Matthew 16:24–28 (ESV) —
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would 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 shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
NOTE: This isn't the first time Jesus has said something similar (see Matt 10:38-39), and so I imagine it was something Jesus probably repeated often. As I have dealt with the concept of suffering (I bring that up because suffering seems to take away the life we want to live), I have realized that nothing makes sense without eternity. If life is only this material life we see, then life is more than unfair, it is cruel and completely without justice. Since Jesus did not focus on those aspects, I am sure it was because of his knowledge of eternity. As a missionary once said, "he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." We must view this present material life as minute and infinitesimal small compared to eternity. On the timeline of eternity, our 70 years of material life, are but a blip on the line. And yet, they are also very important years. I don't believe we forget what we learn, nor does our personality completely change to a new individual. No, rather, these years are important for eternity, and we should treat them as such. Blomberg had a good comment of this passage:
Self-denial does not imply self-abuse or lack of self-esteem. As Jesus’ disciples believers should have a better self-image than any other people, but it should be based on God’s grace and not their merit. Self-denial does, however, mean putting God and his kingdom priorities first. (Blomberg, C. (1992). Matthew (Vol. 22, p. 260))
We can put God's kingdom first over our kingdom, because our kingdom is not going to last, but our future kingdom is for eternity.
PONDER:
- What life am I living for -- this material life where I build my kingdom or my eternal home where God's kingdom dwells?
PRAYER: Father, thank you for the truth of your word. It is so easy in this life to be overcome by the material and to forget the immaterial spiritual unseen world. I pray our focus and priorities would be on advancing the spiritual kingdom.
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