Matthew 7:13-14
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
John 15:1-17
The Vine and Branches
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
John 16:29-33
Troubles in This World
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
When I read the gospels and New Testament, I wonder as Jesus lived, how many times He was happy...His young life was one of growing up poor, and then becoming a Carpenter, and then starting His Ministry...If one looks at Jesus' life from a glass half full perspective, one might say He was poor and oppressed...The religious officials of His time did not agree with Him or His Teachings and would have Him put to death on a cross...And He knew that He would die on a cross, most, if not, all of His life...Yet, He lived a life of righteousness and walked a straight line down the narrow path of righteousness...
There is a difference is feelings and attitudes...Some define happiness as a short term feeling, while they define Joy as a more permanent attitude...And if we don't hear much about happiness, but Jesus talks about JOY to His Disciples and how important a permanent relationship is with God and Him as we journey through life...We also hear Jesus talk about Love...And how important it is to Love God and neighbor...There is this link between Joy and Love...And if we are Jesus Disciples then Joy and Love will be in our lives, and we will learn to Love one another...We will be able to share with others in our hard times...And in these hard and tough times our relationships will grow and grow stronger...
It is very difficult to follow the narrow path of righteousness...We would like to take the easy and comfortable path...And I believe that the path of righteousness grows even more difficult as we age and have had increasingly different tough and sorrowful experiences in life...A parent dying, a family member having a stroke, another family member having problems with their aging memory, coworkers and friends passing can change one's attitude of what one believes...Looking back as a child, we look more to the future and see the positive in life and its future experiences, but as we age we see and feel these real experiences are happening around us and we find them grieving and painful...
So life and love may lean and trend more toward a suffering-love that keeps us from comfort and safety...Because we know Jesus being who He is, could have taken the path of comfort, safety, ease, and much happiness -but He chose a different narrow route and path...One that involved Himself dying for His believers on a cross...So, maybe love is in part this suffering type love in our lives that we must journey through...
The journey from childhood to adulthood is filled with many twists and turns and unexpected sorrows...So as we age the righteous path seems to becomes more narrow, because we see and feel the cries of the feeling of abandonment and heartache during these sorrowful times...We seek understanding and yet around us come more and more questions of why does God allow these oppressions in our lives to happen...
To follow the narrow path in these hard times makes me question God, much like Job...Why does God allow these unpleasant things in our lives?...Like the Prodigal Son, it is easier (and maybe more fun) to get lost on the wide road, than to be found...Maybe that is why many get lost along the way through their their oppressed times and experiences...In the difficult time of Jesus arrest and trial, His Disciples scattered around Him, and would leave Him all alone...Peter would deny Him in this oppressive time...Maybe that is why in the Parable of the Great Banquet that Jesus invites the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame...They are the oppressed ones...
The promises and teachings of Jesus address those who are oppressed...Following the narrow path becomes a struggle, and negative thoughts and feelings come with one's sufferings and questions of why do these things happen in our lives...It is hard to keep one's mood up as these oppressed experiences happen...
But Jesus never promised us a world free of trouble experiences...He never promised no oppression...No, in His Sermon on the Mount we see that life is a struggle, and He is there to bless the oppressed...For a maturing faith to take place we must face and acknowledge these struggles of life, and that Jesus is there with us and has overcome this sinful world...The gospel is the Good News because He is there with us on this narrow path...Others we love are also on the same path...
Jesus ministry was for the lost and the oppressed...Maybe, after we reflect on our trials, Grace and Love and Forgiveness and Mercy are better seen in times of trouble...And He helped us through these troubled times...Jesus is their to make our JOY complete...