Jesus teaching a crowd in Matthew 7:13–14 about the narrow gate, the broad road to destruction, and the few who find the way leading to life. Bible research by Simon Brown.JESUS SAID “FEW” FIND LIFE — SO WHO ARE THE FEW?
The Fearful Words of Jesus in Matthew 7:13–14
In our previous study we examined some of the most fearful words Jesus ever spoke:
Matthew 7:21–23 — “I Never Knew You.”
That teaching should cause every one of us who claims to follow Christ to examine ourselves seriously.
AM I REALLY DOING THE WILL OF GOD?
Do I genuinely believe in the Son whom God sent?
Do I listen to Jesus?
Do I obey his teachings?
Do I love God and my neighbour?
Do I forgive?
Do I practise mercy?
Do I seek righteousness?
Am I willing to change my beliefs when Scripture shows me that something I have been taught is wrong?
Or am I simply repeating religious traditions because they are what I have always believed?
And perhaps one of the most important questions of all:
DO I KNOW THE ONE TRUE GOD AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST?
Jesus himself prayed:
“This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.”
— John 17:3, World English Bible
But there is another question we should not be afraid to ask:
COULD I, AS A CHRISTIAN, HAVE BEEN DECEIVED?
The Bible repeatedly warns believers about false prophets, false teachers and false Christs.
Therefore, none of us should simply assume that because we call ourselves Christians, everything we believe must automatically be correct.
I certainly do not claim to be perfect.
In fact, I was a Trinitarian myself for around ten years.
Like so many Christians, I believed in the Trinity because that was what I had been taught. I trusted that the people teaching me understood the Scriptures correctly, and for many years I never seriously questioned it.
But something began to trouble me.
I kept returning to these warnings of Jesus and wondering:
WHO WAS JESUS TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE SAID THAT ONLY “FEW” WOULD FIND THE WAY LEADING TO LIFE?
Could I simply assume that I was one of the few because I called myself a Christian?
Could I possibly have been deceived without even knowing it?
That question frightened me enough to make me examine my own faith, rather than simply examining everybody else's.
So I decided to do what Jesus told us to do:
“Seek, and you will find.”
But if we are genuinely going to seek the truth, I believe we must be hungry for it.
We must search with an open mind and an open heart, willing to believe the word of God even when it challenges something we have believed for many years.
That can be extremely difficult.
Sometimes searching for truth means being willing to admit:
“I WAS WRONG.”
And that is what eventually happened to me concerning the Trinity.
After examining the Scriptures for myself, I became convinced that what I had believed for those ten years was wrong.
That experience taught me something I have never forgotten:
NEVER ASSUME THAT SOMETHING MUST BE TRUE SIMPLY BECAUSE WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TAUGHT THAT IT IS TRUE.
Since then, I have never stopped searching.
Over the years I have debated and discussed Scripture with hundreds of Christians holding many different beliefs. And throughout that journey I have always tried to remain willing to be proved wrong.
Why?
Because I have been proved wrong before.
If Scripture can demonstrate that something I presently believe is mistaken, then I want to know.
I do not want to defend a doctrine merely because it is my doctrine.
I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS TRUE.
There is hardly a day that goes by when I do not thank GOD ALMIGHTY for opening my eyes and ears and causing me to search more deeply.
That is also one of the main reasons I have now spent years researching and writing these studies and sharing my findings with you.
I am not asking you simply to believe me.
I am asking you to do what I eventually learned I had to do:
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES FOR YOURSELF.
Test what I write.
Test what your church teaches.
Test what your pastor teaches.
Test what theologians teach.
Test what you have believed all your life.
And above everything else, listen carefully to Jesus.
Because ultimately we do not get endless opportunities to discover who the one true God is and who His Son Jesus Christ is.
My hope in sharing these studies is that they encourage you to seek the truth for yourself, follow Christ faithfully, and finally hear words very different from:
“I never knew you.”
My prayer is that instead, when Christ returns, you will discover that you truly were walking that narrow road—
AMONG THE “FEW” WHO FOUND THE WAY LEADING TO LIFE.
That is precisely why I thank God for Jesus Christ and for the sacrifice God has provided through His Son.
But grace does not mean that Jesus' teachings no longer matter.
Jesus repeatedly called people to follow him, obey God, practise righteousness, show mercy, deny themselves and remain faithful.
And this brings us directly to another extremely serious teaching of Jesus.
ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW GATE
Matthew 7:13–14 — Berean Literal Bible
13 “Enter through the narrow gate, because wide is the gate and broad the way that is leading to destruction, and many are those entering through it.
14 For narrow is the gate and compressed the way that is leading to life, and few are those finding it.”
There is one word here that I find particularly striking:
FEW.
Jesus did not say many find the way leading to life.
He said:
FEW ARE THOSE FINDING IT.
That raises an enormous question.
There are billions of people throughout the world who identify themselves as Christians.
So what exactly did Jesus mean when he said:
“Few are those finding it”?
How many are the FEW?
The Bible does not give us a number.
But amazingly, someone actually asked Jesus a very similar question.
