Christ Describes Spiritual Dynamics Like Contrarian Investing

Mat 7:13 Enter in at the narrow gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leads to destruction, and many are there who will go in by it:
Mat 7:14 Because narrow [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leads to life, and few there are that find it.

The term translated here as "gate" is pule, which means specifically the entry to a town or palace. It is from a time when cities were walled and guarded. The gates of the city or palace were the way that those in charge controlled entry. The gate marked the transition point into a new society or realm.

The term translated as "the way" is hodos, which means not only a route or path, but a manner of behavior or a method or system. The sense is the same as we use the term in "a way of life" or "a way of thinking." It also has some of the sense of a philosophy like the Chinese term for "the way," tao, which is also used to describe the way the universe works.

The term used for "destruction" is apoleia, which is often used to describe the destruction of sea vessels in the sames sense we would used "wrecked." And, like so many of Christ's words, this has a secondary economic meaning of financial ruin.

The term used for "go in" is eiserchomai, which means to go in or out of a place, but it also means entering into a state especially coming into existence, like coming to life or coming to public attention.

Juxtaposed to "destruction" is "life," which is the term zoe, which primarily means "a living," very much like we would use the term in "making a living." It means a person's property and substance. So here, the economic meaning comes first. The term's secondary meaning is life and existence, that is, the opposite of death.

The term used for "find" is the same find as we saw in the post about discovering the secrets of science, heurisko.

This phrase is often used to describe the harder road to heaven, but one a more basic level, it describes a financial reality. If you follow the crowd, it will lead to your financial destruction. If you go your own way, you will discover a living. This very much has the sense of avoiding areas where you will have a lot of competition and going into areas where there is less competition. These later areas are where you discover opportunities. So Christ is describing the spiritual truth as the same terms as economic truth. Our success does not come from following the crowd. It comes from avoiding the crowd.

This is again very consistend with Christ's general message in this sermon of distrusting social values and instead going another way. Society is, in Christ's eyes, inherently flawed. That which is socially popular is inherently destructive.

A legitimate economic translation: Make something of yourself using the road less traveled for wide [is] the entry, and broad [is] the path that leads to financial ruin, and many are transformed by it: because narrow [is] the entry, and narrow [is] the way, which leads to making a living, and few there are that discover it.