Matthew 10:39 - Living for Jesus or for Self?
Mat.10:39: Living for Jesus or for Self?
Mat 10:39 (EAV) Whoever finds his [lower] life will lose it
[the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account
will find it [the higher life].
DEVOTIONAL PEARL
The only way to gain our life (and get control of our life) is
to submit ourselves to God through Jesus Christ. By living for
ourselves, we have become slaves to material success, work, alcohol,
illicit sex, or any number of other destructive behaviors. We have lost
control of our life and are in trouble. By giving our life to Jesus, we
allow him to cleanse us of our addictions and show us the way to real
life - a life free of destructive dependencies. And as we follow
God's will for us, we will begin to experience a meaningful life in
the present, while also finding eternal peace with God. [Life
Recovery SB]
THE FOLLOWING IS FOR THOSE WHO DESIRE DEEPER STUDY:
CONTENT; What's in the verse; Translations; Paraphrase; Word
Study:
Mat 10:39 (KJV) He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he
that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:39 (NCV) Those who try to hold on to their lives will
give up true life. Those who give up their lives for me will hold on
to true life.
Mat 10:39 (EAV) Whoever finds his [lower] life will lose it
[the higher life], and whoever loses his [lower] life on My account
will find it [the higher life].
Mat 10:39 (CWR) If your only concern is to hold on to life,
you'll lose it, but if you're willing to lose your life for my sake,
you'll find it.
CONTEXT; What's around the verse; Overview; Topic:
Overview
Jesus commissioned the Twelve (10:1-4). He instructed them on an
immediate preaching mission (vv. 5-16), and spoke of future challenges
(vv. 17-31). Jesus explained what He expects of disciples (vv. 32-39)
and the disciple's reward (vv. 40-42). A demoralized John was
encouraged (11:1-6) and praised (vv. 7-19) by Jesus, who damned the cities
that refused to repent despite His miracles (vv. 20-24). Yet the
weary who come to Jesus will find rest (vv. 25-30). [The 365-Day
Devotional Commentary]
Chapter Topics
1 Christ sendeth out his twelve apostles, enabling them with
power to do miracles, 5 giveth them their charge, teacheth them, 16
comforteth them against persecutions: 40 and promiseth a blessing to those
that receive them. [SDA Commentary]
Chapter Summary
Jesus sends His twelve disciples out to teach and preach. He
equips them for this ministry with power over demons and diseases
(10:1-5). Their powers, however, were not to be used for selfish purposes.
Like Christ, they were to travel in poverty, dependent on the
willingness of those to whom they ministered to meet their basic needs for
food and lodging (vv. 6-15). Jesus warns them to expect hostility as
well as welcome--something believers throughout the ages have known.
Their goal, as ours, is not to be successful or popular, but to live
humbly as Jesus did, taking His trust in the Father as our example, and
refusing to fear man (vv. 16-31). The message the disciples carry is the
most critical in the world. It's not a message intended to bring
earthly peace, for it will stir up opposition. Yet its acceptance or
rejection determines each person's eternal destiny (vv. 32-42). [Victor
Bible Reader's Companion]
Matt. 10:32-42. What are the marks of Jesus' disciples, and
their rewards? We can list the following. A disciple of Jesus
acknowledges Him before men (v. 32). A disciple of Jesus places loyalty to
Christ above even the bonds of family (vv. 34-35). A disciple of Jesus
takes up his cross and follows Jesus, a phrase which means subjecting
one's will to God even as Jesus chose to subject Himself to the cross
(v. 38). A disciple of Jesus surrenders all for the sake of his LORD
(v. 37). (See Matt. 16 for "taking up the cross" and "losing
oneself.")
So far it seems that the disciple's life is all "give up" and no
"gain." But there are rewards! In the world of the New Testament a
person's representative was treated as that person himself. As Jesus'
disciples minister, some will welcome them as Christ's emissaries. Those
who do so will gain rewards in the world to come--and the follower of
Jesus will have the joy of knowing that it was through him or her that
others were thus blessed. The Apostle Paul put it this way in his
Letter to the Thessalonians: "For what is our hope, our joy, or the
crown in which we will glory in the presence of our LORD Jesus when He
comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy" (1 Thes.
2:19).
You and I, with Paul, have the same joy in discipleship that
Jesus had in fulfilling His mission. Jesus had the joy of knowing that
because of His faithfulness, many would be saved. As others respond to
our witness to Christ, we who share Christ's sufferings in
discipleship will also experience this joy. [The 365-Day Devotional
Commentary]
Section Headings
The Meaning of Discipleship
Jesus prepares the disciples for persecution (10:17-42)
Tell People About Your Faith
Not Peace, but a Sword (10:34-39)
Renouncing self to follow Jesus (10:37-39)
CROSS REFERENCES; What's in verses elsewhere.
Matthew 16:25-26 (KJV) For whosoever will save his life shall
lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my 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?
Mark 8:35-36 (KJV) For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's,
the same shall save it. [36] For what shall it profit a man, if he
shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Luke 17:33 (KJV) Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall
lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
John 12:25 (KJV) He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he
that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Philip. 1:20-21 (KJV) According to my earnest expectation and
my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all
boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life, or by death. [21] For to me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain.
2 Tim. 4:6-8 (KJV) For I am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand. [7] I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course, I have kept the faith: [8] Henceforth there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto
all them also that love his appearing.
Rev. 2:10 (KJV) Fear none of those things which thou shalt
suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye
may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
COMMENTARY / APPLICATION: Moving From The Head To The Heart.
What is God teaching here? What does it teach about Jesus?
How can it improve my relationship with Jesus.
