A Hard Road with a Good Leader—Matthew 7:13-20
"Repent and believe," Jesus said, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That's good news: you can be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. It's good, but that doesn't mean it's easy. In fact, the way to heaven is a hard road -- but it's a road we travel with a good leader, Christ himself.
A Hard Road
In World War II, the Americans had a lot of trouble in the hills of Tunisia. They would attack the Germans by charging up the valleys into enemy territory, and the Germans would rain fire down on them from the mountains on either side until the Americans couldn't go any further, because the road was blocked up with their own broken and burning tanks. They learned the hard way that the way to victory was the hard way: to take the valley, you first had to climb the mountains on either side and drive the enemy off the heights.
Jesus says that the Christian life is something like that mountain warfare. If the way is wide and easy, you're headed into trouble. If you want the victory, you have to take the hard road of obedience, genuine love, and self-sacrifice.
Does God always make things hard for his children? No, actually -- later on, Jesus will say, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." The point isn't that everything about the Christian life is hard, but that choosing Christ is often a matter of choosing present trials and eternal life over present pleasures and eternal destruction.
Likewise, when Jesus says that those who find this way are few, he isn't telling us that heaven will be sparsely populated. Revelation talks about a multitude that no one can number singing God's praises in heaven. No, Jesus is telling us that in this life we will have to lose friends, face rejection, and be few in number or alone -- walking a lonely road to a crowded heaven.
Bad Leaders
To make things worse, there will be people who try to lead you off the right road. "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." I'm just a sheep like you, they will say. And I know where to find some green grass. It's just a short distance down this wide and easy path.
Let me give you some examples. A pastor says that homosexuality is OK, because God loves everyone. Another says that divorce is a matter of personal choice, because God wants you to be happy. Another says that Jesus is the Son of God, but that every religion is a valid way to heaven.
But not every wolf is so easy to spot. Some wolves are very careful with their teaching. Some wolves teach the Bible very accurately and love the Westminster Confession of Faith. But they're still in the flock to eat sheep.
Jesus does not say, "You will know them by their teaching." He says, "You will recognize them by their fruits." Their fruits may be their teaching, or the results of their teaching, but they may also be their own actions and lives. This is one reason that Christians should watch the lives of their leaders, not just listen to their teaching.
There's a positive side to this. "Remember your leaders," says the Letter to the Hebrews, "those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith." Yes, Christian leaders sometimes bear bad fruit that proves them to be wolves in sheep's clothing. But sometimes they bear good fruit that is worthy of imitation. And this is when they are led by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the good shepherd of his flock.
A Good Leader
Jesus Christ is the good leader who can get us safely down the hard road. He walked it himself. The devil offered him a wide and easy road back in chapter 4 of Matthew. "Fall down and worship me," he said, "and I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth." But Jesus had the Scriptures for his map, and that map sent him down a hard road, one of humility, poverty, rejection, and crucifixion. Indeed, he walked a road that was too hard for us, carrying our sins on his back, which were too heavy for us to bear. He did it, not so that we could walk an easy road to heaven, but so that we could walk to heaven at all.
And now he is risen from the dead, and he is our leader -- not a wolf in sheep's clothing, but the lamb of God and the lion of Judah. The lamb, because he gave himself as a sacrifice in our place. The lion, because he is strong to defend us. We must beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, but we do not need to fear them. I have never seen a wolf fight a lion, but I think the lion would win. I am sure that Jesus will win against the false prophets who try to deceive his people. When the church has good teachers, who are not wolves in sheep's clothing but true shepherds, it is because the Spirit of Jesus is working through them. He himself is the good shepherd, guide, and leader of his people, and he will see us home.
Pastor Nate Jeffries