Episode Transcript
[00:00:16] Speaker A: I do want to be very clear about something as I start, that I never, ever, ever set out to be controversial.
It just now to challenge the status quo, that's something different, completely different. It just. Yes, it does just end up that way sometimes. It really does, because when you read the Bible, you actually see it everywhere.
The status quo being challenged by biblical heroes and prophets and saying, what you're doing is not good. I'm not a biblical hero. I'm not a prophet. And yet I find myself in good company when I challenge existing ways of thinking. It needs to be done.
The status quo of biblical understanding is not good.
It has done damage in the world. Not just misunderstandings, actual damage. Lives have been destroyed by misinterpreting and misapplying the Bible.
So last week we did a little bit of that. Not misinterpreting and misapplying, but actually challenging this status quo. In a message that was called the narrow gate, I began to challenge a prevailing interpretation of the narrow gate and what that actually means. I hope you'll remember I asked, what is the narrow gate? Is it. Is it Yeshua? Is it the entrance into eternal life? And we settled. I settled anyway. I don't know if you did. I settled out on a different interpretation. Not to the exclusion of eternal life, which we'll see today.
It's all connected. But I said and showed that Yeshua is talking about his teaching, the narrow gate. Enter into my teaching about following his direction, his example. And if you were listening, you may have heard what you detected to be an unpopular undercurrent bordering on just straight up heresy.
I didn't say it outright, but I will this week. But that the narrow gate has to do with what we actually do, our actions. Some would say works, but that word has too much theological baggage and misapplication. It'd be very useful. So let me, for now, instead of works, just say actions, our actions. So we're going to say, well, actually, I even showed you, in Yeshua's words, from the conclusion of the sermon on the Mount, that that's what he really meant.
That's what he meant when I read, I hope you'll remember that verse from 724 in chapter seven of Matthew. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and what does does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. We connected hearing and doing to Mount Sinai and most importantly to the Torah, that Matthew seven verse right there, which is near the end of the sermon on the mount. We will talk about the end end of the sermon on the Mount. The conclusion. Conclusion in the conclusion of this. But that portion at the end of the sermon on the Mount. It is the conclusion. It's the climax. It's the takeaway. It's what the speaker or writer wants you to get and walk away. That's what a conclusion or climax does. But guess what? There's also an intro to things like this. There's also a beginning. For instance, right now I'm introducing what I'm going to talk to you about.
There's a beginning setting the stage so you'll be engaged to listen. When I actually get to the conclusion, I'll build the case from beginning to end. Guess what? That's what he was doing. But we should look at the beginning, his introduction, and that we move on here and see if there's any connections from the beginning. Not just the end, but to what I suggested. And again, that suggestion, to be very clear, is that we should revisit the full and powerful meaning of what it means to enter through the narrow gate. And for today's purpose, what comes after entrance into the narrow gate. That road is very scary looking, but it is a hard road.
That's what the text says.
That's the words of Yeshua. Now, the beginning, though. Matthew five. Technically, the sermon on the mount begins with the beatitudes. Right? They're very.
Actually, they're not very nice to read.
Have you really thought about them? They're not nice. Tough reading. Meek. Blessed are the meek, the mourners, the persecuted, those who are reviled. It's not exactly uplifting for the beginning, but it's also sort of broad and poetic. The teaching section of Matthew five begins in five. The sermon on the mount begins in Matthew five. And chapter 13. Listen real quick. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its flavor, how shall it be made salty again? It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are, we sang, the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on a lampstand so it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men so they may see your good works. What? See your good works and glorify your father in heaven. Salt and light. Everyone knows where that. Right?
Everyone knows that. What does that mean to be salt?
We should know. We should especially know what it means to be unsalty.
Hang tight for that. But listen to how that intro ends.
Again, listen to this in the same way, let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven. Ergon. In Greek. My greek pronunciation is a joke. Don't ever repeat it. Ergon. It might be ergon. I don't know. Ergon. Work.
Work. In Greek. That's what it says. Works, task, employment, a deed, action, that which is wrought or made. And think about this right now.
All that's attached to the word works in modern theology. Yeshua is not afraid of it at all.
