Wednesday, 11 February 2026
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:25
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“For whoever, if he may desire to save his soul, he will lose it. And whoever, if he may lose his soul because of Me, he will find it” (CG).
In the previous verse, Jesus said, “If any, he desires to come after Me, let him disown himself, and he took his cross, and he follows Me.” He now continues the sentiment, saying something similar to Matthew 10:39, “For whoever, if he may desire to save his soul, he will lose it.”
As in Matthew 10, the words seem paradoxical. The psuché, soul, was introduced in Matthew 2:20. It is derived from psucho, breath. The meaning is based on the context, and it can mean the breath of one’s life, the seat of affection, the self, a human person, or an individual. The word corresponds to the Hebrew word nephesh.
Jesus is referring to the soul in two ways. The first is the physical humanity of the person. We want to live. It is natural. Animals will respond when their lives are threatened. People are the same. But death is inevitable for all things. Despite this fact, people continue to challenge death, seeking ways to evade it.
However, if a person spends all of his time focused on himself, he will wind up losing the soul he possesses. In this case, it refers to the part of humans that will continue on after death. It is the part that will someday face God for judgment. Jesus next says, “And whoever, if he may lose his soul because of Me, he will find it.”
Jesus mentioned a person taking up his cross and following Him. A cross is an instrument of death. To take up one’s cross means that death may be ahead for that person. However, for the person who follows this path, it means that he will find life through Christ. This is the main subject that has been discussed, meaning, “Who is Jesus?”
Peter rightly answered that Jesus is the Messiah. Therefore, a part of the role of being the Messiah is granting life to His people. But it must transcend this earthly life if the people are bearing a cross while following Him. Referring to the thought in Matthew 10 is needed –
“The ‘having found his soul,’ he will lose it, and the ‘having lost his soul’ because of Me, he will find it.” Matthew 10:39
With that remembered, the structure of Jesus’ words in Matthew 16 can be evaluated –
*If any, he desires to come after Me, let him disown himself,
+and he took his cross, ^and he follows Me.
*For whoever, if he may desire to save his soul, he will lose it.
+And whoever, if he may lose his soul ^because of Me, he will find it.
Jesus directly equates coming after Him to that person saving his soul. He also equates taking his cross with losing his soul (meaning the earthly life he lives). But in following Him with his cross, the person will find his soul (meaning his eternal life). The similarity to Matthew 10 is more readily apparent when the structure is rightly understood.
To find one’s soul refers to self-preservation in this life, something that will not obtain eternal life. However, to lose one’s soul, and act of pursuing God in Christ, will obtain the desired outcome.
Of course, these things must be taken in the context of Jesus’ audience and what it means to be Jesus the Christ. He will go to His cross in Jerusalem. There on the cross, He will die. Pursuing Jesus will no longer mean what it meant. Rather, to look to the cross of Christ in faith is what the epistles proclaim leads to life, meaning eternal life.
With the boxes aligned and in considering all things in their proper dispensation, the matter of what Jesus is referring to is clear and without contradiction.
Life application: Peter admonished Jesus inappropriately. But because he did, we have the words of Jesus’ response to him, along with His continued words to the others, to more fully instruct us on what His mission was.
Remember, these men heard Jesus’ words. They saw His miracles. They walked with Jesus and learned from Him. And yet, when He was crucified, they lost hope, having completely misunderstood what He came to do.
His mission was not to redeem Israel for their glorification among the nations. His mission was to redeem them from sin so that they could be glorified in the presence of God. Sin is the problem. It is a problem that was not and will not be corrected through animal sacrifices.
Those things only pointed to what Jesus would do. Israel still has not learned this lesson. The apostles and disciples did, but only after His work was complete. Israel is going to go back to temple worship and animal sacrifices.
This is not glorifying of God. Coming to Jesus is. With that in mind, and because Israel has the knowledge of the truth, even though they rejected it, what does that mean for them? Hebrews explains it –
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:26-29
Until Israel is willing to come to Jesus, they will not save their soul. The words of Jesus are to individuals, but they also are a truth presented to Israel to hear and understand.
Lord God, thank You that we have Jesus to free us from sin’s consequences. We pray for the nation of Israel today. They know what Christians believe, but they have rejected that message. May many eyes be opened as they continue to reject the only hope of salvation available to humanity. Amen.