed in the
crowd, and have to resist the flow - which is difficult - in order to break out, and get to that narrow gate.

But if the Jew comes to see that this narrow gate is his only way in, his only way to receive eternal life, he
will discover in himself the determination to press on through the crowd to it - the willingness to shed all of
his own efforts - and the faith to come to God, through his Messiah alone - trusting that Jesus is the very
One God sent, for this purpose.

Now, we know, as believers in the 21st century, that when Jesus spoke of this gate, He was referring to
Himself; but what would the Jews know about that?

Well, they knew that the gate was a motif from their Scriptures, which pictured their Messiah as their
Savior. The first mention of the gate in this regard is in the book of Genesis. We find it in the account of
Jacob. Turn to Genesis chapter 28.

You may remember that Jacob was one of the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah. The LORD had given a
prophecy before the birth of the boys, which showed that Jacob, the younger son, would have the primacy
over his older brother, Esau - as would the nations that came from their seed.

Despite this promise, Jacob always felt compelled to secure his own future - first swindling Esau out of his
birthright, and then robbing him of his blessing, as the firstborn.

The consequence was that Esau was ready to kill Jacob, who now had to be sent away from home, for his
own safety - back to the ancestral homeland. So much for Jacob securing his own future! Little did Jacob
know that what was supposed to be for just a few days would turn into 43 years.

Now, it’s true that Jacob was a deceiver, and that he did not yet trust God, to fulfill His own promises. On
the other hand, Jacob had a real heart for the LORD - that’s why he so desperately wanted to see those
promises realized, to him.

It must have seemed to Jacob like those promises were out of reach for him now, as he fled from home.
But the LORD came to Jacob in a dream - and showed him that nothing could be further from the truth.

[Genesis 28:10-17]

v. 10-12 What do you suppose Jacob had been thinking about, before he fell asleep? Those heavenly
promises, which seemed beyond his grasp.

But what does Jacob see, in his dream? A ladder; a ladder on the earth, that reached to heaven. And the
angels of God were going up and down this ladder; those ministering spirits, who carry out the will of God.

This ladder, which connected heaven and earth, was the means by which God’s purposes were being
carried out, on the earth; which would include His prophecy concerning Jacob.

In the dream, Jacob could see the LORD above the ladder.

v. 13-15 At this time, the LORD was establishing His covenant with Jacob; the covenant that He made with
his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac - the covenant for eternal life, through faith in the Coming
One (Gen 17:7-8, 26:3-5).
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Jacob was to carry the Seed of the Coming One (v. 14). Also, the LORD promised Jacob that He would be
with him, to protect and provide for him. The LORD could not have given Jacob greater assurance - all of
which Jacob received from the LORD, in a dream.

And then he awoke.

v. 16-17 Now, Jacob would already have known from his family about the covenant for eternal life in the
Coming One. And Jacob would also have known about the Coming One Himself, His person and His work,
because the LORD God had told His story to his grandfather Abraham, using the names that the LORD had
given the stars.

By faith, Jacob’s knowledge became understanding, through the revelation the LORD had made to him, in
the dream. The LORD was confirming His eternal covenant with Jacob on the basis of the Coming Christ -
the “ladder” - the One through whom the purposes of God would be realized on the earth; the One through
whom men on earth would find entrance into heaven.

Jesus Himself would confirm that Jacob’s ladder represented Him; on the cross, He became the Mediator
between God and man (Jn 1:51).

And that’s why Jacob recognized “this place” as “the house of God” - where Jacob had met God; and the
ladder as “the gate of heaven” - where Jacob could now enter in, by faith, to all that the LORD purposed for
him, as a son of God.

Now, there’s more to the account, but we’ll have to leave that to another time. Let’s just say that Jacob’s
actions upon arising verify that he had believed the LORD, for His Coming Christ - and entered into the
LORD’s covenant, for eternal life.

The gate of heaven found further definition when Moses was given the pattern for the tabernacle by the
LORD, for the children of Israel (Ex 25:9).