He says it, the sermon on the mount.
It begins and ends with works, deeds, actions, and it's actually filled with them all in between. And listen to me, it's not impossible works.
It's not things that you could never hope to accomplish.
I once heard, and have heard many times, that Yeshua's point in the sermon on the mount and that what he was actually doing was laying out the law, building up, exceeding it, making it higher, just simply so that you would know that you can never do it, and you're a miserable failure. Has anyone ever heard that? The standard he sets is so high, he just wants you to see that you could never do it. Now, think about how ridiculous that is when he just said, you are salt and light. Let your work shine before men. Why? So that in you, they would give glory to him.
He is teaching good deeds. Yes, indeed. But notice, there's nothing in there about, blessed are those who build a well for the poor. Blessed are those who fund the orphanage. Blessed are those who. Whatever. Those are all fantastically good things, biblical things. We absolutely should do those. But that's not what he's actually talking about.
The works he refers to are actions of our daily lives, how we conduct ourselves on this planet, and how we treat other people.
That redefines works a little bit.
Now, listen, this should not surprise you.
No matter what you've heard, this should not surprise you, because let me explain.
Did Yeshua teach about the kingdom? Did Yeshua teach about the world to come? Did Yeshua teach about destruction and things? Yeah, of course. The sermon on the mount begins with the beatitudes and references to the kingdom. But I want to tell you something. If a rabbi came only talking about that, only talking about how this world stinks so badly that all you should be looking for and caring about is the day you get out and go to heaven, if that's all he talked about, he would not have any Talmudim. He would not have any followers, he would not have any disciples. Do you know why? Because every one of them and every one of us has problems we face on this planet, in this life. And so a rabbi brings practical teaching for life and teaches you how to live this life.
It's not just all about floating up to glory, to sit on a cloud.
They needed direction, and we need direction. And so, in other words, what we find in many of his parables and stories of the kingdom are indications of how one should be conducting themselves.
Now, why? Because repent, for the kingdom of heaven is approaching fast. It's coming soon. What he's saying is this, in all of his parables, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a rich man said, there are all these things that are saying, you know what?
That's coming? This is what it's going to look like. And then he follows it up by saying, and I want you to do it now. I want you to do it now.
I want you to walk it out now. And here are some of the things that you need to do, he's saying, not yearning to leave practical teaching. But last week we discussed this important section of Matthew seven, the narrow gate. Right one. This point, actually, that I'm about to make would be the silver bullet in anyone's defense that it's all about the world to come.
This would be the argument that anyone who really wanted to make a strong case that he was talking about eternal life and that the narrow gate in everything I'm saying is wrong. Here's this, here's the text. Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is broad, that leads to destruction.
And those who enter through it are many. That just seems plain. Right?
Destruction. Anyone who enters through this broad gate, this wide road, it leads to destruction. But I want to spend some time looking at that word destruction with you. Again, a little Greek. Don't quote me on it. It's all greek to me. Apoleia.
Destruction. That's the Greek.
Broad is the road that leads to Apolia.
Now, I made this point. I'm going to say it again because it's important. Destruction cannot be eternal torment in the flames of hell. Why?
Because you're not destroyed. You're living. You may be in hell, but you're alive. You have eternal life. You're not destroyed. That can't be that kind of destruction.
Broad is the road. Could be, though, destruction. Like the end of your existence. Termination, annihilation. It could be that. Thayer's greek lexicon, metaphorically. A man is said to be Apoleia when he's given over to eternal misery.
Metaphorically.
Is Yeshua speaking metaphorically here?
Well, Apoleia means more than that. What fun would it be to talk about Greek if it only had one meaning? Right? Everyone builds completely corrupt and out of context messages by using the other meanings of words. No, I'm going to tell you the real truth about what I see here.
There's always more than one meaning. Destruction. In a metaphorical sense, sure, it could be, but also literally, and maybe primarily. In its usage, the word apolea can mean ruin, loss and waste.
So we need to make sure that we're not just making the assumption that yeshua is saying, broad is the road that leads to burning in hell forever. Destruction. There's other meanings. Broad is the road that leads to ruin, that leads to loss, that leads to waste.
