What does Matthew 7:14 mean? (2024)

FAQs

What's the meaning of Matthew 7:14? ›

Matthew 7:7–14 describes God as a generous Father eager to give good gifts to His praying children. Jesus commands His followers to continually ask and seek, with confidence that they will receive and find. Christ summarizes the intent of God's commands in the Old Testament: doing for others what we want done for us.

Isaiah 7:14 is a verse in the seventh chapter of the Book of Isaiah in which the prophet Isaiah, addressing king Ahaz of Judah, promises that God will destroy the king's enemies before a child born to an almah is weaned.

Jesus tells His followers to exercise whatever wise shrewdness they can to avoid conflict and danger without losing the dove-like innocence that will allow them to continue to proclaim the truth without fear. It will be a hard balance to keep, but it will be necessary for the mission to be successful.

The narrow gate and the difficult way

A narrow gate is harder to pass through than one that is wide, and only a few people can go through a narrow gate at once. Jesus was describing the pathway to life—true, eternal life—as something requiring effort and focus to enter.

The wide gate of the world promises life and happiness but delivers destruction. The way of Christ requires that we lay our lives down, but in that sacrifice we find a reward of life. Sadly, the gate that is wide and the way that is broad is the one most people travel. That way leads to destruction.

The number seven in the Bible denotes perfection, completion, also God's assurance or oath that His word and purposes stand firm. Accordingly, the number fourteen, the second multiple of seven, simply reinforces this completeness, or seals it in concrete by doubling it.

Jesus counters another traditional error from the scribes and Pharisees, explaining that food in and of itself does not make a person unclean. Rather, it is the intent of the heart that matters to God. He specifically condemns traditions which effectively undo the original intent of God's commands.

Virginity was the fruit of the love of purity and chastity--a main feature of the new creation in Christ--not the outcome of any negative view of the body or sexuality, as in the apocryphal works and the heretical sects (which we studied in ch. 4).

The idea of resting and the number seven are intimately connected in the Bible. In Genesis 1. Genesis 1. , the word or number "seven" has two key symbolic meanings: seven represents a full and complete world, and getting to seven is a linear journey from one to seven.

The serpent was a symbol of evil power and chaos from the underworld as well as a symbol of fertility, life, healing, and rebirth.

How to be wise like a serpent? ›

To be as wise as a serpent, you must be able to be independent/non-dependent. You cannot always expect results you didn't invest in. You can't be the one everything is being done for all the time. Snakes are able to survive on their own from the day they are born.

Snakes aren't usually aggressive, not as a first resort. They wisely remove themselves from situations in which they would be threatened if they were found out in the open. While we think of snakes as frightening predators, God made serpents, and he made them wise.

Matthew 7:7–14 describes God as a generous Father eager to give good gifts to His praying children. Jesus commands His followers to continually ask and seek, with confidence that they will receive and find. Christ summarizes the intent of God's commands in the Old Testament: doing for others what we want done for us.

For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14, NASB). In this passage, which is part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is speaking to a large crowd about how the Jewish religious leaders were leading them astray.

Don't be anxious about this temporal world—and the food, clothing, and shelter associated with it. Jesus said previously, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Focusing on earthly treasures produces earthly affections. It blinds our spiritual vision and draws us away from serving God.

Formerly, when the Disciples had gone out, on mission, they had not lacked anything. Now they would need a purse, a bag and even a sword. The saying is heavily ironical, for Jesus knew that now He would have to face universal opposition and be put to death. But the disciples misunderstood Him and produced weapons.

It means that God won't change His mind about what he has called you to do. If God has called you, that calling is still there, whether or not you have obeyed. And if God gave you a gift, that gift is still there! Whatever God has called you to do, He has also gifted you to do it.

They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. These metaphors represent the impact Christians are meant to have in the world. That's why it matters so much that they do the good works God gives them to do. Otherwise, they will stop being useful as salt and light.

In saying this, God reminded Adam that he had been made from “the dust of the ground” and confirmed that Adam and Eve had brought death upon themselves by disobeying him and eating the forbidden fruit . ( See Fall of Man .)