Turn to Exodus chapter 27. The tabernacle was essentially a tent; a sanctuary, where the LORD would dwell
in the midst of His people (Ex 25:8). Here is the “house of God”, that Jacob had seen (Gen 28:17) - the
place where men could come and meet God - but now revealed to the nation in a new way.

The tabernacle was an elaborate representation of the Israel’s Messiah, in His first coming to the earth - as
the Savior. There was an outer court, with a gate, into which anyone was free to enter. Within the court
was the sanctuary, called the holy place; only the priests were permitted to go in there - through the door.

The holy place was partitioned with a veil - beyond which was the holy of holies - the actual place where
God’s presence dwelt, visibly seen as the Shekinah. Only the high priest was permitted to go into the holy
of holies - once a year, to atone for the sins of the nation.

The tabernacle patterned the One who would come to tabernacle on the earth, in a body of flesh - Jesus -
court, holy place, holy of holies; His body, His soul, His spirit. We’ll be looking just briefly at the court
today, with its gate.

[Exodus 27:9-19]
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v. 9-13 In the Hebrew, this linen is bright white; bleached. It would have been dazzling in the sun. Fine
woven means there were no irregularities or mars in the thread or cloth.

In Scripture, white linen symbolizes righteousness. The outer court represents Christ in His perfect
humanity; the sinless One, whose conduct was always righteous. Bronze stands for judgment; silver,
redemption. For men, the judgment of God is overlaid with the redemption, through Christ.

The outer court was rectangular; about 100 X 50 cubits, or about 150 X 75 feet. Each side was continuous
fabric. There was only one way in - as described next.

v. 14-17 So on just the east side, the white linen hangings covered only about 22 feet of the sides; in the
middle was a gate, about 30 feet wide. This gate was also made of white linen, but it woven with blue,
purple and scarlet thread.

Blue is symbolic of the heavens; purple, of royalty; and scarlet, of blood. The gate is a portrait of the
heavenly king, who would condescend to earth in order to be the Sin-bearer for His people, through His
shed blood. The gate then pictures Christ as the Savior. This was the one and only entrance, to the
tabernacle - where men could come to meet God.

v. 18-19 The height of the outer court was only five cubits - about 7 ½ feet high. Now, that screen of the
gate was one single piece of fabric; so it could not be drawn to the side. How did men get through it, then?
It had to be lifted up, on those four pillars (v. 16).

What does the number four symbolize, in Scripture? It’s the number for the earth. Jesus would say, “And
I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Myself” (Jn 12:32).

If this heavily embroidered fabric is lifted up, it would be fairly bulky; enough so that it would hang down
an additional foot or two in the gate - so that the height of the entrance may have been reduced to six feet,
maybe even five, with the swag between pillars. That’s a low entrance! What do you suppose men did, as
they entered? Bowed their heads. This gate was narrow in a different way; the picture is submission.

The nation Israel has yet to submit to Jesus, as their Messiah and Savior. But a psalmist prophesied of a
day, when they would.

Turn to Psalm 118. The Jews sang this psalm at every feast; they all knew it by heart. It speaks of the time
when Israel will submit to their Messiah, as their LORD - this will be true for the remnant of Israel, after the
Great Tribulation.

[Psalm 118:19-21] The “gates” plural, in verse 19 most likely refer to the gates of the entire temple
compound (1 Chr 9:23-24). The temple was the permanent dwelling that the LORD gave as a pattern to
David.

But then in verse 20, we have, “This is the gate of the LORD”’ the gate through which the righteous shall
enter, and be saved. The gate is Jesus, whom Israel will finally enter into, by faith - and receive the LORD’s
salvation.

In Jesus’ day, Israel’s time had not yet come. But the time was right for any Jew individually to enter God’s
kingdom through their Messiah, Jesus, and be saved.
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And the time is still right, now - for any man. Narrow is the gate; but anyone can still enter it, who is
willing to come to God through Jesus, by faith alone.

Reading: Matthew 7:15-20; Luke 7:36-50; 1 Cor 5:9-6:4; Jer 28:1-17.