Vines. Expository dictionary of the New Testament. It says, this idea is not extinction, but ruin, not of being. Not a destruction of your being, but of your well being. Do you understand the difference?
Now, I want to ask you, let's look at destruction. Let's just pause and look at destruction and choices and your well being for a second, okay?
Anyone ever made a bad choice in your life that resulted in ruin or loss.
Thank you, Charlotte. You're the only one in the room. Just you and me. But, gosh, at least we're honest.
Here are some destructive behavior examples to just kind of like.
What's it called? Spark your memory. I asked a question. Anyone ever engaged in destructive behavior and bore the consequences? Has anyone ever treated people, other people, in ways contrary to Yeshua's instructions for how we should treat them?
Anyone ever chosen to go against good counsel, biblical counsel, even the perceived voice of God that you heard telling you to do something and you didn't do it? Anyone ever done that?
Has anyone ever chosen to go a certain way because everyone was doing it, and you just didn't want to look different, you just didn't want to stand out? So you kind of.
All right, I'll do it. Anyone ever made a bad, selfish decision because even though you knew it would hurt other people, it was easy for you?
Anyone ever held on to unforgiveness because you know what? That person just doesn't deserve to be forgiven?
Anyone ever made a selfish financial decision, withheld generosity?
Anyone in the room who could add a laundry list of things you've done that were far from Yeshua's teaching for right conduct?
Probably.
Anyone ever chosen the wide gate versus the narrow one?
Good. Charlotte. We're not alone anymore.
And the big question that that's all leading to is this.
Have those decisions ever led to disastrous and destructive consequences in your life?
Of course they have.
Anyone ever had parts of their life destroyed by departing from the good teaching of our master, of our rabbi?
Anyone ever had a relationship destroyed by bad decisions, career, financial status, whatever? Destruction, because you didn't enter into the narrow gate, it didn't lead to life. The decisions you made, they led in this life to destruction, to ruin, to loss.
You are not alone.
Because I want to tell you something that Yeshua is saying. That is the broad path.
That is the wide gate. That is the easy road. That is what comes naturally, even comfortably, to humanity. When they lean on their animal natural instincts, when you lean on that inclination, your flesh, your human nature and friends, many, many people are doing that.
And broad and wide and well populated is the road that leads to destruction. It's like I 85 in Atlanta at 05:00 Philippians three. For as I've often told you before and now tell you again, even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is their destruction. Their God is their stomach. That's classical language for being driven by your selfish appetites. It doesn't mean they're hungry.
Their God is their stomach, the cross of Christ. Speaking of that certainly brings to mind a related and incredibly relevant text, does it not?
What do you think of? I'll tell you where you're thinking. I'm like Creskin, the mind reader.
Luke, that's what you're thinking of when it says, and whoever he says, not it, he says, whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? Now, listen, here's where I get in trouble.
The older I get, the bolder I get in declaring this.
You can't just say a prayer and call it quits.
The entrance fee is free. But why in the world would Jesus say those words in Luke if there were not more to it?
The wide road, the one that everyone naturally wants to walk. It leads to destruction in a very, very particular way. And I'm still drawing on this apolea word, because here's what happens. A life that's lived through the wide gate on the easy road that leads to destruction. You know what it leads to? A total waste.
It is an absolute waste of your life.
Do you know why?
The one life you have you destroy the opportunity you have to choose life, to choose blessing and bring it to others. And in so doing, to bring blessing to yourself. And the big point is, bringing blessing to yourself means in this life and in the next one.
Did you know you can do that?
It's not some kind of works based salvation.
Treasures in heaven, crowns. Even if you're going to take those crowns and cast them at the feet of God or messiah or whatever, at least you had crowns. Where'd you get them?
By letting your work shine your light, shine your good deeds before men, that they might glorify God in heaven.
Because this life lived, walking down the easy, broad road is a useless, wasted life, because it serves one master, who you.
There is nothing more contrary to the teaching of Jesus than that way of living.
