NA27

Matthew

7

Matthew 7:13 Enter in through the narrow gate, because wide is the gate and broad is the road which leads to destruction, and they are many who are entering in through it! 14 But because narrow is the gate and distressed the road which leads to life, then they are few who are finding it.

Of course, most of us would rather believe the comfortable lie than the uncomfortable truth. We would rather walk the easy road than the hard path. We would rather listen to those who have appointed themselves over us than take up the responsibility into our own hands and study the Word of God for ourselves. This is why Luke in Acts 17:11 said of the men of Beroia, that “These were of more noble a race than those in Thessalonika, who accepted the Word with all eagerness, each day examining the writings, if these things would hold thusly.” Those seeking to enter in through the straight gate, seek to do so through the Word of Yahweh. In the apocryphal 1 Esdras from the Septuagint, which is clearly a better copy of the Book of Ezra than what we have in the Masoretic Text, we see a striking example in chapter 7:

"6 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and others that were of the captivity, that were added unto them, did according to the things written in the book of Moses. 7 And to the dedication of the temple of the Lord they offered an hundred bullocks two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; 8 And twelve goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the chief of the tribes of Israel. 9 The priests also and the Levites stood arrayed in their vestments, according to their kindreds, in the service of the Lord God of Israel, according to the book of Moses: and the porters at every gate. 10 And the children of Israel that were of the captivity held the passover the fourteenth day of the first month, after that the priests and the Levites were sanctified. 11 They that were of the captivity were not all sanctified together: but the Levites were all sanctified together. 12 And so they offered the passover for all them of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. 13 And the children of Israel that came out of the captivity did eat, even all they that had separated themselves from the abominations of the people of the land, and sought the Lord.”

This passage in Ezra is cross-referenced to Matthew 7:13 by the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th edition. This is surprising, because the cross-reference upholds the racial nature of the covenants, which are made only with Israel!