“LORD, ARE THOSE BEING SAVED FEW?”
In Luke 13:23 someone asked Jesus:
“Lord, are those being saved few?”
That is almost exactly the question we are asking.
And notice carefully how Jesus answered.
Luke 13:24–27 — Berean Literal Bible
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 From that time the master of the house shall have risen up and shall have shut the door, then you shall begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us.’
And answering, he will say to you, ‘I do not know from where you are.’
26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate in your presence, and we drank, and you taught in our streets.’
27 And he will say, ‘I am saying to you, I do not know from where you are; depart from me, all you workers of unrighteousness.’”
Notice those words:
“I DO NOT KNOW FROM WHERE YOU ARE.”
Does that sound familiar?
It should.
Because it is remarkably similar to what Jesus says in Matthew 7:
“I never knew you; depart from Me, those working lawlessness.”
— Matthew 7:23
What makes these warnings so frightening is that these people apparently expected to be accepted.
They were not standing outside saying:
“We rejected you.”
They were asking to be admitted.
They thought the door would open.
And yet it didn't.
THE TEN VIRGINS — “LORD, LORD, OPEN TO US!”
We find another very similar warning in Jesus' parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25.
All ten were waiting for the bridegroom.
Five were wise.
Five were foolish.
When the bridegroom finally arrived, those who were ready entered the wedding feast.
Then we read:
“And the door was shut.”
Later the others came saying:
“Lord, lord, open to us!”
But he answered:
“Truly I tell you, I do not know you.”
— Matthew 25:12
Again we have people expecting to be admitted.
Again we have a closed door.
And again we hear:
“I DO NOT KNOW YOU.”
I believe one of the great lessons of this parable is that we must BE READY.
We should not live as though Christ's return does not matter or as though we have unlimited time.
Jesus repeatedly warned his followers to watch and remain ready.
The lesson is not that we should spend every day paralysed with fear.
The lesson is:
LIVE FOR CHRIST TODAY.
Because none of us knows when our opportunity to do so will end.
MATTHEW 7 GIVES US ANOTHER IMPORTANT CLUE
Now let's return to Matthew 7 and look carefully at the order in which Jesus gives these teachings.
First:
MATTHEW 7:13–14
THE NARROW AND BROAD WAYS
One way leads to destruction.
One leads to life.
MANY enter one.
FEW find the other.
Then immediately afterward Jesus says:
MATTHEW 7:15
“BEWARE OF THE FALSE PROPHETS.”
Jesus says:
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
He continues:
“From their fruits you will recognize them.”
And:
“Every good tree produces good fruits, but the rotten tree produces evil fruits.”
Then Jesus concludes:
“Therefore from their fruits you will recognize them.”
And immediately after this warning about false prophets we reach Matthew 7:21–23.
“LORD, LORD” — BUT “I NEVER KNEW YOU”
Jesus says:
“Not everyone saying to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of My Father who is in the heavens.”
— Matthew 7:21
Then:
“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord...’”
And finally:
“I never knew you; depart from Me, those working lawlessness.”
Look at the progression carefully:
THE NARROW WAY
↓
BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS
↓
EXAMINE THEIR FRUIT
↓
“LORD, LORD”
↓
DOING THE WILL OF THE FATHER
↓
“I NEVER KNEW YOU”
Surely we should take this sequence seriously.
This does not automatically prove that every person holding an incorrect doctrine is among those Jesus rejects.
But it certainly gives every Christian a reason to examine what we believe, whom we follow, and whether our faith is actually founded upon Scripture and the teachings of Jesus.
COULD CHRISTIANS BE DECEIVED?
Jesus warned:
“Beware of the false prophets.”
Why would Jesus warn his followers about deception if deception were impossible?
Therefore, I believe every Christian—including me—should be willing to ask:
Have I tested what I believe against Scripture?
Or have I simply inherited my theology from other people?
This becomes particularly important when we consider the identity of God and His Son.
For example:
WHERE DOES SCRIPTURE DEFINE THE ONE GOD AS THREE DISTINCT COEQUAL AND COETERNAL PERSONS SHARING ONE DIVINE ESSENCE?
That precise later theological formulation is never stated in those words anywhere in Scripture.
So should we not at least be willing to examine where it came from?
Likewise:
WHERE DOES SCRIPTURE TEACH THAT THE FATHER IS THE SON?
And:
WHERE DOES SCRIPTURE TEACH THAT JESUS IS MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL?
These are serious questions.
I am not asking them to condemn individuals.
I am asking something much more fundamental:
WHAT DID JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES ACTUALLY TEACH?
If our doctrine is true, we should never be afraid of examining it.
TRUTH HAS NOTHING TO FEAR FROM SCRIPTURE.
GOD'S OWN TESTIMONY ABOUT HIS SON
John gives us something wonderfully simple.
1 John 5:9–13 — Berean Literal Bible
9 “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that He has testified concerning His Son.
10 The one believing in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one not believing God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning His Son.
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 The one having the Son has life; the one not having the Son of God does not have life.