Oh, man. Gosh, I got a lot left to talk about. Are you with me? For just a little while? Can you make it? Can you make it?
I want to illustrate something to make this waste connection for you.
Waste. And let's go back to Matthew five, because I promised you something about salt. So, are you ready? Salt. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its flavor, how shall it be made salty again? It's no longer good for anything. We read that salt was absolutely vital in the ancient world. Still is when you eat certain people's cooking.
But it was vital for flavor and for preservation in the ancient world, and even for healing and wound care and all kinds of things.
And so the sages made this connection in a minor tractate of the Talmud that's called Sofrim, they said, salt is essential. The world cannot exist without salt, without pepper, and without spices. But the rich man enjoys all three. That's what Sofraim says.
So, two, they go on to say it is impossible for the world to exist without scripture, without Torah, without an internal compass that governs your life. Therefore, the Torah can be compared to salt.
It is essential to enjoying life. So Yeshua says this to you. You ready? Your life, your example is and can be salt of the earth if you hear and do, if you enter the narrow gate of my teaching, but a life apart from my teaching, which is nothing other than Torah, expanded and fulfilled. A life apart from that, from God's instruction, from love, from mercy, from care, from respect, from justice, you know what that makes you?
Saltless salt.
You are unsalty.
And what do you do with it? Nothing. It's wasted.
Do you understand his parable, his metaphor? That is him speaking metaphorically.
Don't be that. He says choose the hard and unpopular road that leads to life, fulfillment and blessing. Let your light shine. Many people will not. But you who enter through the narrow gate, walk the hard road, carry the cross, build on the rock, you will be. And here's the word I used to describe you last week. If you choose to do that. Does anyone remember the word peculiar? That's good. Who said that?
That's good. That is one other word I said, and it means exceptional.
If you do this while everyone else is doing that, you will be exceptional.
Being exceptional does not mean perfect. It does not mean you think you're better than anyone. It doesn't mean you think you're able to earn your salvation. Please do not insult my teaching with that. That is a total freaking cop out.
You are simply willing to do what most people will not do. Even if they know better, even if they heard, it's not enough.
Even if they heard the blessings in the doing, it's in the action, it's in the living, it's in the life. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. What's his house?
Let's keep talking about Yeshua's metaphors. What's his house? Who builds his house on the rock? A house is a metaphor for a person's life.
It encompasses their beliefs, their actions, their character. Building a house on the rock, it represents living according to his teachings, which provides a solid foundation.
Who wants to build their house on the rock?
I do.
It's hard and in the end, in the end, a lifetime of exceptional narrow gate entering and narrow and hard road walking. It pays dividends in the world to come. It really does.
If you don't like that point, you talk to Paul about it.
What is exceptional living? What is hard road walking? You want the term? It's countercultural.
Countercultural. Everyone loves to talk about how Yeshua was a rebel, right? He was a rebel. He came to destroy religion and put the Jews in their place. And like he was a rebel without a cause. But he had a cause. But whatever, it makes no sense.
When speaking of the wide gate, Yeshua is referring to those.
Here's a quote. Actually that sort of makes that point. Okay, I read this interpretation which represents, by the way, no small number of opinions when speaking of the wide gate, it says that Jesus is referring to those who will continue to follow the teaching of Israel's religious leadership, the scribes and Pharisees. Their legalistic teaching about the law required from Israelites. No heart change only outward self promoting obedience to the rules. This is easier in a sense, because it only requires a person to pretend to be righteous. Jesus warned his followers this was a too easy road and that it leads to eternal destruction. You know what? That misses nearly the entire message of everything he said.
But it's not totally wrong.
He came with this message. What message did Jesus come with? What's his tagline? What's the thing?
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is arriving soon.
Repent, change, return, come back to the living, to the loving, to the serving, to the kindness as prescribed in the Torah. And guess what he goes on to say? Your righteousness in these areas, whose righteousness must it exceed?
The Pharisees and the scribes, you must be exceptional compared to them. You must be above their standard.
