Matthew 16:25-26

Matthew 16:25-26

[25] For  whosoever  will  save  his  life  shall lose  it:  and  whosoever  will lose  his  life  sake  shall find  it.  [26] For  what  is a man  profited,  if  he shall gain  the whole  world,  and  lose  his own  soul?  or  what  shall a man  give  in exchange  for his  soul? 

What does Matthew 16:25-26 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Matthew 16:25-27 all begin with "for" (Gr. gar). Jesus was arguing logically. Matthew 16:25 restates the idea that Jesus previously expressed in Matthew 10:28. The Greek word translated "life" is psyche, translated some other places in the New Testament "soul." It means the whole person (cf. James 1:21; James 5:20). Jesus was not talking about one"s eternal salvation. [1] The point of Jesus" statement is that living for oneself now will result in a leaner life later whereas denying oneself now for Jesus" sake will result in a fuller life later. It pays to serve Jesus, but payday will come later. As the next verse explains, the later in view for these disciples was the inauguration of the kingdom.
Two rhetorical questions show the folly of earning great material wealth at the expense of one"s very life (psyche, Matthew 16:26). Life in the physical sense is not all that Jesus meant. As He used the word, it includes one"s existence, his or her entire being.
"For the world, there is immediate gain but ultimate loss: for the disciple, there is immediate loss but ultimate gain." [2]