Matthew 7:13-14

The context

These sentences close the Sermon on the Mount, just before the warning about false prophets and the parable of two builders. Jesus has been describing a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes, and he now sets two destinations side by side. The image is of a road with an entrance, not of a test.

What it establishes

It establishes that Jesus presents his way as demanding and non-default, entered by a decision rather than by drift. It also establishes urgency: the two paths lead to different places, and the difference is stated without qualification.

What it does not establish

It does not supply a headcount. The word few describes the road's traffic in a saying, not a census of the saved, and the passage gives no percentage. Whether the saying predicts the number of the redeemed or mourns a general pattern is disputed.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• Your all-powerful God created the devil and evil - simply to set up "the fall." He did this KNOWING that most souls would ultimately suffer eternal punishment. You call this a good God? I call it evil.

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.