You must be different than the prevailing culture. And in some sense, it was countercultural in his day to do the things that I'm talking to you about, the sermon on the mount, it was countercultural. Now, in our world today, we have a different word. Cancel culture. Right? Cancel culture. And as for. I just realized it when I was using the word counterculture, when I was thinking about this. I love cancel culture as the way Yeshua framed it, because all it was secular cancel culture. If you don't know, I don't know who wouldn't in this day and age.
But secular cancel culture says we will ostracize or punish those who don't conform to a certain standard. We'll cancel them, right?
Take everything, kill their career, their family, whatever it takes will cancel them. Here's Yeshua's cancel culture proposing an alternative will cancel the prevalent immoral culture, not through judgment, but through love, service and humility.
Cancel culture. We got a new, we can proudly say shalom.
Honoring cancel culture on a t shirt that'll be a conversation starter.
That's the call, though. That's the call for Yeshua's followers to change the world, stand out, be exceptional, make the hard choices the masses won't make. Cancel the self centered, destructive and useless ideas that inform so many people's actions, especially today, but even in his time. And here's another buzzword to demonstrate to the world true social justice.
Social justice.
I read this email from Ryan holiday the other day. It just resonated so strongly with me. Let me just, let me read it. Stay awake. Stay with me.
The word justice is now often associated with courts and lawsuits and prosecutors and defenders and judges and juries. We debate the meaning of justice, functioning of the legal system, its complexities its flaws, its ambiguities, limitations. We get bombarded by the news cycle of stories of injustice, verdicts which were fair or unfair, people who did not get the justice they deserve. But the stoics, hes, a student of the stoics, understood justice differently, not as a noun, but as a verb.
Not something we get, but something we do. Not something we demand from other people, but something we demand of ourselves in the actions we take, the choices we make, the standards we hold ourselves to, the way we treat people, the things we care about, the differences we make for people, the opportunities we accept and turn down the right thing right now by reclaiming justice as something that we do instead of something done to it, becomes a stronghold in the storm, a guiding light out of the dark. It becomes something that we create for ourselves, an internal, internal compass that guides and directs us home.
Now, I'm going to revisit that statement on Shavuot. So you need to come back Tuesday night because it's important.
But listen to that. He's a student of the stoic. So am I. But I'm a Talmud. I'm a follower of Yeshua.
He's where I draw all of my inspiration in. Not all. I read a lot of people.
That description, that Ryan Holiday.
That's the narrow road. That's the narrow gate. That's the hard road.
And speaking of stoics, I'm certain that Yeshua would agree with Marcus Aurelius, who said, waste no more time arguing what a good man should be, be one.
Or what Carl Jung advised a patient reeling from personal crisis and a sense of despair about the world. He said, we must quietly do the next and most necessary thing. Man, I love that.
We must quietly do the next and most necessary thing. Quietly. I want you to get that. Because guess what? You may never get any recognition in this life for any of this. Narrow gate, narrow road, walking you're doing quietly. But I've already told you, there's a price.
We must quietly do the next and most necessary thing.
He would tell us to listen to the musar. Great rabbi Solanter. When I was young, I wanted to change the world. I tried, but the world did not change. Then I tried to change my town, but the town didn't change. Then I tried to change my family, but my family didn't change. Then I knew first I must change myself.
And I know that Yeshua would agree with the rabbi, Rabbi Judah Hanasi in the Mishnah, who said, which is the right path that a person should choose for himself? Whatever is a credit to oneself and earns the esteem of human beings. That is, to enter the narrow gate and walk the hard road, that is to be exceptional.
So the accusation waiting in the wings for me is simple, man, you are putting a heavy yoke on me.
And Jesus yoke is easy and the burden is light. And you're talking about doing and working and standing out and being different and living exceptionally and all that.
Well, guess what we call Jesus master. We call him Adon. We call him Lord. You know what a master does? A master sets an example for you and shows you how it should be done. And I'm going to tell you this too. If you ever want to master, being a disciple of the master, if you do what everyone else does, you will get the same results that everyone else gets. Who wants that? Who wants to be average in the eyes of our mashiach? No one. Well, actually that's not true. A lot of people, but God forbid in this room.