The phrase "finding one's life" means that a person seeks his
own pleasure and passions in life. It is a selfish life, finding out
what pleases self and going after it. It is heaping and hoarding and
doing as self wills. It is finding out what gives self life and
pleasure on this earth and doing it.... [Preacher's Outline & Sermon
Bible]
Those who think to "find" life by living for the things this
world has to offer are laboring "for the meat which perisheth" [SDA
Commentary]
The phrase "loseth one's life" means that a person seeks to lose
his life on this earth in order to find God. It means that a person
gives up the right to order his own life, and he lets Christ control
his life. It means that a person's pursuit must be all consuming,
that a person diligently seeks after God. When a person is consumed
with finding God, the things of the world just fade away.... In
addition, Christ says that he will find life, both abundant and eternal.
[Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible]
The Christian may have to sacrifice his personal ambitions, the
ease and the comfort that he might have enjoyed, the career that he
might have achieved; he may have to lay aside his dreams, to realize
that shining things of which he has caught a glimpse are not for him.
He will certainly have to sacrifice his will, for no Christian can
ever again do what he likes; he must do what Christ likes. In
Christianity there is always some cross, for it is the religion of the
Cross.... The man who seeks first ease and comfort and security and the
fulfillment of personal ambition may well get all these things--but he will
not be a happy man; for he was sent into this world to serve God and
his fellow-men.... The way to serve others, the way to fulfill God's
purpose for us, the way to true happiness is to spend life selflessly,
for only thus will we find life, here and hereafter. [Barclay
Commentary]
This verse is a positive and negative statement of the same
truth: clinging to this life may cause us to forfeit the best from
Christ in this world and in the next. The more we love this life's
rewards (leisure, power, popularity, financial security), the more we
will discover how empty they really are. The best way to enjoy life,
therefore, is to loosen our greedy grasp on earthly rewards so that we can
be free to follow Christ. In doing so, we will inherit eternal life
and begin at once to experience the benefits of following Christ.
[Life Application SB]
This verse is another of those pregnant sayings which our Lord
so often reiterates . The pith
of such paradoxical maxims depends on the double sense attached to
the word "life"-- a lower and a higher, the natural and the
spiritual, the temporal and eternal. An entire sacrifice of the lower, with
all its relationships and interests-- or, which is the same thing, a
willingness to make it-- is indispensable to the preservation of the higher
life; and he who cannot bring himself to surrender the one for the
sake of the other shall eventually lose both. (Jamieson, Fausset, and
Brown Commentary)
Here the word life means the natural life as opposed to the
spiritual life. That is, to pursue one's natural well-being at the
expense of the spiritual, or eternal, is a fatal mistake. [Annotated SB
mod]
He that is anxious to save his "temporal" life, or his comfort
and security here, shall lose "eternal" life, or shall fail of
heaven. He that is willing to risk or lose his comfort and "life" here
for my sake, shall find "life" everlasting, or shall be saved.
(Barnes' Notes)
Only in Christ is life to be found, real life, everlasting life;
to cling to the life of this world, the doomed and forfeited life
of man dead in his sins, means losing the only real life there is.
[Concordia SB]
The disciple must die to self-will; God's will must become his
will. He may have to give up his own plans and ambitions, perhaps even
his life... He whose goal is merely to preserve his physical life
will lose all that makes life worthwhile. He who gives up his own
interests for Jesus will find a fulfilled life here and blessing
throughout eternity. [Passages Of Life SB]
The only way to gain our life (and get control of our life) is
to submit ourselves to God through Jesus Christ. By living for
ourselves, we have become slaves to material success, work, alcohol,
illicit sex, or any number of other destructive behaviors. We have lost
control of our life and are in trouble. By giving our life to Jesus, we
allow him to cleanse us of our addictions and show us the way to real
life - a life free of destructive dependencies. And as we follow
God's will for us, we will begin to experience a meaningful life in
the present, while also finding eternal peace with God. [Life
Recovery SB]
Each person has his own light to keep burning; and if the
heavenly oil is emptied into these lamps through the golden pipes; if the
vessels are emptied of self, and prepared to receive the holy oil, light
will be shed on the sinner's path to some purpose...... Each
consecrated vessel will daily have the holy oil emptied into it to be
emptied out into other vessels..... The capacity for receiving the holy
oil from the two olive trees is increased as the receiver empties
that holy oil out of himself in word and action to supply the
necessities of other souls. 6T116, 7
Oil of Kindness
I recall reading some years ago in a newspaper article about an
old man who carried a small can of "3-In-One Oil" with him wherever
he went. When he passed through a door that squeaked he squirted a
little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the
latch ... and thus he passed through life lubricating all the
squeaking places, making life more pleasant for those who came after him
... an unusual procedure, yet he derived a great deal of pleasure in
doing it.
We see others doing similar deeds like this by planting
flowers/shrubs along the roadway or picking up litter, planting trees in
unsightly places or like the good neighbor this Christmas who decorated a
tree along the rail road to enhance the area with a little beauty.
In our lives, there are many opportunities for us to perhaps
spread a little oil of kindness where it will make a big difference in
a small way. There's no telling how many lives we may keep from
rusting and squeaking, how many gates to happiness we may oil that will
make a life a little easier. Pastor Fate Thomas
Wise are the words of the martyr Jim Elliot who said, "He is no
fool, who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose."
What is the Lord requiring of you? Do you need to heed His words
from this passage? For this man, there didn't seem to be a middle
ground, no compromise. The Lord still permits no compromises today.
Anything more precious to you than God must be given away immediately. If
you will it, God will give you the strength to do it and come into a
right relationship with Him! [In His Time; Walk With Wisdom Re
Mar.10:21]
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