“Wide is the gate.” Ancient cities have walls around them, and they have gates through which people may go out or come in.
The wide gates are spacious enough to admit men and their loads or chariots while the strait, narrow gates take only individuals without loads or encumbrances.
The examples of wide gates (for big trucks and vehicles) and narrow gates (for pedestrians) are still very common in cities and communities today.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ, often used visible, known, natural things to illustrate spiritual, invisible, unknown, eternal realities.
For travelers to get into the way leading to their destination, they go through the wide toll gate. The gate is the only avenue of admittance into the way and it must be taken in order to reach the destination. All who enter the wide gate will travel on the broad way and the only place this way leads to is destruction, doom and damnation.
The wide gate is the gate through which multitudes enter into life from the age of accountability. The gate takes in everyone with loads of sin and evil without any restriction or restraint.
There is ample liberty for everyone desiring to go through the wide gate; the Pharisee and the Sadducee, the hypocrite and the reprobate, the covetous and the deceiver, the self righteous and the religious, the fleshly, sensual and pleasure-seekers, despisers of God and opposers of righteousness, private and public sinners, unconverted moralists and unashamed criminals, the proud and the worldly, vicious, violent men and vile, vulnerable youths, wicked people and wandering backsliders, tempters, temptresses and their victims all go through the wide gate that leads to the broad way of the world.
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