“All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!”
Jesus summarizes much of his previous teaching by simply saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” However, this necessitates knowing what is good for you, for when you don’t know what is conducive to human flourishing, you risk giving poison out of goodwill. Thus, wisdom says, “He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good?” (Ecclesiasticus 14:5). “Whosoever is a little one,” not well-versed in the wisdom of love, “let him come to me. And to the unwise she said: ‘Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you” (Proverbs 9:4-5). It is your most fundamental desire to be loved, and loved well, and thus Jesus, the Law, and the prophets all call upon you to do the same: “Now therefore saith the Lord:”, who is love, “Be converted to me with all your heart…. Rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil” (Joel 2:12-13). There is need to recognize the extraordinary worth of both yourself and others, because in loving yourself truly, you will be able to love your neighbor as yourself: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). Do to all, even those who do evil to you, good, returning love for evil and greater love for love given to you. This must come from an avid love of Love, for without the living flame of love in your heart, you are too feeble to love as God loves at all times. This is the narrow gate: To have a pure heart that seeks God alone, and loves that He may be loved. Everything that you once were must be put to death, that Jesus and the love that is the Holy Spirit, aimed towards the Father, may alone remain in you: “With Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:19-20); “All you that were numbered from twenty years old and upward, and have murmured against me, shall not enter into the land” (Numbers 14:29-30). The way of divine love may be excruciatingly narrow, but there is no more shining road, nothing more refreshing than drinking constantly from the fount of love. Love is itself very wide and climbs towards Calvary rather than Tabor; “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14), but you will be something new and magnificent in becoming love incarnate, just as your Savior was: “Behold thou art fair, O my love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes are as those of doves” (Song 1:14), that is, the eyes of your mind seeing all things through the Holy Spirit, always seeking that love which is most pleasing to God, loving Him even over your neighbor: “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). Despite the sufferings that come with love, there is nothing more beautiful than love, and this same love makes life worth living; thus, the Lord encourages you, “My yoke is sweet and my burden light” (Matthew 11:30). Few find the way that leads to life, for it is through the cross and only through the cross that love is fully actualized: “Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink?” (Matthew 20:22). This is seen in the Old Testament when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, for though all of Israel that were chosen as God’s own entered the promised land, most were content with this alone, which is doing the minimal amount that requires salvation, and remaining at the base of the mountain: “And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking: and being terrified and struck with fear, they stood afar off, saying to Moses: ‘Speak thou to us, and we will hear: let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:18-19). There are seventy-four out of the great multitude of Israel that will ascend to friendship with God, being willing to work for love, and climb up to a relationship with Him: “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the of the ancients of Israel went up: and they saw the God of Israel… and they saw God, and they did eat and drink” (Exodus 24:9-11). But it is Moses, and Moses alone that is willing to enter the crucible of fire and mount the cross with Christ to pass beyond friendship and enter into spousal union: “And all mount Sinai was on a smoke: because the Lord was come down upon it in fire, and the smoke arose from it as out of a furnace: and all the mount was terrible… And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, in the very top of the mount, and he called Moses unto the top thereof” (Exodus 19:18-20). This is the narrow way, to reach deep into thorns to plant love in the soil of each and every heart, “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters” (Song 2:2), that stems from a fiery love of God that knows the agony of the cross. It is when your love song echoes through these afflictions, “speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19), and you, fastened to the cross, sing a hymn of love, then you know the beauty of the narrow way.