13 I wrote these things to you, the ones believing in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Notice how simple John's language is.
GOD.
And:
HIS SON.
And eternal life is found:
IN HIS SON.
The Christian message does not need to become more complicated than the testimony God Himself has given concerning His Son.
BUT DOES “FEW” CONTRADICT REVELATION?
Here we encounter a fascinating question.
Jesus says:
“Few are those finding” the way leading to life.
Yet John sees something extraordinary in Revelation 7:9:
“a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages...”
So how can both statements be true?
Jesus says FEW.
John sees a multitude NO MAN COULD NUMBER.
Is that a contradiction?
I don't believe it is.
Because “few” does not necessarily mean that the final number of saved people must be numerically tiny.
It can describe the number in comparison with the much greater number travelling the broad road.
Think about the enormous number of human beings who have lived throughout history.
Even if those finding the narrow way represented only a minority of humanity, that minority could still eventually amount to an enormous multitude.
Imagine, simply for illustration, that only a few people out of every hundred found the narrow way.
Across an enormous population spanning generation after generation, those “few” would eventually become an enormous number of people.
Therefore:
FEW IN COMPARISON WITH MANY
does not necessarily mean:
ONLY A TINY HANDFUL THROUGHOUT ALL HUMAN HISTORY.
A minority drawn from an enormous population can itself eventually become an enormous multitude.
Therefore Jesus' words about the FEW and John's vision of a great multitude need not contradict each other at all.
WHY IS THE BROAD ROAD SO POPULAR?
Jesus gives us another important clue.
John 3:19 — Berean Literal Bible
“And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their works were evil.”
Jesus is the light of the world.
Yet Jesus says people loved darkness rather than light.
Why?
“For their works were evil.”
This helps us understand why the broad road is so broad.
The narrow way requires something from us.
Jesus calls us to repent.
To deny ourselves.
To follow him.
To obey God.
To forgive.
To show mercy.
To love.
To pursue righteousness.
To resist sin.
To do the Father's will.
The broad road is much easier.
We can simply live according to our own desires.
And that is why Jesus' words remain so challenging:
“Wide is the gate and broad the way that is leading to destruction, and MANY are those entering through it.”
BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE OF US WHO CALL OURSELVES CHRISTIANS?
This is where this teaching becomes deeply personal.
It would be very easy for Christians to look at unbelievers and say:
“Jesus is talking about THEM.”
But Matthew 7 does not allow us to stop there.
Because Jesus also describes people calling him:
“LORD, LORD.”
These are people who apparently believe they belong to him.
Therefore the warning should cause Christians to examine ourselves too.
The question is not simply:
DO I CALL MYSELF A CHRISTIAN?
The question is:
AM I ACTUALLY FOLLOWING CHRIST?
Do I believe God's testimony concerning His Son?
Am I seeking the Father's will?
Am I listening to Jesus?
Am I producing good fruit?
Am I practising mercy?
Am I willing to test my beliefs against Scripture?
Have I placed human traditions above God's word?
And if I discover that something I have believed for years is wrong:
AM I WILLING TO CHANGE?
THIS WARNING IS FOR ALL OF US
I do not write this article pointing my finger at everybody else.
I INCLUDE MYSELF.
I have already discovered once in my Christian life that something I believed deeply was something I could no longer reconcile with Scripture.
That humbled me.
And it taught me never to stop examining myself.
Paul wrote:
“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
— Philippians 2:12
Nothing could be more important than our relationship with God through His Son.
But neither should these passages leave sincere believers without hope.
Because John tells believers something wonderful:
“The one having the Son has life.”
And:
“I wrote these things to you... so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
— 1 John 5:12–13
That is not a message of hopelessness.
It is a message calling us back to the testimony that God Himself has given concerning His Son.
IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO TEST WHAT WE BELIEVE
Perhaps we have been wrong about something.
Perhaps we have followed a teaching simply because our church taught it.
Perhaps our parents believed it.
Perhaps our denomination has taught it for hundreds of years.
Perhaps we have never seriously examined why we believe what we believe.
Then examine it now.
SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.
Listen again to Jesus.
Ask God for wisdom.
Follow the evidence wherever Scripture leads.
And be willing to say:
“If I am wrong, show me.”
Because the message proclaimed by the apostles was wonderfully clear:
JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD.
John tells us exactly why his Gospel was written:
“But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”
— John 20:31, World English Bible
So perhaps the most important question with which we can finish this study is not:
What denomination do you belong to?
It is not:
What theological tradition were you raised in?
It is not even:
What does your church say?
Instead, ask yourself:
AM I REALLY WALKING THE NARROW WAY?
HAVE I TESTED WHAT I BELIEVE AGAINST THE WORD OF GOD?
DO I KNOW THE ONE TRUE GOD AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST?
And finally:
WHAT CHRIST DO YOU KNOW AND FOLLOW?
Jesus said:
“For narrow is the gate and compressed the way that is leading to life, and FEW are those finding it.”
— Matthew 7:14
The question every one of us must seriously consider is:
