Matthew 7:13-27
The sermon closes with three matched warnings — two gates, two kinds of tree, two builders — each contrasting a way that looks plausible with one that is genuine. The final image, wise and foolish builders, makes the whole sermon's point explicit: hearing this teaching is not the same as doing it.
13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
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- ScriptureThe King James Version, public domain, quoted exactly. Never edited, never paraphrased.
- Context / MeaningEditorial background and plain-language explanation written for this app.
- Modern interpretationPsychology, behaviour or science, shown only when it genuinely helps. Never proof of a theological claim.
- ReflectiveSymbolic and personal readings. Ways of thinking with the text, not what the author meant.
- PracticeSomething realistic you might do. An invitation you choose, not a command from God.
Written study
A curated study written for these verses: context, meaning, connections, reflection, alignment and practice.
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The short version
- What is happening
- Three closing units in matched pairs: the narrow and wide gates (vv.
- Why it matters here
- The narrow gate is described as less popular and harder to find, not as a puzzle to be solved.
- One key idea
- The sermon closes with three matched warnings — two gates, two kinds of tree, two builders — each contrasting a way that looks plausible with one that is genuine. The final image, wise and foolish builders, makes the whole sermon's point explicit: hearing this teaching is not the same as doing it.
- One connection
- Jesus of Nazareth — Person
Which teaching from this sermon have I heard clearly but not yet acted on?
A summary of what follows. Editorial, not Scripture.
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Adds short explanations of the names, places and words in these verses, right where they come up.
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Answers are drawn from what is written for Matthew 7:13-27, the people and places named in it, and this book's background. No AI service is connected in this build, so nothing here is machine-generated.
UnderstandWhat is happening herePlain language, faithful to the setting — plus who wrote it and why.
The narrow gate is described as less popular and harder to find, not as a puzzle to be solved. False prophets are to be known by their fruit — their lives and teaching's actual effects — rather than by their claims or even their visible gifts, which verses 21–23 show can be impressive and still be detached from genuine relationship with Jesus. The closing parable makes hearing and doing the dividing line: both builders hear the same words; only one acts on them, and the difference shows only when pressure comes.
Who wrote this, to whom, and why
Editorial background written for this app. Not Scripture.
New to this? What “context” means here
Every part of the Bible was written by someone, for someone, in a particular time and place. Knowing who wrote it, who first read it and what came just before and after usually settles most questions about what it means.
Where we are not sure, we say so. “Traditional” means a long-standing attribution; “debated” means scholars genuinely disagree.
- Author
- The Gospel according to Matthew; traditionally attributed to Matthew the tax collector. (traditional)
- Audience
- Jesus' disciples and crowds, at the close of the sermon begun in 5:1.
- Literary setting
- Three closing units in matched pairs: the narrow and wide gates (vv.13–14), true and false prophets known by fruit (vv.15–20), true and false disciples known by doing the Father's will (vv.21–23), and the wise and foolish builders (vv.24–27) — Matthew then notes the crowds' astonishment (v.28–29) as the sermon ends.
- Surrounding argument
- This is the deliberate conclusion of the whole sermon that began at 5:1. Having moved through the Beatitudes, salt and light, the law fulfilled, six contrasts, devotion to God over money and anxiety, and judgement toward others, Jesus ends not with a new topic but with a call to decide and to act on everything already said. The sermon's final sentence is about builders, not about further instruction — deliberately putting the weight on response rather than additional content.
- Historical background
- House foundations on rock versus sand were a real, visible difference in Galilee's terrain, where flash floods through dry wadis could expose which builders had taken the harder, slower route of digging to bedrock (compare the parallel in Luke 6:48, which mentions digging deep).
What remains uncertain
Verses 21–23 describe people who prophesied, cast out devils, and did many wonderful works in Jesus' name yet are told 'I never knew you' — a sobering passage whose precise scope (false teachers specifically, or a wider warning against relying on visible gifts instead of a genuine relationship) is discussed rather than settled among interpreters.
References
- Matthew 7:13–27
- Matthew 7:28–29 — The crowds' astonishment, marking the sermon's formal end.
- Luke 6:46–49 — A parallel version of the builders.
- James 1:22 — A later New Testament echo of hearing versus doing.
ConnectWho and what this connects to2 people, places and ideas named in these verses — and where you are in the story.
Tap any of these to see who or what it is, why it matters here, and where else it appears in our library. Editorial material, not Scripture.
AnglesSee it from a few anglesBiblical, human and — clearly marked — reflective readings, converging on one life.
These are ways of seeing, not competing theories to collect. They are editorial interpretation rather than Scripture, and they are here to meet in the alignment step below.
Biblical
What this contributes within Scripture
The two-ways image — one path leading to life, one to destruction — is a very old biblical pattern, running from Deuteronomy 30's choice of life and death through Psalm 1's contrast of trees, to this closing image; Jesus is drawing on a well-established way of framing decision, not inventing a new genre.
Human pattern
Common human tendencies at work
Agreeing with good teaching and actually being shaped by it are recognisably different things; the parable's point — that the difference only becomes visible under pressure, not immediately — describes something people commonly experience rather than diagnosing any individual.
Whole-Bible
Connection to the wider Christian story
The sermon closes by pointing hearers back to Jesus' own words as the foundation ('these sayings of mine'), which is part of why Matthew records the crowds astonished that he taught 'as one having authority, and not as the scribes' (7:28–29).
ReflectWhat this brings up for youOpen questions that assume nothing about your situation. Answers stay on this device.
Which teaching from this sermon have I heard clearly but not yet acted on?
What would show up as 'fruit' if someone examined my life over the last year?
Where has pressure or difficulty already revealed what my life is actually built on?
What needs to come into alignment?
Of everything in Matthew 5–7, what is the one thing I have heard and agreed with, but not yet done?
- Notice
- Understand
- Choose
- Practise
Alignment is coherence between what you understand, believe, choose and do. It is not a score, and no one is measuring you. Anything suggested here is a possibility to weigh, never a command from God to you personally.
In your own words, what does this passage say?
In yourself, honestly, as you read it.
What you actually hold to be true here.
Your real behaviour, not your intentions.
Between what you believe and what you do.
Your own discernment — this app will not tell you what God requires of you.
One concrete action for the next 24 hours. Small and specific beats ambitious and vague.
Pick one teaching, do it once
Choose the single teaching from the whole Sermon on the Mount that has most challenged you this week, and do one concrete, specific thing today that puts it into practice.
Next 24 hours
If you keep practising this
Matthew's narrative moves on immediately to Jesus coming down from the mountain into a series of healings (chapter 8), pairing this teaching with visible action. One possible direction: a sermon about building on rock is followed, in Matthew's arrangement, by a demonstration of the authority behind it — though no particular reader's outcome is promised by that pairing.
A possible direction, not a promised outcome.
RememberWhat to carry forwardOne takeaway, one memory hook, and anything you want to keep.
Build my understanding
Remember this much
- Who / what
- Matthew 7:13-27 — Gospel in Matthew
- Where
- Matthew · The life of Jesus
- What happened
- Three closing units in matched pairs: the narrow and wide gates (vv.
- Why it matters
- The narrow gate is described as less popular and harder to find, not as a puzzle to be solved.
- Key idea
- The sermon closes with three matched warnings — two gates, two kinds of tree, two builders — each contrasting a way that looks plausible with one that is genuine. The final image, wise and foolish builders, makes the whole sermon's point explicit: hearing this teaching is not the same as doing it.
“Of everything in Matthew 5–7, what is the one thing I have heard and agreed with, but not yet done?”
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Translation
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Prefer to read the surrounding chapter? Open Matthew 7.