Bible Question:
What is the meaning of these bible passages. a.To save your life you must lose it. b. Let the dead bury the dead. c. the last shall be first, and the first shall be last d. Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe. |
Bible Answer: There is a 2600 word limit on responses, so I will answer two questions here and two in another post. A. To save your life you must lose it. This is from Matthew 16 below... Mat 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show 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 up on the third day. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. Matthew 16:21-27 NASB Jesus is teaching how costly it is to truly serve God's purposes, as He himself will shortly do upon that awful cross v21. Peter did not understand what true service of the Messiah would mean, but thought Jesus was mistaken about God's purpose for Him v22. Peter was a zealot, which means he hoped for the immediate kingdom of God on earth, ruled by Messiah. His ideas of what God intended were a temptation for Jesus, that He might not sacrifice Himself but instead begin rule of the earth v23 (as Satan tempted Jesus Matthew 4). True service of God means sacrificing oneself. One must put God's kingdom first in this world to receive the promise of far more in the next in v24 and your verse 25. To save your life via salvation, one must put God's purposes before one's own life, perhaps to great extremes as Jesus did Himself. The remainder the passage is about why sacrifice of our lives or what we desire for them might be needed, because glorifying God is a very urgent matter. B. Let the dead bury the dead. This is from Matthew 8... Matt 8:18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:18-22, NASB This again is about the cost of true discipleship. Jesus probably knew the scribe (a governing official) was hoping for an immediate earthly reign of Messiah like Peter v19, and took the first opportunity to teach that truly serving God does not bring immediate earthly benefits, but instead has serious costs v20. Another disciple attempts to limit what he will do as a servant by raising a family concern as a higher priority v21. Your question is about v22, where Jesus puts the priorities of a true servant of God clearly. True service puts the advancement of God's kingdom before any earthly activity, even a commendable one. |