I'm telling you what our master told us. To live every day as much as we can. Exceptionally conscious choice is required. Building on a rock, not sand. Choosing life, not death. Choosing blessing, not curse. Choosing to hear and do. Choosing to pick up your cross phrase. Mark this down. Here it comes. You ready? Every day exceptional.
Ede.
Gotta put that last e on there.
Every day exceptional.
Is that a calling you can rise to overnight? No. Is Jesus asking you to? No. Am I suggesting you should. No. Am I suggesting you should walk through the narrow gate and walk the hard road? I am. Only because he did.
And so I'm on solid ground to tell you that anyway.
Do we fail? Of course we do. It's expected. But it cannot be the norm or the cop out. When confronted with situations that would lean, lead you to lean on your natural self or your natural behavior or your past performance or whatever.
You can't. You can't lean on that. You can't join the masses. Here's what you do every day. Exceptional. When you find yourself in that space between stimulus and response, between action. Happened to me, whatever the case may be, I have this space between deciding what I'm going to do. I want you to just stop and ask yourself, is what I'm about to do?
The narrow road, is this exceptional?
Is this consistent with me, called as a disciple?
And it just may give you the break you need to not walk down this wide and ugly road and veer just to the right, right through the narrow gate and up the hill.
It just might so. Oh, and by the way, I have a new favorite country song.
It also is relevant to what I'm telling you for how and what.
How you deal with other people.
This is how I want you to think when you are living an exceptional life.
I got high hopes and low expectations.
I don't expect you to understand. Not you. I'm saying high hopes and low expectations. I believe in you. I want to help you. I want to serve you.
But if your expectations are high, you will be disappointed over and over and over again. And no one gets to have that kind of control over you.
I have high hopes, but low expectations.
It will bring you peace in living out this life.
I'll skip the verse where he talks about whiskey and all that. But anyway, the truth is, so many people are on the wide road. But you're salt and you're light. And you might be the hope they need. And you can hope.
You can hope.
How narrow is the gate? And difficult. The way that leads to life and those who find it are few. Can we be the few?
Of course we can.
Will you?
It's another one of those opportunities where, gosh, he's talked for a long time. He said, like, three or four good things. And then next week, what did he talk about?
Don't do that.
If you just walk out with three words anchored in your mind every day. Exceptional.
Here's the end. You excited about the end?
The conclusion? My conclusion is Yeshua's conclusion.
He had already spoken all his words. And then it says now, when Yeshua finished these words, all that we've talked about for the last two weeks, when he finished the sermon on the mount and he had given his teaching, the crowds were astonished at his teaching because he didn't teach. He was taught as one having authority and not as their Torah scholars. Do you know what that means? His teaching was exceptional.
It was an exceptional teaching, all of it. And the people were astounded. It was the exception to the norm. It was different. It was powerful. It was meaningful. It was leading to life.
And that's his calling to you.
Be exceptional. Be different. Lead people to life. I was watching a documentary about some kind of weird cave exploration thing, and these people were literally. They looked like worms with flashlights going through a space that I like. There's no way that I could fit through it. Rock.
I don't know. Billions of pounds of rock above them and below them, and they're, like, squirming through with these flashlights.
And I was thinking, that is insanity. Who would do that?
And then they broke through the narrow space, and, you know, what opened up before them, this absolutely incredible beautiful underground cavern with 50 foot stalactites and mites and crystals and a lake and all of this incredible stuff on the other side.
If they hadn't gone through the narrow space, they never would have seen the beauty.
And so I close by saying, look for the narrow gate.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret.
By definition, it's narrow and it might not always be easy to see, and it takes some effort, even once you find it, to squeeze through it and then walk that road. But there is life and beauty for you to behold along the way in this life, and most definitely after exceptional every day. How narrow is the gate? And difficult. The way that leads to life and those who find it are few.
Can you do it?
Yes.
Will you.
[00:44:45] Speaker B: Shabbat Shalom please visit our website, shalommaken.org, to learn more about us. Join our live services, access other teachings, sign up for our newsletter, join our private network that will connect you with our greater community from around the world or contribute to the work of Shalom Macon, thank you for watching and we look forward to connecting with you.
