For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.  Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

- Matthew 16:21-28

Yesterday we read that when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."   My study bible says that, after Peter's confession, Jesus reveals the true nature of His messiahship -- which is the mystery of His Passion.  Expectations were that the Messiah would reign forever.  The idea that Christ would die was perplexing and unacceptable to Peter, and remained scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan here, as the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save mankind through suffering and death.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."  The cross was a dreaded instrument of Roman punishment.  Its implementation was reserved for the worst criminals; modern medical studies of its effects confirm the level of suffering it inflicted.  But as the instrument of Christ's death, it became a symbol of the transformation of suffering: Christians understand their own suffering in imitation of Christ.  We practice self-denial, my study bible says, for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  The acceptance of such suffering isn't a punishment, nor an end in itself, but a means to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom and to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24).

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."  My study bible calls this the central paradox of Christian living:  in grasping for temporal things, we lose the eternal.  But in sacrificing everything in this world, we gain eternal riches that are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9).

 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works."  This question about what we will give in exchange for our souls emphasizes the foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power at the expense of what is truly precious, and without which we have no true life in abundance.  None of that can redeem a fallen soul, nor benefit us in the life to come.

 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."  My study bible says that this is a reference to those who would witness the Transfiguration (coming up in the next reading, 17:1-9), as well as those in every generation who will experience the presence of God's Kingdom.

Jesus brings home the message of the Cross.  Just as the disciples understand that He is the Christ, the Messiah, immediately it is time to prepare them for what is to come.  It is time to let them know how His ministry will go, the nature of His messiahship, and prepare them for the "sign of the prophet Jonah" (see Wednesday's reading).  The message here in today's reading is one of sacrifice:  of one way of life for another, one way of looking at life and the world for another, a worldly materialist perspective for one that includes the stuff which the soul needs for eternal life and for life in abundance.   He changes the whole way that we think about what constitutes abundance.  He offers us an exchange, a way of seeing that there are things worth having that are better than that which we covet and grasp, which add to life immeasurably.  He gives us the truth of what is beyond a limited worldly perspective.  In this is not just a promise of eternal life, but a promise of the fullness of life itself -- that we can grow in likeness to Him.  It is the foundation of what we look for, what we hold dear, and how we see ourselves with purpose and meaning far beyond what worldly realities of "success" or "failure" can teach us.  The whole of transcendence, of our worth as human beings, rests in these words of Christ that take us beyond appearances and assumptions.  There is something much greater working in us than we can even know, a depth to this promise that gives us meanings only God can confer.  What would you exchange for that?  How would life be without the apprehension of the soul and its joys and fullness?   For what do we sacrifice limitation and fear but the freedom He offers us and its rewards?